SAN DIEGO SECTION FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Defense Prevails for El Camino, Point Loma : 3-A championship: Faulkner scores twice in Point Loma’s 14-0 victory over Vista, the first 3-A title-game shutout since 1980.

The loser of this bet cried all the way to a championship.

John Faulkner won’t forget Saturday night for a very long time. Neither will a handful of teammates who just won an all-you-can-eat steak dinner.

Faulkner became a somewhat reluctant hero in the 3-A San Diego Section championship in which second-seeded Point Loma outplayed, outsized and ousted previously undefeated Vista, 14-0, in front of 12,000 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

A senior fullback who had five touchdowns going into into the game, Faulkner scored the two first-half touchdowns that provided the winning margin and an emotional night for Faulkner and his teammates.

“I am overwhelmed,” said Faulkner, who paused several times to gather his thoughts in the aftermath. “I couldn’t have asked for the line to do anything more. They gave me the holes I needed.

“I don’t know what more I can say. We came together as a family. It was a total team effort.”

It was the first time since 1980 and only the second time since the Section broke into 2-A and 3-A divisions in 1979 that a 3-A team has won the title in a shutout.

That accomplishment had a profound effect on Coach Bennie Edens, who has been at Point Loma 38 years and won his fourth section championship.

“Any time you can shut down a Dick Haines-coached football team, that’s something,” he said. “Shutting down a 13-0 team, that means you’re the best. No doubt about it.”

And there was no doubt that Vista was caught flat-footed by a swarming Point Loma defense it knew was good, but maybe not that good.

“They’re definitely the best defense we’ve seen, the fastest too,” said Vista quarterback Eric Jencks, who completed one pass in 12 attempts for minus-6 yards.

Haines has repeated the theme that statistics don’t count, wins and losses do, but Vista’s defeat--its second in the past 21 games--certainly was reflected in the numbers.

Vista gained 77 yards to Point Loma’s 279. The Panthers’ workhorse, Chato Jackson, entered the game averaging 111.3 yards a game. The Pointers respected him, knew they had to stop him, and did for the most part. Jackson rushed 22 times for 72 yards, five yards under Vista’s total production.

“Coming into the game, we thought a lot of Chato Jackson,” cornerback Micheal Driver said. “He’s a big fullback, runs through the middle. But our line shut him down.”

The worse the Panthers (13-1) had done offensively before Saturday was a 14-7 victory nine weeks ago against Mt. Carmel. So what was so impressive about Point Loma’s defense?

“Size, speed, athletes, pretty good coaching,” Vista defensive coordinator Gary Sakamoto said.

Point Loma jumped to a 14-0 halftime lead on runs of 30 and 35 yards by Faulkner.

After forcing Vista to punt from its 44 on its first possession, the Pointers took over on their own 28. Characteristically, they ran, with Rantie Harper (21 carries, 92 yards) and Faulkner (11 carries, 115 yards) picking up short yardage. Uncharacteristically, they passed. But the 11-yard gains picked up on completions to Shaunta Baker and Bryan Loyce helped set up Faulkner’s 30-yard touchdown run up the middle at 6:09.

“I heard footsteps on the first one,” Faulkner said.

The failed kick, on a fumbled snap, could have come back to haunt Point Loma, but it never did.

The Pointers redeemed themselves in the second quarter, when Faulkner swept right and scored from 35 yards out. Harper almost got stuffed on his conversion, but he made it over for the 14-0 lead.

Now, about that steak dinner. According to Faulkner, he promised his linemen that he would buy them steak dinners every time he gained more than 100 yards this season. This was his third such game.

Point Loma turned over the ball five times, but Vista was unable to take advantage of any of them. Vista’s biggest threat--and missed opportunity that took the wind out of its sails--came with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Two minutes earlier, Vista’s Jose Perez had recovered a Point Loma fumble at the Pointers’ 24-yard line. The Panthers could muster only short gains, and on fourth and one at the 16, they fumbled.

“Any time you’re inside the 20, you have a very good chance of scoring,” Edens said. “They couldn’t come up with the big play and at that point, the emotion left. Anything they had left.”

Point Loma’s defense, led this night by David Cunningham’s eight tackles and three sacks and La’Roi Glover’s eight tackles and one sack, left Vista with nothing.

“They’re the best defense I’ve played against,” Jencks said.