SAN DIEGO SECTION FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : SECTION 2-A : El Camino Can Prove It’s Something Special : Football: La Jolla hopes Watson’s spark can offset balanced Wildcat attack.

La Jolla Coach Dick Huddleston knows all about about El Camino’s ferocious defense and efficient offense, and they scare him plenty. But Huddleston appears more worried about the impact El Camino’s special teams, particularly Noel Prefontaine, will have on the 2-A Section title game at 4 p.m. today at Jack Murphy Stadium.

“One of the things that people don’t respect is that they do such a good job with special teams,” he said. “They do such a good job of pinning you down, and sometimes it’s hard to get out of that hole.”

In this case, Prefontaine is the initiator of the pinning. He has become adept at angling kickoffs near either sideline at about the five-yard line so El Camino’s coverage team can bottle up the receiver. By keeping the ball in play, El Camino will run the risk of E.J. Watson running the ball back for a touchdown; he had a 92-yard touchdown return last week against San Pasqual.

But Huddleston said he’s expecting Watson to see the ball.

“I don’t think they’ll change anything,” Huddleston said. “They don’t want to kick it in the end zone, they want to keep you in a corner.”

Prefontaine doesn’t do a bad job of pinning opponents down with his punting, either. He is averaging almost 42 yards a punt.

And when he isn’t punting or kicking off, Prefontaine is running the El Camino offense. During the regular season, he threw for 672 yards and six touchdowns and ran for 271 yards and two touchdowns.

But El Camino’s special teams and Prefontaine could be only a sidelight if the Wildcats’ defense can’t contain Watson, who has rushed for 2,407 yards (a 9.9-yard average) and 30 touchdowns. Watson is coming off a Section-record performance of 370 yards and six rushing touchdowns against San Pasqual.

The gaudy statistics don’t scare El Camino cornerback Bryant Westbrook.

“He’s a great athlete, but he hasn’t played against a defense like ours,” Westbrook said. “His moves are his strength. I don’t think he’s all out fast, but he’s shifty.

”. . . I know he’s good, but he’s just one player. He can’t stop a whole team. They’re hyping him up in the papers like he’s Superman.”

Watson has El Camino linebacker Abdul McCullough’s respect.

“When he sees a seam, he goes,” McCullough said. “He has great vision. He almost always makes the first guy miss. But we’re kind of good at getting (helmets) on guys. And plus, he isn’t going to break away from us like he breaks away from other teams.”

McCullough said he remembers what his defense did to Watson last year in El Camino’s 28-7 victory in the 2-A semifinals.

“Everyone is saying E.J. Watson this, E.J. Watson that,” McCullough said. “Last year, we destroyed them and we held him to 12 yards in nine carries. They had a better team last year, I believe.

“He’s a great back. But I mean, they haven’t played El Camino. They’ve been playing all these other schools that don’t really know what defense is all about.”

Huddleston said El Camino saw a Watson who was bothered by a badly sprained ankle last year.

“He really shouldn’t have been playing,” he said.

Tonight, Huddleston said El Camino will see a different team and a different Watson. And even though he acknowledges that El Camino is a heavy favorite, Huddleston likes his team’s chances.

“They love the underdog role,” he said. “They are dangerous when they’re the underdog. They don’t know what losing is and they don’t want to find out.”

2-A Finalists

El Camino (12-1)

EC Opponent 20 Point Loma 0 42 Poway 0 7 Mission Viejo 14 21 Escondido 0 43 Carlsbad 0 28 Oceanside 14 44 Ramona 0 38 San Pasqual 22 30 San Marcos 6 31 Rancho Bernardo 7

Playoffs

50 Crawford 0 63 Oceanside 27 54 El Capitan 6

La Jolla (13-0)

LJ Opponent 21 Santana 10 31 St. Augustine 7 26 Castle Park 12 43 Hoover 6 42 Madison 6 49 Mission Bay 8 20 Mira Mesa 19 24 USDHS 20 28 University City 12 33 Kearny 7

Playoffs

33 Clairemont 0 12 Escondido 7 50 San Pasqual 49