El Camino Rolls to Semifinal Win

And the debate continues . . .

Which is better, El Camino High School’s offense or defense?

Judging from the Wildcats’ latest romp, a 54-6 thumping of El Capitan in the semifinals of the San Diego Section 2-A playoffs Saturday night at Mira Mesa High, it’s a tossup.

El Camino allowed a county-low 63 points during the regular season and 33 in three playoff games.

The Wildcats have scored 167 points in the playoffs after recording 304 during the regular season.

Again, pick one.

Either way, La Jolla has its work cut out. The Vikings, 50-49 winners over San Pasqual in the other semifinal Friday night, meet El Camino at 4 p.m. Saturday for the 2-A championship in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

But while second-seeded La Jolla (13-0) will be playing in its first final since 1980 and has yet to win a section title, top-seeded El Camino (12-1) is going for an unprecedented third consecutive crown and fifth since the school opened in 1976. Herb Meyer, El Camino’s coach, is going for his seventh title, including two at Oceanside High.

“Every one is special,” Meyer said. “Obviously, the first one is extra special, but I’ll never get tired of going and winning.

“Getting to the stadium is a major relief for us. I think there was a certain amount of pressure involved this year. Everyone had us pegged for this game as soon as we won it last year.

“Whether we can win or not, we’re in the stadium. That’s a lot right there.”

The pressure Meyer spoke of, early in the season was mostly because of El Camino’s swarming, overwhelming defense. But lately, the offense has been just as impressive.

“Everybody raves about our defense all the time,” Wildcat quarterback Noel Prefontaine said. “But hey, we’ve got a pretty good offense, too.”

No argument there.

After rolling up 175 first-half yards and taking a 17-6 lead, El Camino scored 20 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth to surpass 50 points for the third consecutive game.

Against El Capitan, which had won nine consecutive games and was playing in its first semifinal in more than two decades, El Camino took a 7-0 lead 2 minutes, 14 seconds into the game on its second play from scrimmage. Prefontaine hit receiver Herman Gordon on a short out pattern, and Gordon took it 22 yards for the first score.

El Capitan looked as if it would make it a game on its next possession--scoring on a 13-play, 80-yard drive--but it would prove to be the Vaqueros’ only serious threat until late in the game. After Greg Ryan kept the drive alive with a 29-yard carry on a reverse, James Hopkins scored on a one-yard plunge to make it 7-6 with 2:49 left in the first quarter. The extra-point kick was blocked by Bryant Westbrook.

El Camino went up 14-6 with 8:09 left in the half--Martin Arispe scoring on an eight-yard pass from Prefontaine. Prefontaine then made it 17-6 with a 36-yard field goal, his first of two.

Mike Gee (15 carries, 137 yards) scored on a 37-yard run in the third quarter, and the rout was on.