THE COLLEGES / MIKE HISERMAN : Christensen Enjoys Fresh Start in Soccer

Shaun Christensen, the man who would be Ty--or at least Ty’s understudy--has resurfaced at Moorpark College.

In 1987, Christensen, a standout quarterback and soccer player at Royal High, accepted a football scholarship to attend Brigham Young. In the same freshman class was a scrawny recruit from Texas by the name of Ty Detmer, who quickly became one of Christensen’s best buddies.

Detmer went on to become BYU’s starting quarterback, and, three years later, a Heisman Trophy candidate. Christensen is in his first season on the Moorpark soccer team.

A fractured bone and two torn muscles in is right leg, injuries sustained during a summer practice in 1988, led Christensen to stray from the BYU football team. Financial difficulties ended his stay in Utah--and his football career--for good.

“The hardest thing to deal with was playing football and living on $330 a month,” Christensen said. Especially with a family.

Christensen, you see, became a husband and father during his senior year at Royal. His wife, Rozanne, another Royal student, gave birth to their son Bradley at about 1:30 on a fall afternoon in 1986. Shaun helped with the delivery and was back at football practice by 3:30.

Mixing football with family was not as easy after he left Simi Valley. After his injury, Christensen took time off school and went back to work.

“If I didn’t have the added pressure of a family things might have worked out, but I can’t blame them,” he says. “I can’t blame anything but myself.”

Christensen, who recently divorced, returned to Simi Valley a year ago and is living with the family of a Moorpark teammate.

He started playing soccer again, in Utah, while taking time off from football. His resolve to take the sport seriously again was heightened during the World Cup this past summer.

“I saw that World Cup and I wanted to play so bad,” Christensen said. “I had that desire again--the same desire I had back when I was at Royal.”

Before Friday, Christensen had six goals in Moorpark’s 10 games and the Raiders were undefeated.

Coach Frank Parodi lauds Christensen for his leadership as much as for his scoring and ballhandling abilities. “He’s Division I material--no doubt about it,” Parodi said.

Christensen, who previously carried a similar label in a different sport, is taking a wait-and-see attitude this time.

Because he was a full-time student while redshirting at BYU, Christensen will have only one year of Division I athletic eligibility remaining after this season. Therefore, he is likely to end up at a small college.

Big or small won’t matter this time around.

“Soccer is important, but right now I’d rather miss a soccer practice than a physics class,” Christensen said. “Things have changed.”

Word to the wise: Confidential to James W. Cleary, president of Cal State Northridge:

The possibility of Northridge playing Division I football in the next five years is more than just a rumor, and it is best that CSUN students and faculty know that up front.

A proposal to require all major college athletic programs to play in one of three Division I classifications--I-A, I-AA or the proposed I-AAA division--is expected to receive strong support. Northridge might be forced into big-time football, like it or not.

Briefly: Joe Harper, Cal Lutheran football coach, wasn’t kidding when he said scoring twice against Santa Clara a week ago constituted a moral victory. Most times, the Kingsmen offense comes off looking as if its plays were just diagrammed on the dusty hood of a parked car.

Dorian Manigo, who became a Proposition 48 victim after signing an NCAA letter of intent to play basketball at Northridge, has enrolled at Santa Monica College. Manigo, from San Francisco Riordan High, was considered one of the top guard recruits in the state.

Moorpark might have the state’s top running back in Freddie Bradley, but the Raiders can’t match Bakersfield in quality at every position. Moorpark’s defense, the team’s strong suit a year ago, is in for a long game tonight.

Good thing George Machado has a naturally upbeat personality. Not only does Machado coach the Hueneme High football team (0-5 entering play Friday), he serves as KADY Channel 63 analyst for Cal Lutheran home football games. The Kingsmen also are 0-5.

The 1972 Northridge football team might have been one of the best 6-5 teams in NCAA College Division history. The Matadors’ losses came by a total of eight points and their victories were by an average of 36 points.

In one six-game stretch that season, Northridge won by scores of 46-14, 23-0 and 45-0, then lost, 41-39, 11-10 and 15-14.

Title tilt: Northridge football Coach Bob Burt has what he hopes is a sure-fire cure for any Matador player tempted to look past Southern Utah State after CSUN’s big win last week over Portland State.

“All they need to do is take a long look at the conference standings,” Burt said. “They’re 2-0 and we’re 1-0. There are three teams right now with a legitimate shot at a (Western Football Conference) championship. Two of them play (each other) this week.”

Southern Utah State has won four in a row and Burt expects the Thunderbirds to be extra tough before a homecoming crowd.

“They’re three steps faster, 20 pounds heavier and three touchdowns better at home,” he said.

Running tab: So much for the thrill of becoming the winningest Northridge football coach.

The Matadors’ 19-18 upset of Portland State was victory No. 31 for Burt, moving him ahead of Tom Keele, who was 30-43-1 from 1979-85.

But Burt, 31-18 since taking over in 1986, said he has not given the accomplishment a second thought. “I really haven’t had time to reflect, we’ve been so busy,” he said this week. “I’ll really reflect if we win four more. If we can do it, I’d reflect on that a lot.”

Four more consecutive wins would give Northridge its first outright WFC championship.

No standing PAT: Northridge was saved from potential embarrassment when Portland State failed to move within field-goal range on its final possession last week.

After Billy Nealy grabbed an 11-yard touchdown pass from Sherdrick Bonner with 41 seconds left to put Northridge ahead by a point, 19-18, the CSUN kicking unit lined up for what would have been a meaningless point-after; the Matadors needed a three-point lead for safety’s sake.

“They got so excited, they just ran on the field,” Burt said.

Noticing the mistake but lacking a timeout, Northridge took a delay-of-game penalty--moving the ball from the two-yard line to the seven--before bringing its offensive unit back to try for two points. Scoring two points became a much more difficult proposition, and quarterback Sherdrick Bonner eventually was sacked.

“It wasn’t a very good job by our kids or the coaches,” Burt said. “We didn’t keep our composure.”

Fortunately for Northridge, Portland moved no farther than its own 44 on its final possession.