HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : It’s Two for the 2-A Show: Lincoln vs. El Camino for Title : Lincoln: Their angry young men, with help from a speedy newcomer, gained a measure of revenge and a berth in the championship game.

SAN DIEGO —  Lincoln High’s football team had 21 angry young men, all seniors, who vowed to put to rest a two-year-old inferiority complex.

Mind you, the Hornets did indeed advance to the San Diego Section semifinals in 1987 and 1988. Nothing to be ashamed of, but what gnawed at them was the fact that one team--San Pasqual--had terminated their title aspirations each year.

“We went in last year talking revenge,” said Thomas Baker, a senior outside linebacker and blocking back at Lincoln.

But revenge was not to come. Not then, anyway. San Pasqual, which came from behind in the 1987 game to edge Lincoln, 28-27, last year routed the Hornets, 40-29.

As fate would have it, this season Lincoln and San Pasqual again advanced through the preliminary rounds only to meet each other in the semifinals.

Here was one final opportunity for Lincoln’s seniors to prove they could indeed topple the North County power. One final opportunity to advance to San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, where the section finals are waged each year. One final opportunity to put themselves in position to earn a 2-A championship, something San Pasqual did in ’87.

Last chance--better take it.

Lincoln did, coming from behind twice in the final three minutes to pull out a stunning, 35-32, victory. (Lincoln plays El Camino for the title at 5 p.m. Saturday).

But this could hardly be called revenge. The senior almost singularly responsible for the final touchdown which came with less than 30 seconds remaining was the only senior on the team who did not experience either of the failures of the past two autumns.

Victor Dean did not play football for Lincoln the past two years because of eligibility problems. But without Dean this year, the Hornets most likely would not have advanced to the semifinals.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been on a team where the result of a game is in the hands of one player,” said Terrell Davis, a senior running back.

Against San Pasqual, Dean took a kickoff at his 23 with 34 seconds showing. San Pasqual had just went ahead, 35-32, following a nine-play, 58-yard drive. But that lead was short-lived because Dean ran the kickoff back 77 yards for a touchdown and gave Lincoln the margin of victory.

That was only an encore. Dean started the show the previous week in the quarterfinals against Grossmont. With the Hornets trailing, 25-19, Dean fielded a punt at his 21, bobbled it, picked it up a second time, looked straight ahead and dashed 79 yards into the end zone.

His touchdown return tied the score and put Lincoln into position to later win in a California tiebreaker.

Just luck?

Not really. Dean has returned seven punts or kickoffs for touchdowns this year. And the punt return against Grossmont came amid some odd circumstances.

“The officials were calling everything,” said Bakir Madyun, one of the top offensive linemen in the county, who was supposed to be blocking during the punt return. “So we were scared to block and we ended up just standing in their way.”

Dean’s main attribute is his speed.

“He may be the fastest player on the team,” said Vic Player, Lincoln coach.

That’s saying something because all four runners of Lincoln’s state-qualifying 400-meter relay team, which turned in a 41.6 last spring (Dwayne McAfee, Charles Brown, Scott Hammond and Doug Boyd), play football.

But wait, that’s not all. The Hornets’ 1,600-meter relay team, eighth fastest in the county last year (Hammond, Davis, John McCartney and Hanno Readen) also play football.

But Dean’s teammates and coaches say the returns are the result of more than just speed.

“I think he has the vision,” Davis said. “And it’s natural. He can feel it when he’s going to get hit, and he ends up making all the right moves.”

Vic Player, Lincoln coach, agreed.

“It’s a feeling,” he said. “It’s all natural. It’s nothing he works at or nothing we can teach, he just has it.

“And I’m sure glad he discovered it the last couple games.”

Yes, Dean has discovered it. He’s been questioned about it and he’s dwelled on it. But now he says he must forget about it.

He too speaks of his touchdown returns as a reliance on instinct or reaction--something not to be thought of if success is to continue.

“I’m just going to take it like I always do,” he said. “I’ll practice hard this week and play my best Saturday.”

While Dean’s late-game heroics have singled him out on a team heavy in team unity and light in individual superstars, they have also given the team reason to listen to another player, wide receiver Dwayne McAfee, who all season has been convincing the Hornets that “as long as there’s still time left on the clock, we can win.”

Some players say McAfee’s sideline rousting can become irritating. But they also say he has instilled an attitude in the team.

“We’ll be sitting down on the sideline and he tells us to get up,” Baker said. “He tells the crowd to get up and make some noise. And he does make a difference.”

“He even yells at the cheerleaders,” Player said.

McAfee gets his inspiration from a Bible passage.

“Philippians 4:13 says we can do all things through Christ which strengthen us, and that’s the attitude this team has,” he said. “Hey, San Pasqual is a good football team. They’re big and strong and they have a big offensive line that they marched behind and scored with a few seconds remaining. But still we didn’t give up.”

Added Charles Brown, a senior running back, “I know we had enough time to win even if Victor had gotten tackled. The offense would have taken over and moved down field as it can. I know we had enough time.”

Call it a team-wide attitude.

“Even the two games we lost (to Southwest, 21-18, and to Crawford, 13-6), they were saying we didn’t lose the games, we just ran out of time,” Player said.