Playing for a Change for the Better : San Dieguito, Orange Glen Meet for Rare Shot at Title

San Dieguito and Orange Glen high schools, whose football programs have followed a similar path in the 1980s, meet tonight hoping the long and bumpy road will lead to a pot of gold.

Only one team can win the 1988 Palomar League championship, but these teams are just happy to have an opportunity.

“The funny thing is that a lot of the teams up here (in the Palomar League) have been playing good football for a long time,” San Dieguito Coach Ed Burke said. “But because we haven’t made the playoffs regularly, people only remember Vista and Fallbrook.”

Vista has won 5 league championships in the 1980s and has been to the playoffs 6 times. Fallbrook has 5 playoff berths this decade.

When the season ends, fans are likely to remember one of the teams meeting at Orange Glen High School tonight at 7:30:

-- Fifth-ranked San Dieguito, 6-1 and 3-1 in league.

-- Third-ranked Orange Glen, 8-0 and 4-0.

Orange Glen could clinch its first league title since 1977 with a victory. If San Dieguito wins, it will still need to beat Mt. Carmel next week to win its first Palomar championship since 1979. Both teams will go to the playoffs.

Neither has won a title during the 1980s. In fact, both programs seemed lost in a sea of defeat for some time. San Dieguito went 16-31-2 from 1980 to 1984, and Orange Glen was 17-32 from 1980 to 1984.

San Dieguito will rely on its ball-control running game, led by versatile running back Bobby Davis. San Dieguito’s plan will be to keep the ball away from Orange Glen quarterback Cree Morris, who leads the county in passing yardage with 1,946.

“He’s big league,” Burke said. “The best thing for us to do will be to control the ball. I want to keep Cree Morris over there standing right next to his coach on the sideline.”

San Dieguito’s offense was led earlier this season by halfback Adam Knox, who scored 7 touchdowns in the Mustangs’ first 4 games. But Knox was injured against Fallbrook on Oct. 14, and Davis was forced to move from fullback to halfback. Last week against Torrey Pines, Davis rushed for 187 yards on 30 carries and caught 5 passes for 82 yards.

When Orange Glen has the ball, Morris will look for Jake Nyberg, who is second in the county in receptions (52) and first in receiving yardage (920). Morris also can throw to San Diego Section 100-meter champion Glen Reyes, who caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Morris in Orange Glen’s 31-6 victory over Vista last week.