Crespi ‘Steals’ One From Valiants : Celts’ Fourth Straight Win, 7-0 Over St. Genevieve, Easy to Forget

When Crespi High faced off against St. Genevieve in the rain Saturday night, neither team exactly lit up the scoreboard. The offenses hardly sparkled.

Eventually, Crespi won, 7-0, at Birmingham High. It was as boring as it sounded.

“It was like stealing, winning this game,” said Crespi Coach Bill Redell, whose team won its fourth straight. “St. Genevieve deserved to win. They outplayed us.”

In the early going, Crespi tried to go to the air, but quarterback Randy Redell was repeatedly chased from the pocket. During the Celts’ first two possessions, Redell was dumped four times for losses totaling 27 yards.

Crespi was also unable to mount much of a ground game.

Meanwhile, St. Genevieve moved the ball on its first possession, after taking over at Crespi’s 45. Quarterback Andy Sherman hit running back Leti Malieitulua twice for 22 yards, and wide receiver Ricardo Gonzales once for a 13-yard gain.

The drive stalled, however, when Malieitulua fumbled on the two. Crespi recovered.

Once again, Crespi couldn’t get anything going offensively. The Celts punted after six plays.

The Valiants, though, were equally inept. They punted after just three plays.

So it went. Mostly hard-hitting, defensive football. Not only was neither team able to score in the first quarter, excluding the St. Genevieve drive to the two, neither team came close.

In the second quarter, ho-hum, it was more of the same.

St. Genevieve’s defensive backs confused Redell long enough for the Valiant defensive line to close in and disrupt Crespi’s passing attack.

The Valiants had an opportunity to score late in the half, after driving from the Crespi 32 to the eight. Jeff De La Cruz attempted a 24-yard field goal, but he was wide to the left.

The half ended, 0-0. Up to that point, it was a judgment call as to whether the defenses were playing well, or the offenses were simply having a bad night.

St. Genevieve opened the second half with a 61-yard drive highlighted by Sherman passes to Dan Padilla and Brendon O’Conner for 16, 7, and 12 yards. The drive ended on the Crespi 14, as De La Cruz missed another field-goal. Notably, the snap was low and by this time, the conditions were soggy at best.

The game was flawed by turnovers. In the second half alone, the teams combined for three interceptions and a fumble.

Crespi’s placekicker Peter Zenobi attempted field goals from the 38 and 30. Both times, Zenobi came up short.

With 3:31 left in the fourth quarter, a Sherman pass was picked off by Mike Weller, his second interception of the night. That put the Celts on the Valiant 28.

Four plays later, running back Jon Budge hauled in a pass from Redell for a 17-yard touchdown.

St. Genevieve tried a comeback, but Sherman was intercepted again with 30 seconds left in the game.

Redell finished completing 11 of 19 passes for 97 yards.

Sherman completed 16 of 27 for 162 yards.

Crespi is 4-0, while St. Genevieve fell to 2-2. Crespi faces Canyon next week at Birmingham High.