ORANGE COUNTY PREP FRIDAY : THE PLAY’S THE THING : From Center Stage to Behind Center, Sunny Hills’ Chisum Proves Hard Act to Follow

Whether he’s performing on the football field or acting in a drama festival, David Chisum of Sunny Hills High School is usually in the spotlight.

Chisum has played quarterback for three years for the Lancers and is the leading passer in Orange County this season, based on the NCAA’s formula for passing efficiency.

This quarterback is also a thespian. Chisum performs in drama festivals with teammate Chris Pizula, and the duo recently reached the semifinals of a Los Angeles festival that featured 65 entries.

Chisum and Pizula performed a five-minute scene from Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” in which two men are flipping coins.

“I play a dingy, scatter-brained type who wins 89 straight times,” Chisum said. “Chris is a real intelligent guy who computes the odds of losing 89 straight times. It’s a pretty funny scene with both of us diving on the floor for coins.

“I’m basically a ham, and I love to perform. I enjoy comedy routines, especially guys like Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy and Bill Cosby.”

Though Chisum plays for laughs, he has also found an analogy between acting and playing football.

“On the stage, Chris and I work as a team just like we do in football,” he said. “We practice hard and then perform, just like the football team. I enjoy the limelight. I like seeing my work pay off.

“I think participating in drama has given me more confidence in football and vice versa. I’ve learned that in order to be successful as an actor or as a competitor, you have to work together as a team.”

Chisum has led the Lancers to a 7-0 record entering tonight’s game against Buena Park on Spaulding Field, but he nearly missed a curtain call for his senior season when he suffered a back injury last spring.

Chisum cracked three vertebrae in his lower back when he fell off the roof of his home. Chisum’s father, Ray, had asked him to clean a mound of leaves that had collected on the roof.

Chisum decided to climb to the roof without a ladder. He boosted himself up from an air conditioning unit. Instead of reaching the roof, he fell backward, landing on the edge of the air conditioning unit.

“It hurt so bad, it put me in shock,” he said. “I was running around the front yard, and my dad came over to find out how badly I was hurt. I said, ‘Dad, just let me catch my breath.’

“I went inside the house and looked in the mirror. The lower part of my back was instantly black and blue, and I was bleeding. My first thought was, ‘There goes my football career.’ I was scared.”

X-rays failed to reveal any broken bones, and the initial diagnosis was that Chisum had suffered only a bad bruise. He was given permission to compete in spring football, but a month later he complained of soreness in his back. He returned for more X-rays.

“My back was sore all the time,” he said. “I was pretty tough to live with. The first doctor I saw said I wouldn’t be able to play football in the fall this year, and that shocked me.”

Further X-rays revealed that Chisum had cracked three vertebrae. He wore a back brace for two months and began rehabilitation under Steve Nicholas at Fullerton Physical Therapy Group.

“I couldn’t run, and I couldn’t throw,” Chisum said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Nicholas, a sports therapist for 17 years, thought it was important to keep Chisum working out, even if it was in a limited capacity. He devised a series of workouts in which Chisum could improve his arm and leg strength without putting pressure on his torso.

“It was obvious that if David was going to play football, he couldn’t sit around all summer doing nothing,” Nicholas said. “I devised the program, but David gets all the credit for his comeback. He worked hard and was determined to come back.”

The first test for Chisum was Sunny Hills’ opening game against Rowland. There were some lingering questions. Could he take a hit? Would he experience soreness after the game?

“I had some doubts,” he said. “But everybody around me was confident. I took that first shot and my back was fine. I haven’t even thought about it since that first game.”

Chisum follows in the line of talented quarterbacks at Sunny Hills that began with Gary Carter (New York Met catcher) in 1969 and continued with Jim Karsatos (Ohio State and Miami Dolphins) in 1980.

He alternated with Trevor Painton at quarterback as a sophomore and then moved into the starting position as a junior when Painton dropped a 90-pound weight on his hand before the start of the season.

Chisum completed 57 of 105 passes for 1,001 yards and 7 touchdowns, earning him the sixth-highest ranking in the county. He was the top-ranked quarterback three times during last season, but said he had problems dealing with the lofty ranking.

“I’d look at the great quarterbacks like Todd Marinovich and Bret Johnson and here I was on the top of the list,” he said. “It baffled me and affected my performance. It seemed like every third week I was No. 1, then I would have a bad game.

“Now, I’m happy about my rating. Being No. 1 used to get to me. Now I enjoy it. I don’t get the coverage that Marinovich and Johnson get. I think I could do what they do if I had the opportunity, but I’m happy here. As long as we get the W (win), the team has done its job.”

Chisum averages only 15 passes per game, and Tim Devaney, Sunny Hills coach, sometimes wonders what kind of numbers his quarterback could produce if he allowed him to pass more.

“I probably restrict him,” Devaney said. “But football is a team-oriented game, and we tend to go with what’s working well. I think we’re a very balanced team, and I like to spread things around.

“Sometimes, I feel I should let David loose to show just what he can do. He has a stronger arm than Jim Karsatos did at similar stages in their careers. One way or another, he’s going to play major-college football. Now, whether he goes to a junior college first or signs with a Division I school is the question.”

Regardless, Chisum will likely be found at center stage.