Crespi Overcomes Mistakes to Rout Burbank, 33-7

As far as artful routs go, the 33-7 thrashing that Crespi High gave to Burbank on Friday night was anything but a masterpiece.

Van Gogh would have taken a knife to it.

Crespi was called for 147 yards in penalties. More flags were flying over the Crespi High field than over the United Nations building in New York.

“It was a lot of stupid penalties,” Crespi Coach Bill Redell said. “That bothers me a little bit. We shouldn’t be committing nearly that many mistakes. They were just stupid.”

Last week, in a 46-0 romp over El Rancho, Crespi was called for only 30 yards in penalties.

But, while the penalties were change from last week, not much else was different.

The Celts allowed Burbank seven total yards in the first half and sophomore tailback Russell White and his gang did nasty things to the Bulldogs’ defense.

White, the nephew of former USC Heisman Trophy winner Charles White, gained 108 yards on 10 carries and caught a 74-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Rob O’Byrne.

White, gained 151 yards and scored twice against El Rancho last week, added three more touchdowns Friday night.

His one-yard plunge in the first quarter gave the Celts a 14-0 lead. White then added the 74-yard reception in the second quarter, giving Crespi a 26-0 lead with 6:51 left. The Celts carried that advantage into the intermission.

White’s third touchdown, a 38-yard run on Crespi’s first series of the second half, put the Celts up 33-0, with 10:34 remaining in the third quarter, and they cruised from there.

White said that Burbank Coach Dave Carson’s remarks in the paper Friday morning added extra incentive.

“I didn’t like what he said this morning,” White said. “Saying they were going to hit me hard and all that. I guess they didn’t do too good a job of it, huh?”

Carson said that he was just stating fact.

“That’s what we had to do to win--get to him,” Carson said. “We had to see if he was legit--and he is. I don’t think that that made him play and harder, though.”

White was by no means a one-man show, however.

Teammate J.J. Lasley rushed for 63 yards on eight carries and scored on a 38-yard run in the first quarter, giving Crespi a 7-0 lead. Jeff Kellogg added 48 yards on nine carries, and John Budge gained 34 yards on eight carries.

Burbank’s only score came with 9:58 left in the third quarter, when quarterback Eric Vargas hit Abo Velasco with a 71-yard scoring pass.

Velasco also intercepted two O’Byrne passes.

Vargas completed 12 of 20 passes for 160 yards, but most of those came in desperation, and with the game already out of reach.