HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : SECTION PLAYOFFS : Winners This Weekend to Play for Championship Next : 2-A Semifinal: San Pasqual hopes the power of deception is unstoppable tonight when it employs its sleight of hand against the superior speed of Lincoln.

If you don’t have it, fake it.

This philosophy comes courtesy of San Pasqual High’s football team, which tonight goes up against Lincoln in a San Diego Section 2-A semifinal (7:30) at Mesa College and which must find a way to neutralize the Hornets’ superior speed.

Actually, the Eagles--who have knocked Lincoln out of the playoffs the past two seasons, once in the quarterfinals and once in the semis--might already have a way: deception.

By necessity, San Pasqual has become somewhat of an illusionist, employing misdirection and option plays, the football equivalent of mirrors and sleight of hand.

The trickery has worked well. The Eagles have an 11-1 record and last week in the quarterfinals faked St. Augustine out of its cleats, 29-0.

How fooled were the Saints? Well, consider that San Pasqual quarterback Jon Ramirez pitched the ball on the option only seven times, and four times, the pitch made its way to the ground. St. Augustine failed to recover any.

Not only did the Saints have trouble with the muffed laterals, they also had trouble keying on Ramirez when he did keep the ball. The quarterback hung on to it 12 times and gained 128 yards. In all, San Pasqual ran for 368.

When it was over, Mike Dolan, San Pasqual’s coach, said it had all been in the execution.

“That might have been the best game we’ve played in a long time.” he said.

But the challenge this week is complicated by Lincoln’s track meet style of play.

“I’m going to have to get a bigger television,” Dolan said after viewing films of Lincoln (10-2). “I only have a 19-inch screen, and their running backs keep running off it. I’m going to have to get one of those 10-foot Diamondvisions.”

That might be enough to contain Terrell Davis, but only because he runs up the middle.

In Lincoln’s quarterfinal at Grossmont last week, the Foothillers bottled up the inside and effectively took Davis out of the game. No problem. Quarterback Mike Temple just started handing off to Charles Brown and Doug Boyd, who have made a habit out of beating pursuers to the outside and turning the corner.

On Lincoln’s first three drives, Brown ran four times, gaining 59 yards and scoring two touchdowns. Boyd added 36 yards and a third touchdown on nine carries.

But Lincoln’s biggest burst of speed came on a punt return with two minutes remaining and Grossmont up, 25-19.

Victor Dean took the ball on his own 21 and did not stop until he crossed the goal line to tie the game and, more important, boost the adrenaline level of the Hornets, who went on to win, 31-25, in a California tiebreaker.

That boost is now the main concern of Lincoln Coach Vic Player.

“We seem to have a great win, then a let down,” he said. “Both of our losses came after big victories. First we beat Point Loma, in what was probably the only game all year our adrenaline stayed pumped for 48 minutes, then the next week we lost to Southwest. The next week we beat Morse, our neighborhood rival, and the next week Crawford beats us.

“I hope my team is in a different frame of mind this time.”