He’s No Throw-In : High school football: Three-sport standout Brignac switches from receiver to quarterback of fast-rising Cleveland.

Forgive James (Junior) Brignac if, at some point during the upcoming football season, he flutters what looks like a curveball over the outstretched hands of an open receiver.

Cleveland High’s new quarterback occasionally might choose the wrong type of delivery.

One of the best athletes in the area, Brignac (pronounced BRIG-nack) is preparing for a second season as a three-sport standout for the Cavaliers.

But instead of playing a supporting role in his senior season, Brignac was given the reins to Cleveland’s offense and asked to continue the Cavaliers’ remarkable turnaround from a 1-9 season in 1993 to a possible City Section 4-A Division playoff berth this fall.

As a junior, he excelled at wide receiver, catching 25 passes for 431 yards and six touchdowns.

At small forward, Brignac led the basketball team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points a game.

Although the baseball team struggled to a 7-16 record, Brignac was selected to the All-City 4-A team after batting .386 as the starting shortstop and a part-time relief pitcher.

Brignac’s cross-training intensified over the summer. Fourteen-hour days were spent participating in passing league, playing shortstop and pitching for the Central Valley American Legion baseball team and competing in a summer basketball league.

“Usually during the season I’m thinking more about the sport I’m playing at the time,” Brignac said. “But there are times when I drop back to pass that I’ll forget and put a little extra on the throw, put more of a baseball motion.”

College scouts relish the prospect of the 6-foot-3 1/2, 180-pound Brignac using his leaping ability to snare passes over smaller defensive backs.

Brignac will showcase his receiving talents intermittently. But his concentration in practice the past two weeks has been purely at quarterback.

Other than a few snaps last season, Brignac hasn’t played quarterback since he was in youth leagues. But he has the tools.

He’s run the 40-yard dash as swiftly as 4.5 seconds. And his arm?

“Don’t worry, he’s got an arm. I mean he’s got an arm ,” receiver Alex Kalinowski said. “He can throw it 50 yards accurately, easy. It’s much stronger than [Johnny Lopez] our quarterback last year.”

With a strong, experienced line and several speedy backs and receivers, Cleveland is poised to become one of the top teams in the Northwest Valley Conference.

But Brignac still has plenty to work on.

“The release is the biggest thing,” Brignac said. “There is a difference between the way I throw a football and a baseball. I’ve got to get rid of the ball quicker and straighter.”

Reading defenses provides another challenge. Youth football doesn’t provide much preparation for the future Division I athletes Brignac will face against the secondaries of Kennedy and San Fernando high schools.

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If he succeeds and leads Cleveland to the 4-A playoffs, it will mark the culmination of a two-year turnaround. In the Cavaliers’ 1-9 season in 1993, Cleveland scored only 54 points.

Cleveland last season improved to 6-6 and advanced to the second round of the City 3-A playoffs. Included was a watershed victory over San Fernando, a perennial playoff participant.

“The school went nuts after that game,” Brignac said. “I was happy but I feel there’s still more to do.”

Brignac was more than just a wide receiver. He was named to the City Section 3-A All-City team as a defensive back and in limited duty as the backup quarterback, completed two of six passes for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Most of the Pacific 10 and Western Athletic Conference schools with competitive football and baseball programs have contacted him.

Football might be his ticket to a scholarship but his mother, Janice, knows where his heart lies.

“Even in the middle of football season, he’ll be going over to the batting cage, working on his swing,” she said. “Just watch, he might be in the [football] playoffs, but he’ll still be at the cage, working on the swing.”

Truth be told, Brignac’s most-fond memory in athletics was starting the first baseball game of his freshman season on the varsity weeks after transferring from Granada Hills.

Brignac was cut from the Highlander junior varsity after missing a practice.

There have been only two interruptions in Brignac’s year-round schedule during his high school career.

In ninth grade, he was pulled off a youth basketball team by his mother after his grade-point average slipped below 2.0.

The wakeup call served its purpose. Six weeks later, his grades having improved, Brignac was back on the court.

“I didn’t understand at first. I didn’t think about grades being that important,” Brignac said. “But she said if I didn’t learn then, it would cost me later on.”

Lesson learned. With a 3.3 grade-point average and an 850 on his first attempt at the Scholastic Assessment Test, Brignac already has met the eligibility standards to obtain a Division I scholarship.

Janice Brignac, fearing injury, prevented her son from playing football until his junior year. Finally, she figured he was responsible enough to make his own decision. He decided he wanted to play and she gave permission.

Perhaps it is more than coincidence that Brignac’s first season coincided with the Cavaliers’ upswing.

“He’s not the type to be real vocal but he does have leadership qualities,” Kalinowski said. “We knew at the end of last year he was the logical guy to take over at quarterback and help us to the next level.”