How linebacker Eddie Grijalva turned from Shasta purple into Enterprise gold

The brown eyes of Enterprise senior linebacker Eddie Grijalva tell the story of a young man who is in a happy place in his life.

Grijalva's eyes light up when the ball is snapped. He approaches football with a predatory and thoughtful instinct. As the play ensues during practice, he is able to read the 21 players around him in seconds.

His style is vicious and unrelenting. Once Grijalva gets his hands on an opponent, they are in for a violent ride to the turf. And once the play is over, he smiles wide. Grijalva flexes his muscles that show tattoos on both of his forearms. They read "Todo sucede por una razón," which means "everything happens for a reason" in Spanish.

"I just love football," Grijalva said. "It keeps me out of trouble and it keeps me in line. It's my way out."

Grijalva didn't have many things in his life to smile about during his last three years in school. He attended Shasta High School but struggled with maintaining grades.

A low point

His mother, Angela Roland, said she and her son struggled with homelessness during parts of the past three years. Grijalva's attitude worsened as a result, and it became a problem with teachers, classmates and teammates he had at Shasta.

Grijalva was kicked off the football team during his freshman year with Shasta and only played three games during his sophomore year due to his poor academic performance. 

"I think I knew only two people on the team at Shasta," Grijalva said. "It was kind of hard because I didn't know that many people. I was getting into trouble after school as well."

Grijalva reached his lowest point when he was forced to leave Shasta and enroll at Pioneer High School because of his grades. It was another wasted year, and Grijalva's time for playing football was running out. He was ineligible during the spring 2021 season.

"Not being able to play football was rock bottom," Grijalva said. "I didn't think that I would make it to where I am now."

'Coming out of his shell'

Grijalva came to Pioneer, a school that assists students who are struggling to earn their high school diploma. English teacher Cheryl McBryde mentored him.

"I started teaching after I raised two daughters and so I treat them all like they're my kids," she said. "They know I care about them and that makes them do their best."

McBryde keeps snacks in her classroom to encourage students to come to class.

"I try to make my room warm and inviting," McBryde said. "That a big thing. I try to feed them and I try to get to know their story."

McBryde said Grijalva immediately went to work on his grades and his attitude was never an issue.

"I could just see that he was motivated and he was getting all of his work turned in," McBryde said. "He just felt warm and accepted at Pioneer. Just giving him the encouragement to feel good when he was getting his assignments turned in made him feel like he could do it." 

Grijalva eventually opened himself up during a unit McBryde taught on poetry called "Where I'm From." He wrote a poem and presented his work to a room full of students, administrators and teachers from Shasta Union High School District.

"I just saw him slowly coming out of his shell," McBryde said.  

Earning his spot at Enterprise

McBryde worked with Grijalva and sent emails to administrators at Enterprise High School, wondering how Grijalva could get back into school and walk across the stage as a Hornet. McBryde had taught sophomores at Enterprise in 2019.

Grijalva enrolled in summer school and got the grade point average he needed to play sports. But he still had to prove himself on the football field. Grijalva hadn't played in any varsity games prior to attending school at Enterprise.

Still, what Grijalva did have at Enterprise was his longtime friend, O'Sirus Peoples. Peoples has been a close friend of Grijalva since they were 9 years old. Peoples is now a senior defensive lineman who has starred on Enterprise's varsity team since his sophomore year.

Only Peoples knew of Grijalva's potential.

"He's had that football player in him ever since he was a little kid," Peoples said. "He's always loved the game of football and he's always been a student of the game. He knows where people are going to go before they get there."

But Peoples also had to set boundaries with his new teammate. Grijalva had to understand the winning culture Peoples and senior wide receiver Jahari Johnson were trying to build at Enterprise after six straight losing seasons — six seasons of watching crosstown rival Shasta take home the River Bowl trophy.

Peoples and the players inside the locker room at Enterprise High School were the ones who took responsibility for the program's past failures.

To build a winning culture, the players held each other accountable. That meant no fighting with teammates or having a bad attitude with coaches.

"We don't just let anybody over here," Peoples said. "You have to have a certain personality type and you got to be able to put your body on the line. You have to be able to not care about just yourself. You have to work hard for other people to get to where we want to be as a program.

"Me, Jahari and Demarreya (Lewis-Cooper) all learned it's not just us because if we make it about us, we aren't getting anywhere."

Learning to keep his cool

Grijalva's transition to Enterprise had some bumpy beginnings. He had to adjust to his new coaching staff and learn the plays that weren't taught at Shasta. Grijalva's problems with attitude flared up on occasion, but he soon began to buy into what Enterprise defensive coordinator Ray Hermann was teaching.

"He's shown a lot of growth," Hermann said. "He had to get some trust and he was a 'me guy' to start with, but he became a 'we guy.' He's been a 'yes, coach guy' from the very beginning."

A testament to Grijalva's growth came in late August when Enterprise and West Valley played each other in a scrimmage, just one week before the Hornets' season opener at Del Norte High School in Crescent City.

The friendly scrimmage grew hostile at the end. A group of players from Enterprise and West Valley became tangled up during a play and a brawl broke out. Parents of players from both sides rushed onto the field and the scrimmage came to an end.

Peoples said Grijalva kept his composure and was never involved in the incident.

"Me and his mom were really proud of him for not fighting," Peoples said. "I'm very proud of Eddie. Had that been him two years ago, he would have been thrown out of the program. He's matured and realized he doesn't need to throw his career away over petty stuff."

Is college in the future?

Grijalva has stayed true to his grades. His performance in the classroom has been just as strong as his play on the field. McBryde visited Grijalva after his game against Lassen, a matchup Enterprise won at home easily, 49-7. Grijalva had five tackles while Peoples had six tackles, including three tackles for loss.

McBryde was also there to watch Johnson and senior Yoshi Tulluru, who also are her former students.

Grijalva is tied for the lead in tackles for Enterprise, a team which used to struggle with instilling fear on defense. Now Enterprise (7-1, 2-1 EAL) is having its best season since 2014 when it won the CIF Northern Section Division II title. 

"It's inspiring because not many people can take blow after blow after blow and get back up," Peoples said. "He's been to the very bottom you can be as a teenager. There's not much lower you can get."

And his mom gets to sit up high in the bleachers. Each day brings more happiness for Roland who sees her son doing what he loves.

"It's been a real joy and I'm very happy that he's gotten through all the struggles," Roland said. "It's been great." 

The cultural evolution that took place at Enterprise is what drove the Hornets to winning River Bowl XXIX 26-8 against Shasta. Grijalva had his best performance of season, leading Enterprise with 13 tackles and one for loss against his former team.

Grijalva described losing football as the scariest moment of his life. Now he'll be remembered as one of the heroes who brought the River Bowl trophy back to East Redding. Even importantly is the fact he's on pace to graduate high school and walk across the stage in May.

"I'm looking for a scholarship right now," Grijalva said. "I haven't gotten one yet, but that's what I want to do. I want to play football in college." 

Ethan Hanson started working for the Redding Record Searchlight after four years with the Los Angeles Daily News as a freelancer. His coverage includes working the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in South Bend, Indiana, and writing about the St. Louis Rams' move to Los Angeles with the Ventura County Star. He began his career as a play-by-play broadcaster for LA Pierce College from 2011-2017. Follow him on Twitter at @EthanAHanson_RS.