Underdog has his day: Karlton Dennis of Servite

As a 5-foot-4, 140-pound freshman cornerback, Karlton Dennis rarely played at Anaheim Servite.

“Sometimes I used to go home and cry and ask God: ‘Why am I the small one? Why wasn’t I born with the talent?’ ” he said. “Sophomore year came around and the coaches told me I was too slow, so they moved me to linebacker, and I still didn’t play.”

Others might have quit, but not Dennis. He joined the track team and got faster. In the weight room, with sweat dripping down his face, he was relentless in trying to become stronger.

By his junior season, he was a starting cornerback for the Pac-5 Division championship team.

Now 5 feet 9, 175 pounds, and with 4.5 40-yard speed and ample strength, Dennis has pulled off what every underdog dreams of: proving people wrong.

“The lesson learned is don’t ever give up,” he said. “No matter if you’re the smallest guy or the fattest guy, if you want to be where you want to be, you have to push through it. You have to fight that adversity and overcome all odds in what people tell you and make something out of yourself.”

If you want to know why Servite is 3-0 and once again one of the top teams in Southern California going into Friday night’s game against Huntington Beach Edison at Cerritos College, it’s because of players with the determination and dedication of Dennis. He shows up to every practice and every game committed to doing his best.

“He definitely can play at the next level,” Servite Coach Troy Thomas said. “He’s grown up and worked so hard in the weight room. He has been an example of perseverance. He kept believing he would be a player.”

The strength of Servite’s defense are the cornerbacks, Dennis and Jordan Jones, returnees from their state Division II championship team that went 14-1. Their ability to cover receivers and wrap up ball carriers allows others to take risks knowing Dennis and Jones will be ready to bail them out.

Dennis has gone from the tiny benchwarmer to a player everyone should admire.

He remembers how he and his friends decided to motivate one another.

“They began to work with me, and I’d push them,” he said. “Eventually, we all ended up getting stronger. They were feeding off my energy. They saw a different attitude about me, how I was determined. I had this attitude I wasn’t going to quit, I wasn’t going to give up.”

Improved speed is what earned Dennis a spot in the lineup. He now runs on track relay teams, and in football, speed can be the difference in helping a cornerback overcome a receiver who’s taller.

Dennis has come a long way since those days as a freshmen when his body just wasn’t ready to take him places he wanted to go.

“I just made talent out of myself,” he said. “I really turned things around.”

And, if anyone needs a pep talk or feels down about not getting a chance to play or is simply impatient waiting for a growth spurt, remember the Karlton Dennis story.

“I’m not only playing for myself, I’m playing for all those who don’t think they have that chance to ever play on the varsity level,” he said. “I just want to go as hard as I can to prove to them it is possible.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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