Landing Top Recruit Snap for CSUN : Damien High Quarterback Joins Center in Signing With Matadors

Marty Fisher, a talented high school quarterback, had been near the top of the Cal State Northridge football recruiting list for months.

He also had drawn the attention of a handful of Division I schools--most notably Nevada Las Vegas and Colorado State.

But Northridge had an advantage, Matador Coach Bob Burt said Wednesday after signing Fisher, who played for Damien High in La Verne.

“He liked the center we signed,” Burt said.

The coach could have said the same thing.

The center: Kevin Burt, the coach’s son and Fisher’s teammate at Damien.

Burt (6-foot-1, 225 pounds) was the All-Baseline League center. Fisher (6-2, 175) was an all-league quarterback.

“They got used to each other the last four years,” Bob Burt said. “It was a package deal.”

And a deal that accounted for half the signings CSUN announced Wednesday, the first day four-year colleges are allowed to sign high school players.

Albert Razo, a 6-1, 185-pound quarterback and punter from La Habra High, was the only other high school player to sign with CSUN on Wednesday. Burt said that he was still hopeful of gaining a commitment from running back Tyler Robuck, who played for Alemany High last fall.

However, Northridge has signed 19 junior college players--all but one before Wednesday. Perhaps the best came last. Tom Berry, a 6-5, 255-pound defensive tackle from Mt. San Antonio College “is as good as anyone,” according to Burt.

Of the 12 starters scheduled to return to CSUN, eight play defense, as do 14 of the new players.

“We have some good people coming back, but we had to get better because of our schedule,” Burt said.

The Matadors will open with back-to-back road games against Division I opponents--Cal State Long Beach on Sept. 2, then Cal State Fullerton.

Fisher, who completed 91 of 211 passes for 1,258 yards last season, has no visions of starting in the opener. That job, he says, should go to Sherdrick Bonner, a CSUN backup the past two seasons.

“I’ll just try to push him as much as possible,” Fisher said. “If we win a championship with him I won’t be disappointed.”

CSUN RECRUITS

PLAYER SCHOOL POS. SIZE Eric Ahola Santa Monica JC DL 6-4, 250 Baron Atkinson Compton JC DB 5-10, 175 Rodney Banks Compton JC DB 5-11, 180 Tom Berry Mt. SAC DL 6-5, 255 Kevin Burt Damien HS C 6-1, 225 Dexter Byrd Chabot JC DB 6-3, 200 Matt Elm Valley JC DL 6-3, 250 Marty Fisher Damien HS QB 6-2, 175 Tom Gray San Mateo JC OLB 6-3, 235 Richard Henderson Hancock JC OL 6-4, 265 Pat Knowles Golden West JC ILB 6-0, 220 Richard Kohler Mt. SAC LB 6-2, 230 Alonzo Mendoza East L.A. JC P 6-3, 185 Ed Mitchell Hartnell JC DB 5-11, 180 Mike Newton S. Bernardino JC LB 6-2, 230 Oscar Pittman San Jose CC RB 5-11, 210 Albert Razo La Habra HS P/QB 6-1, 185 Rodney Rosser Glendale JC LB 6-0, 205 Derrick Smith San Mateo JC ILB 6-0, 210 Gary Stewart Saddleback JC OT 6-5, 260 Larnell Sykes Pasadena CC RB 5-7, 168 Cornell Ward Compton JC WR 5-9, 165