Fallen teammate is with them at every step

Jesse Lozano saw the black cleats and wanted to wear them.

Size-11 Nikes, same as his. Nothing extraordinary about them.

They belonged to Kevin Telles, a friend of Lozano’s from all the way back in kindergarten.

Telles no longer wore the cleats. A fullback and linebacker, he was running down the field looking for someone to block late in Garden Grove High’s season opener in September when he collapsed. He died later that night. He was 17.

About a month later, Lozano saw a classmate carrying his friend’s cleats on campus and a thought struck him: Why not honor Telles by wearing his cleats?

First, Lozano sought permission from Telles’ older brother, Robert. He was all for it.

“He should feel like my brother is there playing with them,” Robert Telles said.

That’s one way to describe the sensation Lozano experienced last week during the Argonauts’ Southern Section Southern Division semifinal against Norwalk. With Garden Grove trailing late in the third quarter, Lozano scooped up a fumble and raced 61 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in what was a 35-23 victory.

With that win, the Argonauts advanced to tonight’s title game against La Mirada at Orange Coast College.

It was the latest example of Telles’ being with his teammates every step of the way during an undefeated season.

“I just know he’s inside me on the field,” Lozano said.

Lozano is filling Telles’ shoes in more ways than one. Two practices after Telles died of what are still undetermined causes, coaches asked the junior to switch from strong safety to Telles’ spot at outside linebacker. Coach Joe Hay considered the position a natural fit for Lozano because he has a similar build to Telles’; Lozano is 5 feet 11 and 210 pounds, and Telles was 6 feet and 200 after losing 10 pounds over the summer.

Lozano agreed to the move, though his teammates sensed some reluctance.

“He didn’t really want to do it, but he knew he had to,” quarterback Sean Young said. “I think deep down inside he wanted to for his best friend.”

Predictably, Lozano was overcome with emotion during the Argonauts’ next game, against Irvine Woodbridge. Telles had not only been a close friend but also a galvanizing figure on campus. He mingled with everyone and sought out classmates he thought he could perk up with his perpetual smile. He also loved football and had worked hard to prepare for his senior season.

“During the summer he kept running nonstop,” Lozano recalled. “Everyone else would be tired and Kevin would be the only one smiling, just laughing, saying, ‘Come on, dude, let’s play.’ ”

It was a recurring theme. Shortly before he collapsed in September, Telles had rallied his teammates in a huddle by saying, “Are you tired yet? ‘Cause I’m not. Let’s win this!”

Not only missing his friend but also replacing him in the lineup was difficult for Lozano that first game. Early on, tears streaming down his cheeks, Lozano kept his head down between plays to hide his emotion, looking up only at the snap of the ball.

Free safety Avery Williams caught on anyway.

“I could just tell something was bothering him,” Williams said. “I knew it was Kevin, but I didn’t want to keep bugging him about it because I was bugged about it too. So I was just right behind him the whole game, looking out for him.”

Lozano pulled himself together at halftime, and the Argonauts rallied to win. Afterward, Lozano started a postgame tradition of placing a photo of Telles on the 50-yard line at road games.

It was one of many ways players have acknowledged Telles. They placed decals with his jersey number, 45, on their helmets and painted the number on their faces, wrists or, in the words of linebacker Zach Smith, “wherever we have space available.”

In the fourth quarter of games, players hold up four fingers on one hand and five with the other, and fans repeatedly chant “Four-five! Four-five!”

Lozano wears a T-shirt underneath his jersey bearing a picture of Telles and the words he spoke in his final huddle. When there are 2 minutes 11 seconds left in every game -- the time when Telles went down -- Lozano says a prayer.

Thank you, God, for letting me continue this game, for letting me still be here, for taking care of my brother up there and letting him play with us right now.

Lozano makes a solemn trip to Telles’ grave every Sunday, yet he often leaves with a smile on his face.

“Sometimes we see his dad there,” Lozano said, “and we start laughing about the memories we used to have with him.”

Their bond felt even stronger early last month when Lozano started wearing his friend’s cleats and gloves. Lozano didn’t have to try on the cleats to know they would fit; in typical Telles fashion, he had let his pal borrow them over the summer.

Lozano liked wearing them for more than symbolic reasons. They were high-tops, newer and more comfortable than the low-tops he normally wore.

They seemed an especially perfect fit last week against Norwalk. Lozano had not been playing particularly well into the third quarter, prompting his coach to consider taking him out.

Lozano protested, saying, “Let me stay in, and I’ll show you what I got.”

A few plays later, a Norwalk running back fumbled the handoff from the quarterback. The ball sat on the field for what seemed an eternity.

“It was laying there and all of a sudden Jesse came out of nowhere, picked it up and was gone,” Williams said.

Said Hay: “They didn’t have anybody to catch him.”

Lozano smiled as he raced toward the end zone, feeling Telles there with him stride for stride the whole way.

“Every touchdown I make, Kevin’s in me,” Lozano said. “I feel him there.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com