Two years after having his cleats taken away because of academic issues, the forward has led Vikings to Division IV final. But he still struggles to make the grade.

It was the day Frank Gatell was dreading the most. He didn't want to do it, but he knew he had to.

Two years ago, Gatell, the boys' soccer coach at Santa Monica High, walked up to one of his sophomore players who wasn't doing well in school and requested he turn in his cleats. The player, one of the best on the team, couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"He looked a me, like, 'You can't. You can't do this,' " Gatell said.

Eduardo Delgado, who was born in Guatemala and came to the U.S. five years ago, had been warned that if his grades kept slipping, he would get kicked off the team.

Gatell liked Delgado, but he knew the youngster needed a gut check. Delgado would "either tank it or step up to the challenge," his coach said.

Delgado, who doesn't speak English fluently, stepped up, but still struggles to make the grade.

With a soccer ball at his feet, however, the 18-year-old doesn't worry about anything except scoring. The pitch is his sanctuary.

Gatell moved Delgado from midfield to forward and credits him for being a huge factor in the Vikings' 101 goals this season, which is 41 more than they scored last season. Delgado has 10 goals and seven assists this season.

The Vikings (25-0-1), who won the Ocean League title with a 9-0-0 record, will play Jurupa Valley (20-2-4) at 10 a.m. Saturday at Warren High in Downey in the Southern Section Division IV championship game.

"We are a high pressure attack and he makes this happen," said Gatell, who's in his 11th season at Santa Monica.

The Vikings lost to eventual champion Coachella Valley in the quarterfinals of the Division IV playoffs last season. This season, they are the division's top-seeded team.

Santa Monica is also ranked nationally, No. 2 by Soccer.Rivals.com and No. 4 in the NSCAA/Adidas rankings.

It was hard to imagine Delgado's being a part of this year's team after he sat out an entire season after his coach confiscated his cleats.

"I felt really, really bad," said Delgado, speaking in Spanish. "I was hurting myself and I was hurting my team."

It took four years for his stepfather and mother, who left for the U.S. when he was 2, to get the paperwork processed to make him a U.S. citizen. That was the easy part. The hard part would be getting Delgado to quickly learn a new language while adjusting to a different culture.

His parents knew he would need an education to be successful. Even to play soccer.

"But it's like he didn't want to believe it," Javier, Delgado's stepfather, said in Spanish.

Delgado finally became a believer when he lost his cleats.

He showed up a year later and wanted back on the team.

"You know the deal," Gatell told him. "No grades, no shoes."

Delgado had the grades and regained his cleats.

"He just smiled," Gatell remembered. "That somberness that surrounded him because of the grades was lifted."

Gatell and assistant coach James Chapman continue to work with Delgado so he doesn't slip back into old bad habits. They check with his teachers, make sure he's turning in his homework on time and continue to remind him that they are not afraid to drop him from the team again.

"I'm in debt to both of them," Delgado said. "They've helped me a lot this year."

Despite Delgado's efforts in the classroom, there's a chance he won't graduate in June. His school counselor called his house recently to set up a meeting with his parents. Delgado, in his own words, is "on the edge" when it comes to graduating.

Delgado wants to walk in the procession line with his friends and classmates, but has no plans to attend college. Instead, he has decided to seek a professional soccer contract. He doesn't care if it's with Major League Soccer or in Mexico or Guatemala.

Delgado has registered to participate in this year's Sueño MLS, a reality TV show that will grant one player a spot on the roster of Chivas USA . Last year, Jorge Flores, a teenager from Anaheim, beat out more than 2,000 participants to win the contest. Flores spent the last two months of last season with Chivas USA, playing in one regular-season game.

Delgado is hopeful he can be this year's winner, even though there will be twice as many participants. This year's contest will include two winners, one in L.A. and another in Dallas. If he doesn't win, he already has a Plan B (Mexico) and a Plan C (going back to Guatemala) mapped out.

"Normally I would tell someone to go to college. But, for Eddie, for where he is and where he is at, he has to go and try to make it happen," Gatell said. "He has to pursue the dream."