Jeremi Ross got his big break in Hollywood

Dreams can be made or broken in Hollywood, so it is only fitting that a remarkable comeback story is taking place at Hollywood High.

It started in January 2009, when Jeremi Ross, a freshman, was introduced to football Coach Ceasar Sandoval. He had been in and out of foster care and group homes since he was 3, and his last report card from Washington High was not good.

“He literally had straight fails,” Sandoval said. “Him and I had a heart-to-heart talk. I asked him can he promise me that he’ll get a 2.0 and change his life. And he said, ‘Yes.’”

Playing football was something Ross wanted to do, and it became his motivation to go to class and study despite obstacles in his life.

“He’s not your ordinary kid -- where he lives, what he’s been through,” Sandoval said.

Ross achieved a 2.0 grade-point average and more. In his first season of organized football last fall on the freshman-sophomore team, he rushed for 2,273 yards and scored 23 touchdowns playing quarterback. He also had three touchdowns receiving and three touchdowns returning punts and kickoffs.

By the end of his sophomore year, he had a 3.0 grade-point average. This semester, he’s taking Advanced Placement English. This season, he was named a captain on varsity. And his performance on the field continues to dazzle.

He has led Hollywood to a 4-0 start, passing for 659 yards and six touchdowns, rushing for 401 yards and one touchdown. Not bad for a 16-year-old who’s 6-1, weighs 170 pounds and didn’t know how to strap on his helmet or put on shoulder pads a year ago.

Sandoval smiles when talking about what Ross did when he scored his first high school touchdown.

“He threw the ball 40 yards into the sky and started celebrating,” Sandoval said. “He had no idea how to celebrate. It was priceless.”

Whether displaying leadership on the field or hard work in the weight room, Ross has earned respect from coaches and teammates alike.

“His character is amazing now,” Sandoval said. “If you would have asked if he was going to be a football star or get out of his neighborhood or do something back then, you would have never have guessed he would be where he is today. He knows what it’s going to take to get out of here and make his life right.”

Ross said his father has started coming to games. He has contact with his mother through text messages and occasional phone conversations. But in truth, he’s on his own, living in a group home not far from campus while trying to create a path that could lead him to college.

“It’s kind of hard to come from the bottom and work all the way up,” Ross said. “I have a long way to go. Without my team, I couldn’t do it. They look over me. I look over them. This is my family.”

What’s stunning is how quickly Ross has picked up nuances of organized football. His previous experience consisted of playing in the street.

“He’s the quickest learner I’ve seen,” JV Coach Walter Tovar said.

In his first season on varsity, he has been running the no-huddle West Coast offense as if he has been doing it for years. And he loves football..

“I almost wanted to cry,” he said of the first time he put on pads to play against another team.

On the walls in the school’s main lobby are the names of famous alumni put up in the form of stars, including Judy Garland, Carol Burnett and Laurence Fishburne.

It’s a reminder to the students of what can be accomplished at Hollywood High, and Ross is working on his own Hollywood ending.

“My job is to make sure it becomes a reality,” Sandoval said.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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