SLICK BRICK TRICK CLICKS; BEHOLD BRECHT: HART RUNNER BELIEVES IT'S MORE BLESSED TO RECEIVE.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Daily News Staff Writer

It doesn't matter if you can run the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. Elusive backs with great cutback abilities are guaranteed nothing. And if your game is strictly running over people, find another position.

If you want to play running back at Hart High, you'd better be able to catch the ball. If you can't, learn fast. Otherwise, go stand in that long line across the field with all the other linebackers.

Those were the options facing Billy Brecht when he joined Hart's varsity team two years ago. His ability screamed running back, but his hands shouted linebacker.

``He wasn't a very good pass catcher,'' Hart coach Mike Herrington said.

That is, until Brecht started playing catch every day with . . . bricks. That's right, bricks.

It's fairly common, thanks to a pass-catching video put out by NFL great Jerry Rice. By playing catch with a brick, receivers learn to watch the ball into their hands rather than lunging at it. Brecht had a habit of grabbing at the ball.

Try doing that with a brick.

``You might break a finger or two,'' Brecht said.

In addition to improving technique, the hard exterior of the brick helps to toughen the skin.

It might sound a bit primitive, but it works. Brecht played catch with bricks - and even a few footballs - nearly every day during the summer before his junior year. When he reported to football practice, the results were obvious. Where his hands were once uncertain, now they were dependable.

The improvements won Brecht a spot in the starting lineup. He responded by rushing for 1,128 yards and seven touchdowns, but more importantly he caught 20 passes for 269 yards.

This year, with quarterback Kyle Boller throwing the ball all over the place, Brecht's rushing has slipped to 701 yards heading into tonight's Southern Section Division III semifinal game against Alemany, but his receiving has jumped to 47 catches for 605 yards.

Hart hosts Alemany tonight at 7:30 at College of the Canyons.

``He's been an important part of our offense,'' Herrington said. ``And the great thing is, it doesn't matter to Billy if he runs or catches the ball. In the past, we've had some guys who were a little bit selfish, and if they didn't get a certain amount of carries, they wouldn't be happy. Billy isn't like that at all, and for a coach, it's great to have players like that.''

In Hart's pass-first offense, the running-back position might seem like an afterthought. In reality, it's a vital component to the Indians' attack, providing a dependable pass option out of the backfield, while also forcing opponents to account for the run rather than dropping everyone back in pass coverage. Finally, the running back is often the last line of defense standing between Boller and those nasty pass rushers who want to take his head off.

Brecht has flourished in all of those roles and it's no secret why.

``He's one of the hardest workers we have,'' Herrington said.

And one of it's most unselfish.

On another team, maybe Brecht runs for more yards. He proved last year he can be a featured back in the right offense. But what good would running for 1,500 yards do if it takes away from the team? At Hart, victories are won in the air, not on the ground. That's the way it's been for more than a decade, and especially now with Boller piling up record-breaking numbers.

So don't expect Brecht to complain if he rushes for only 47 yards on four carries, as he did last week in a quarterfinal win over St. Francis. That isn't his personality. Besides, he enjoys winning too much.

``To me, that's all that matters,'' Brecht said. ``We're winning and everybody is happy.''

Especially those brick makers.

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Photo

Photo: A ``brick'' (missing the whole hoop) in basketball is bad, but back Billy Brecht knows the value of bricks in learning to catch a football.

John Lazar/Daily News