Reseda’s Jacobo credits football for turnaround

For those still skeptical about the impact high school sports can have on a teenager, meet Raul Jacobo.

In the first semester of his freshman year at Van Nuys, Jacobo said he received six Fs on his report card. He spent more time hanging out with taggers than doing homework.

“I was in a rebellious stage,” he said.

When a student brought a knife to school and threatened to stab him, Jacobo said his mother transferred him to Los Angeles Dorsey.

Before the start of his sophomore year, he transferred to Reseda, but football Coach Alonso Arreola was hardly impressed.

“I didn’t have many positive things to say when I first met him,” Arreola recalled.

Jacobo, 5 feet 7 and 170 pounds, went out for football but rarely played as a sophomore or junior. The fact he stuck it out, improved his grades and became a team leader, made a believer out of Arreola.

Last fall, Jacobo was a starting safety, led Reseda in tackles and called the formations sent in by the coaches.

His grade-point average went from 0.16 as a freshman to 3.16 as a senior, with an A in Algebra II.

“I bought in with what Coach Arreola was trying to do,” Jacobo said. “You play as a team and you finish as a team. I didn’t know what unity was until I played football.”

On Tuesday night, Jacobo was honored by the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for having the region’s most improved grade-point average. He was part of a program that recognizes the top senior scholar-athletes from every football team in the region.

He got to share the podium with such players as quarterback Dayne Crist from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and receiver Chris Owusu from Westlake Village Oaks Christian. Crist is headed to Notre Dame, Owusu to Stanford.

There was Newhall Hart defensive back Tyler Eyrich, who has a 4.63 GPA and wants to enter business or corporate law. Last month, he helped organize a campus blood drive.

There was tight end Rafael Lopez from Lake Balboa Birmingham. He’s headed to Columbia, fulfilling the dream of a mother who’s a housekeeper.

There was linebacker Jake Gallegos from Saugus, who has volunteered time to work with the Special Olympics.

Most of all, there was running back Giovannie Dixon from Reseda. Not only does he assist kids in dancing, he is also a peer counselor, and he became Jacobo’s role model.

Four years ago, there was a better chance of Jacobo ending up in jail than receiving an award for academic excellence. He ditched school and made it easy for his teachers.

“I earned those Fs,” he said.

The combination of football and hanging out with friends more interested in lifting weights than painting graffiti on buildings changed his life.

“I just realized all the pain I was putting my mother through,” he said.

Jacobo had blamed his mother for his parents splitting up.

“I was young and didn’t understand,” he said.

Football helped him learn about discipline, setting goals and taking responsibility.

When he told his mother about the most improved grade-point average award, it produced a big smile.

“My mom was proud,” he said.

The future is looking good for Jacobo, who wants to play football at Valley College and become a fitness trainer.

“I like my life how it is now,” he said.

Last week, the Pasadena and Orange County chapters held their award banquets. On Friday, the Los Angeles chapter will present its awards at the Crowne Plaza near Los Angeles International Airport. On March 16, Riverside will hold its banquet at Eagle Glen Country Club. On May 17, San Bernardino will honor its scholar-athletes at the National Orange Show Fairgrounds.

These are high school athletes who truly deserve praise and respect.

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eric.sondheimer@latimes.com