Reality Helping Brignac Put Game in Perspective

Marquis Brignac was ready to chuck it all.

Forget the football scholarship to Cal State Northridge.

To heck with the Gridiron War all-star game tonight at Santa Monica College.

Death has a way of rearranging one’s priorities.

The Taft High running back learned Tuesday night that Jacoby Brigg, his 16-year-old cousin, had died of leukemia.

Suddenly, football seemed a lot less interesting. So did pretty much everything else.

“But my mother told me to play, that it would be the right thing to do,” said Brignac, who rushed for 1,855 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior to lead Taft to its first City championship. “She reminded me that football is something that I love, that I couldn’t give it up.”

So, Brignac will play at 7 tonight in the inaugural Gridiron War, which pits City Section players against their Southern Section counterparts.

After missing two practices this week to grieve with his family, Brignac will be playing with renewed enthusiasm and desire.

“This means more to me now than any other game,” he said. “I realize I have an opportunity that my cousin will never have. It won’t only be me playing. It will be him, too.”

Brignac, co-most valuable player of the Valley Youth Conference all-star game on June 5, will be joined on the City team by six other players from the region.

Taft teammates Lawrence Wallace, Dionte Hall and Michael Adams will play along with Robert Garcia and Peter Gunny of Granada Hills and Tony Sanchez of Sylmar.

Quarterback Robert Mueller and tight end Kevin Carden of Crespi are the only players from the region on the Southern Section team.

“We were talking about how we were the ones to get chosen out of so many schools from the Valley,” Mueller said. “It probably had something to do with Shaun Williams.”

Williams, the former Crespi safety now playing with the New York Giants, is one of several NFL players from the greater Los Angeles area to contribute money to help get the game off the ground.

All-Pro receiver Keyshawn Johnson of the New York Jets, who attended Dorsey, is another major donor.

Organizers hope to develop a game that will someday rival the Shrine Game, which features the top players from California against stars from Texas.

“In our eyes, it should take over local interest from the Shrine [Game],” said Chuck Price, director of game operation for the Gridiron War. “With the Shrine, you only get about 15 players from the [L.A.] area. With this game, you have about 90 guys all from around here.”

The City will run a Wing-T offense, with Brignac, City co-player of the year, and Michigan-bound Charles Drake of Westchester as the featured backs.

Oregon-bound receiver Samie Parker of Long Beach Poly and all-state receiver James Dunn of St. Monica will be the primary targets for Southern Section quarterbacks, who will play behind an offensive line that averages 290 pounds.

“It’s going to be fun playing behind a line like that,” Mueller said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Gridiron War

Where: Santa Monica College

When: 7 tonight.

Who: City Section stars vs. Southern Section stars

Fast fact: The inaugural game is sponsored by several NFL players, who once played for Los Angeles-area high schools, including safety Shaun Williams of the New York Giants, formerly of Crespi.