Crespi Stops Notre Dame in 22-15 Del Rey Victory

If every football game ended the way Friday night’s contest between Crespi and Notre Dame did, it would be hard to find a coach with any fingernails.

With 36 seconds left, Notre Dame was one yard away from a tie or possible victory over its cross-town rival. And one yard can be an awfully long distance.

Notre Dame came to that reality as quarterback John Denz was stopped on a fourth-and-goal sneak, securing a 22-15 Del Rey League victory for Crespi in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Crespi had scored the game-winner with 9:12 remaining in the contest when Randy Redell hit receiver John Carpenter with a 42-yard touchdown pass.

A disappointed Benz said after the game that he believed he had scored on the fourth-down play.

“I really thought I was in,” he said. “I’m sure the ball broke the plane of the goal line. This is the toughest loss of them all because this is the one that ends everything.”

The win left Crespi, now 6-4 overall, and Notre Dame, 3-7 overall, with 2-3 league records and a slim chance of making the Big Five Conference playoffs. If Alemany loses to Loyola tonight, it would leave Alemany, Notre Dame and Crespi in a three-way tie for third place and the final playoff berth. The playoff team would then be decided with a coin toss.

A chance is all Crespi has wanted, even if it is a longshot. The Celts lost their first three league games and Coach Bill Redell has been talking about a tie for third place for two weeks.

Crespi has also had its eye on the Notre Dame game. It was a chance to break a two-game losing streak against the Knights.