HIGH SCHOOLS : Football Playoffs : Offense Lay Built for Orange Glen Is Key to Winning His Final Game

First question:

What’s the big news at Orange Glen High School this week?

(a.) Dave Lay, the school’s football coach, has been hired as offensive coordinator at San Diego State.

(b.) The team Lay now coaches is 12-0 and headed for San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium to play Morse for the section 3-A championship at 8 p.m. Saturday.

(c.) Both a and b.

Answer: (c.).

Second question:

How will (a.) affect (b.)?

Answer: Get this right, and you might be able to predict a winner Saturday.

To listen to Lay and Orange Glen’s other coaches tell it, Lay’s impending move has had no influence on the Patriots as they prepare to play in their first section title game since 1967.

But it’s hard to imagine that news of Lay’s hiring by new San Diego State Coach Al Luginbill hasn’t been a distraction.

“It really hasn’t been talked about at all around here all week,” said Ken Walker, coach of Orange Glen’s quarterbacks and receivers. “The kids are really excited for Coach Lay. Deep down, they know he’s a great coach, and he’s going to where he deserves to be.”

Certainly, this year’s Orange Glen team deserves to be where it is, and Lay is a big reason.

After 6 years at Colorado State, the final two as offensive coordinator, Lay came to Orange Glen at the beginning of the 1987 season and installed a sophisticated college-level passing offense.

Last year, the Patriots qualified for the playoffs for the first time 13 seasons and advanced to the 3-A quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Point Loma, 21-0.

Orange Glen hasn’t lost since. It paid Point Loma back last week by winning a 3-A semifinal, 21-14, and qualifying for Saturday night’s championship game.

Point Loma, like all of the teams before it this season, had trouble slowing an Orange Glen offense led by three all-county performers--quarterback Cree Morris, wide receiver Jake Nyberg and tackle Greg Martinson--and orchestrated by Lay.

“The thing Orange Glen has is tremendous balance,” said San Dieguito Coach Ed Burke, whose team finished second behind Orange Glen in the Palomar League. “And I’m not just talking about run versus pass. They go equally right versus left and equally strong side versus weak side. And they do everything pretty well.”

Orange Glen’s passing attack has received most of the attention this year. Morris led the county with 2,512 passing yards and threw for 23 touchdowns. Nyberg was the county’s leading receiver with 72 receptions for 1,211 yards.

But the Patriots’ rushing attack can’t be overlooked. In the the first round of the playoffs, on a muddy field, Orange Glen turned to running back Dennis Esposito, and he responded with 154 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“Their passing attack is unique to this level, but I really believe their running attack is harder to stop,” Burke said. “They use a sophisticated zone blocking pattern where Esposito just runs in behind the line and looks for a seam. There’s no hole intended to be there, it just develops. So it’s hard to plan your defense to stop it.”

Orange Glen averaged 31 points per game this season, third best in the county behind Rancho Buena Vista and Morse.

What’s sometimes forgotten is that the Patriot defense allowed an average of 12.3 points, seventh best in the section.

What’s not forgotten is that this will be Lay’s last game, win or lose.

“A win would sure be a great way to end it,” Lay said.