PREP FOOTBALL ’99 : GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE : Pilkington Eager to Show Off His Stuff : With a season of experience under his pads, quarterback looks to increase his repertoire in hopes of leading Santiago to a league title.

Brian Pilkington hasn’t always enthusiastically embraced the idea of playing football, but you certainly couldn’t tell the morning Santiago High football Coach Ben Haley handed out equipment this summer.

Haley didn’t start issuing pads until 8, but there was his 6-foot-5 junior quarterback at 6:30, first in line.

“Last year, I was late and I wound up getting the cheap pads,” Pilkington said. “This year, I showed up early and still wound up with the same pads.”

But that didn’t dampen Pilkington’s enthusiasm. He later spent the night at a teammate’s house and stayed up late talking about the Cavaliers’ chances of winning their first Garden Grove League title in more than 20 years.

This doesn’t sound like someone who thought about not suiting up this season.

“Every year I think about whether it’s worth it,” Pilkington said. “But once the season rolls around and I get the pads on, I’m a whole different person.”

Pilkington hopes to be a vastly improved player this season. He wasn’t a bad player last year--passing for nearly 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns in his second year of organized football and leading Santiago to its second playoff berth in 12 years.

But Pilkington was still feeling his way around. He didn’t take many chances, mainly because Haley wouldn’t allow it.

“Last year, we had him read basic two-man patterns and we ran a lot of rollouts,” Haley said. “This year, there will be a lot of two-step and five-step packages and we’ll have him read about half the field.”

Pilkington did a lot of handing off last year--mostly to senior James Thomas, who rushed for almost 1,800 yards. This season, Pilkington has another quality running back--junior Brandon Perry--and another solid offensive line.

But Pilkington said he is ready to broaden his horizons.

“Last year, I was afraid to speak,” he said. “I think I called three audibles. Hopefully this year, I can audible more, spread the field a little and make the defense work.”

Pilkington’s favorite target will probably be Trung Nguyen, who was known more last year for his five interceptions and his steady play at cornerback.

“Trung’s got speed galore and tremendous hands,” Pilkington said.

When Pilkington isn’t stretching defenses this fall, he will be stretching out his arm as a member of the Seattle Mariners’ scout team, which plays baseball on Saturdays. Pilkington is limited to about 25 pitches. Some of those pitches will be curveballs--”Blyleven curveballs.”

A few summers ago, Pilkington was taught that pitch by his uncle, Bert Blyleven, who had one of the nastiest curveballs in the major leagues when he played with the Twins, Pirates, Indians, Rangers and Angels.

“We don’t show anybody that grip,” Pilkington said. “We keep it in the family. I haven’t perfected it yet. I don’t have that snap that Uncle Bert did.”

That sharp-breaking curve, upper-80s fastball and mid-60s changeup helped Pilkington strike out 98 batters last year, the sixth-highest total in Orange County. In a game against Laguna Beach, Pilkington struck out 18.

As a freshman, he tossed a varsity no-hitter. That same year, Pilkington’s promising football and baseball careers almost ended. While playing quarterback for the freshman team, he was blindsided and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

“I couldn’t feel my upper body for an hour and a half,” he said. “I was about to say ‘No’ to football. But something inside of me said, ‘Don’t be a wuss. Go out and have some fun.’ I could walk off a curb tomorrow and break my arm, so I might as well enjoy myself.”