Brignac Catches On Fast and Helps Westlake Win

Michael Brignac received a lot of attention last season, for all the wrong reasons.

This year, he figures to be watched even more closely, this time by opposing defenses, fans and college recruiters.

On Saturday, the Westlake High senior-to-be grabbed the spotlight, as well as seven passes from Zac Wasserman, to lead the Warriors to a 20-0 victory over Hart in the championship game of the Hart summer passing tournament.

“I’m really excited,” said Brignac, who had 140 receiving yards. “I can’t wait for the season to start.”

Brignac thought he was ready for the 1998 season, but was ruled ineligible for varsity play by the Southern Section after his former school, Reseda, alleged that a Warrior parent used undue influence to lure him to Westlake.

He showed Saturday he was ready for 1999 by catching touchdown passes of 45 and 15 yards in the first half against Hart.

“This is going to be his year,” said Penn State-bound Wasserman, who completed 10 of 17 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns.

Wasserman connected with Tony Muna for a seven-yard touchdown in the second half.

Westlake, which won five games, including an 18-12 semifinal victory over Kennedy, shined on defense in the debut of defensive coordinator Troy Thomas. Thomas, a former Crespi assistant, was an assistant at Hawaii last year.

Hart, which outscored its first four opponents, 128-6, traditionally has one of the region’s most prolific offenses, and has not been shut out during the regular season in 10 seasons under Coach Mike Herrington and his staff.

“[The shutout] was totally unexpected,” said Coach Jim Benkert of Westlake, whose team had eight interceptions in the tournament--four by Josh Golden.

Chris Catalano had the Warriors’ only interception against Kyle Matter of Hart.

Matter, successor to All-American Kyle Boller at one of the state’s most productive quarterback factories, was impressive.

He shredded Littlerock, Crespi, Alhambra and Buena for a total of 17 touchdowns, many to Jared Bazar and Chris Ciccone.

Bazar missed much of the final because of leg cramps, however, and Matter struggled, completing eight of 18 passes for 100 yards.

Hart and Westlake could play again Saturday at Cerritos College in a passing tournament before the Shrine Game.

The biggest surprises were Chatsworth’s failure to advance out of pool play and Buena’s success without quarterback Kyle Loughman, who was on a school trip.

Chatsworth, with USC-bound quarterback Matt Cassel, tied Buena and Mira Costa with 2-1 records, but lost tiebreakers to determine who advanced.

Buena rode the arm of backup Paul Johnsonbaugh to upset Chatsworth, 14-0, in pool play.