HOW THEY’RE DOING : Lure of the Game Grips Cheatham

High on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Sean Cheatham goes to class, runs the hills and lifts weights.

He is 5 feet 11, 220 pounds, tan and muscular. His brown hair is cut in the fashion of the day, long in the back, short on top. He wears a diamond stud in his left ear.

Cheatham, a 20-year-old college junior, does not look out of place on this campus, but he is.

He is the best football player at Pepperdine University. He is the only football player at Pepperdine, where there is no team.

Cheatham said he came to Pepperdine bitter, soured on football after a weeklong false start as a walk-on at USC and two seasons of unfulfilling play at Golden West College.

Initially, he came here to attend a good college, prepare for his lifelong dream of law school and put football behind him. Pepperdine seemed to be the best place to contemplate his future.

But the more Cheatham contemplated, the more his thoughts returned to football. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake the sport’s grip.

On Friday nights, he returns to his alma mater, Rancho Alamitos High School, to help coach the Vaqueros. Saturday mornings, he helps coach the junior varsity. Later, he watches college games on TV. On Sundays, he watches the NFL until late afternoon.

For 14 weeks ending last Sunday, Cheatham spent the evenings playing tailback for the Orange Coast Dolphins, a semipro team in the six-team Southern California Football League.

“I guess I’m still trying to get discovered,” he said.

Mondays, he returns to Pepperdine and attends class, watches Monday Night Football, then often stays up past midnight for NFL Films features on ESPN.

“I love the game,” he said. “I can’t get enough of it.”

This is the great paradox of Cheatham’s life.

So much of his happiness has been tied to football. And so much of his sadness.

As a senior at Rancho Alamitos in 1987, Cheatham was Orange County’s leading rusher with 1,904 yards in 10 games. He also scored a county-leading 25 touchdowns.

Rancho Alamitos was 6-4 as Mark Miller, in his first season as coach, turned the program around. The Vaqueros won one game, tied two and lost 17 during Cheatham’s sophomore and junior seasons before Miller arrived.

“When he played, there was no mystery, no deception,” Miller said. “We said, ‘We’re going to give the ball to that guy right there, and he’s going to run right over there.’ ”

Rancho Alamitos was a throwback to high school football circa 1950.

The Vaqueros lined up with two tight ends, with Cheatham directly behind the fullback, who was directly behind the quarterback. The Vaqueros had no kicker, going for two points after every touchdown.

Funny thing was, it worked. Rancho Alamitos won its first four games, largely because of Cheatham.

As the season went on, teams were bent on stopping him. Santiago players yelled “Cheatham” every time he carried the ball. He had 212 yards and two touchdowns in 33 carries during a 34-18 victory. Kennedy fans wore buttons with a red slash through his picture. He gained 190 yards in a 22-14 victory.

But Rancho Alamitos missed the playoffs by a single point, when a two-point conversion run fell short, and the Vaqueros lost, 13-12, to La Quinta in the final regular-season game.

Miller, who had called a sweep for quarterback Rodney McCall, said recently that he should have given the ball to Cheatham. Though weak with food poisoning, Cheatham still had 211 yards in 28 carries.

“I don’t question anything (Miller) does,” Cheatham said of the play. “After all he’s done for me, I find it hard to question one call.”

Cheatham should have been a prized recruit. The straight-ahead, no-nonsense offense at Rancho Alamitos was good for his statistics but did little to show if he could run outside or catch a pass.

Eager to attend a good school, he was determined to walk on at USC. He left after only a week. There were hints that he didn’t fit into the Trojans’ plans. His practice jersey was too big. So were his shoes.

“It was like boot camp,” he said. “Everybody was telling me it would be difficult. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe them, I just didn’t know how difficult it would be.”

He went to Golden West, discouraged but determined to continue his career. After a season as backup to Blaise Bryant, now at Iowa State, he figured he’d be the Rustlers’ starting tailback in 1989.

He played about 80% of the time, according to Ray Shackleford, Golden West coach. He had a 150-yard game against Pasadena, earned team MVP honors and was named an academic All-American. He earned his Associate of Arts degree in three semesters, hoping to make the jump to a Division I school quickly.

But his only scholarship offer came from Southern Utah State, a Division II school.

“Sean was an outstanding back,” Shackleford said, “but he lacked breakaway speed to play for a Division I school. He’s not big enough to be a fullback and not fast enough to be a tailback. That was probably the opinion of the bigger schools, anyway.”

Shackleford said he made a videotape of Cheatham’s runs to help him land a scholarship. But even that didn’t sway recruiters.

“I just can’t believe there’s not a place for a kid like Sean to play,” Miller said.

Said Cheatham: “When I was first coming out of high school, it was my fault. I was locked into going to USC. Then coming out of JC, I thought I did everything right.”

Miller recommended Redlands, a Division III school with a good football program. However, another Rancho Alamitos teacher suggested Pepperdine.

Cheatham, trying for a clean break from football, took one look at the ocean from Pepperdine’s campus and fell in love. The school is known for its fine basketball, volleyball and water polo teams, but not football.

Finding he couldn’t quit the sport cold turkey, he began playing with the Dolphins. He was the league’s leading rusher, helping the Dolphins to a 12-1-1 record.

“He’s a monster,” said Miller, who watched Cheatham play this season.

It is difficult to know what the future holds. He is considering trying out for one of the 10 teams in the NFL’s new World League of American Football next spring. Or he might play for Pepperdine’s rugby team.

“It’s pretty much (kill the man with the ball) with goals,” he said, breaking into a smile. “It looks like you need a lot of determination to win.”

Slowly, Cheatham has adjusted to campus life in Malibu. The view from his dorm room is spectacular. On clear nights, the ocean resembles a giant ink spot spreading to the horizon. The lights of Santa Monica twinkle 15 miles down the coast. Organ music spills softly out of the school’s chapel.

Even without football, the picture is pleasing.