He Has the Abilities of Quarterback, but Prefers to Run, Block : Trading Places: Huntington Beach’s Doug Cunningham would rather play fullback than call signals.

George Pascoe, Huntington Beach High School football coach, immediately noticed Doug Cunningham during the freshman team’s first summer practice in 1986.

The guy had a strong and accurate arm, he had good size and he was already a team leader. Pascoe was sold. This would be his quarterback of the future.

Not a bad way to start high school. What was next, student body president? Maybe prom king?

The thing was, no one ever consulted Cunningham. They just handed him the ball and told him to go do it.

Apparently, though, not every young football player dreams of being the star quarterback. Some, such as Cunningham, would rather do meat-and-potato work--grind out yards, catch a few passes and block for others.

Cunningham, now a senior, has played quarterback in exactly 4 1/2 games in four years at Huntington Beach. He has performed well at the position when asked, but he’d rather they didn’t ask.

“I just don’t like playing quarterback,” Cunningham said. “I wasn’t even in high school yet and they were telling me I was going to be the quarterback for four years. I’d rather run with the ball, not throw it.”

And run he has. This season, Cunningham has 567 yards in 110 carries. He also has caught 16 passes for 222 yards and scored nine touchdowns. As a defensive back, he has four interceptions.

At 7:30 tonight, Cunningham will display his workmanlike talents when the Oilers play Ocean View in a Sunset League game at Huntington Beach. Both teams are undefeated in league play.

It would be the first title for the Oilers since 1982, when they tied for the championship with Fountain Valley and Marina. Huntington Beach hasn’t won a league championship outright since 1966.

“We can’t get too excited right now,” Cunningham said. “But it’s hard not to think about winning the league. It’s been a while since Huntington Beach has won one.”

Cunningham nearly had a title his first year at the school. The Oiler freshman team had a record of 8-2 overall and 4-1 in league play, but finished second.

Cunningham started at quarterback in his first freshman game. He had no say in the matter.

Through the first two games, Cunningham lived up to expectations. The Oilers split those games, but all appeared to be going well.

But Cunningham made it a point to remind Huntington Beach assistant Bob Isherwood, who was the freshman coach at the time, that there were other places he would like to play.

“Kids are funny,” Isherwood said. “You think he’d have been thrilled to be the quarterback. But he came to me and said, ‘Coach I want to play tailback.’ So we started flipping things around in practice just to try him at other spots.”

Cunningham’s chance came against Newport Harbor in the third game of the season.

Jeff Dunagan, the team’s starting tailback, missed the game because of a family problem. Cunningham started at quarterback, but moved to tailback in the second half. He rushed for more than 100 yards and the Oilers won.

The next game, Cunningham started at tailback, with Dunagan moving to fullback. Jeff Gibson moved into the lineup at quarterback.

It’s the same backfield the Oilers start this season, although Cunningham is now at fullback and Dunagan at tailback.

“I think the team really jelled after we moved Doug,” Isherwood said. “We ran a power offense the rest of the year and Doug ran hard.”

In the last game of the season, he gained 267 yards against Edison. The Oilers won the game in the last minute on a touchdown pass by Gibson.

“That pretty much decided things,” Cunningham said. “I really had trouble reading defenses and some of the other things you have to do as a quarterback.”

But Cunningham’s signal-calling days were not quite over.

As a sophomore, he played wide receiver and defensive back for the varsity, which finished third in the league. He was moved to tailback for the last two games after Skip Murray suffered an ankle injury.

The next season, Cunningham again played wide receiver and defensive back--until the final two games of the season.

The Oilers were a dismal 2-6, and Pascoe decided to change from power football to wacky football.

He designed the “Surf Offense,” in which everyone lined up on one side of the ball.

“We weren’t a real good football team,” Pascoe said. “We couldn’t line up and smash the ball down anyone’s face. The Surf was basic street football, like when you are drawing plays in the dirt.”

What Pascoe needed was a quarterback to orchestrate the madness, and Cunningham was just the guy. The Oilers lost their last two games, but played competitively.

This season, with several returners, Pascoe shelved the Surf in favor of power football. With Gibson returning, Pascoe felt the best way to utilize Cunningham was out of the backfield. “We’ll send him in motion sometimes to get him isolated on a linebacker,” Pascoe said. “But usually we’ll just run him tackle-to-tackle.”

Cunningham hasn’t retired his throwing arm just yet. The Oilers sometimes run a fullback pass. Other times, things just happen.

Against Marina last week, the Oilers had the ball on their one-yard line, trying to protect a seven-point fourth-quarter lead. On first down, Pascoe called for a pass play. But Gibson fumbled the snap and the ball rolled into the end zone.

Cunningham, who was supposed to block, called Gibson off the ball, picked it up and completed a 20-yard pass to Chad Taylor. Although the drive ended on the Marina one, Cunningham’s play allowed the Oilers to take time off the clock.

Said Cunningham: “I guess sometimes I still think like a quarterback.”

Even if he doesn’t want to.