Crespi’s Fauria is a true giant

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If I could watch Crespi tight end Joseph Fauria for 15 games this season, life would hardly be boring.

He’s so fun to observe, then speak to after games. At 6 feet 8, he towers over everyone, including small sportswriters. But he loves to compete so much and his ability to catch a football is as good as it gets for someone his size. I covered his three uncles when they played at Crespi, and they all play the same way: With a relentless passion to succeed, while having fun in the process.

His two touchdown catches against Santa Ana Mater Dei Friday night, measuring 40 and 22 yards, helped put the Celts into the Pac-5 Division semifinals. He picked up a 15-yard penalty for diving into the end zone when there weren’t any players around, though.

‘I apologized,’ said Fauria, who insisted he thought someone was coming from behind. Of course, he was smiling and he may be running some laps on Monday as punishment. But he’s such a good player and an even better personality. And let me predict after his playing days at Crespi and then at the University of Notre Dame, we’ll be seeing him in the NFL, like his uncle, Christian.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-Image by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times