TONIGHT’S COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Success at Saddleback Gives Ex-Trojan a New Lease on Life

Jeff Pease stood on the sideline in a USC uniform during the 1989 Rose Bowl.

He had all the advantages of being on scholarship in a big-time program. He even roomed with Todd Marinovich, now a Raiders’ quarterback.

But despite being part of all the glamour, Pease, 22, now says being released from his scholarship was “the best thing that ever happened.”

Because the one thing Pease didn’t have at USC was happiness.

But he has since found it at Saddleback, where he is considered one of the best community college linebackers in the state and, some say, the nation.

Pease, who is 6 feet 3 and 245 pounds, tops Saddleback in tackles with 82. He is the leader of a defense that also includes such talented players as linebacker Scott von der Ahe, safety Jeremy Brion and lineman Brent Longnecker.

“He’s got his head on so straight it’s scary,” linebacker Coach Don Butcher said. “He makes all our calls on sets and stunts. It’s like having a coach on the field.”

Pease was a fierce and often unpredictable player at Mission Viejo High School--especially as a junior.

Before his senior season in the fall of 1987, then-Mission Viejo Coach Bill Crow had a long talk with him about what it meant to be a leader. Pease said many such talks with Crow made an important impression on him.

“When I was a junior, I hated Marinovich,” Pease said about his former Capistrano Valley High rival who is now a close friend. “As a senior, I was shaking his hand after the game.”

Pease was recruited by many top colleges, including Colorado and UCLA, but settled on USC. But once he entered in the fall of 1988, he had a hard time getting started.

At USC, it was discovered he had nerve damage in his shoulder from a high school injury, so he wasn’t cleared to play.

Pease figured to be back on the field the next fall, but he failed the physical again because of his shoulder.

He continued attending classes because his scholarship was still honored, but by the spring of 1990, his grades had dropped, and he left the university.

“The bottom line is that I didn’t do what was necessary to keep my scholarship,” he said. “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Pease went to work as a bellman at a hotel. He was earning a living and had a place in Venice, but he still wasn’t happy. He missed the release that football gave him.

So during the summer of 1991, he looked into playing at Saddleback. He had his shoulder examined by doctors several times and was cleared to play. He has had no trouble with it since.

“It’s been a new lease on life,” Pease said. “For a couple of years, I wasn’t sure I was happy living. I never contemplated suicide, but I wasn’t in a happy frame of mind. Now, I’m happy and smiling.”

One important reason things are going so well for Pease is the generosity of the Bushong family, which has given him a place to live while he’s attending Saddleback. Penn Bushong was a standout linebacker last season for Saddleback and is now at Cal State Northridge.

“They feed me and take care of me,” he said. “They give me the best possible environment to live in.”

Things didn’t start out so well on the field at Saddleback, though. Pease arrived out of shape, hurt his knee early on and missed the first five games.

Once he recovered, his playing time increased each game, but he wasn’t happy with his performance, partly because he was slowed by his weight, which had ballooned to more than 260. “Frankly, I was embarrassed about last season,” he said. “At the end of the year (linebacker) coach (Don) Butcher asked me what I wanted to do next season, and I told him that I wanted to be the best player at my position ever at Saddleback.”

Despite all his success this season, he will have to play at a Division II college next season. He can’t go back to Division I because once an athlete has enrolled at a Division I school, he or she is allowed only five years to play four seasons.

“Every scout that comes though here asks about No. 44,” linebacker coach Don Butcher said, referring to Pease’s jersey number. “When I tell them that he has to go D-II, they moan and groan.”

In tonight’s 7 p.m. Mission Conference Central Division games:

Saddleback (8-0, 3-0) at Riverside (1-6-1, 0-3)--A victory by Saddleback would give the Gauchos, the No. 1 team in the national J.C. Grid-Wire rankings, a share of the divisional title and a berth in the Dec. 5 Simple Green Orange County Bowl.

Orange Coast (5-3, 2-1) vs. Fullerton (1-6, 1-2) at Cal State Fullerton--This will be the first community college game played at the new stadium at Cal State Fullerton. OCC tailback Eric Washington needs 98 yards to reach 1,000 for the season.

Golden West (3-5, 1-2) vs. Rancho Santiago (2-6, 1-2) at Santa Ana Stadium--Both teams are coming off victories last week. Golden West beat Fullerton, 19-7, and Rancho Santiago stopped a six-game losing streak with a 20-18 victory over Riverside.