The Preps : No Coincidence: Redell Is Back, and So Is Crespi

A definite pattern was developing, and Bill Redell thought he had this coaching business all figured out.

In 1981, Crespi High School went 3-7. Redell took over the next year and the Celts finished at 8-3.

He left to do some barnstorming, very much unplanned at that, as an assistant general manager and assistant coach with the Boston-New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League.

In 1984, Crespi went 0-9-1 and was outscored, 277-89. Redell returned the next year and the Celts won their first four games en route to a 6-4 record.

That would seem to say plenty for Redell as a coach.

“What that says is that I should leave every year, maybe let somebody come in and screw things up and then return,” he joked the week the 1986 season began.

A novel approach, but one that probably will not be tested again. If Redell were to leave the Encino school again soon, Crespi officials might bar him from the grounds forever. Besides, with Redell staying another year, the team is winning.

Yes, the Celts are a success in 1986, with Redell, the former Canadian Football League quarterback, in charge for the second year in a row. Crespi could be a big success in the Big Five Conference.

“If we stay healthy we could win the whole thing,” Redell said. “No team will out-quick us.”

Which brings us to Russell White. If you haven’t heard of him yet, you will soon.

Said Burbank Coach Dave Carson: “He’s better than anybody we’ve seen this season and, thinking about it, better than anyone we saw all last year.” White had 108 yards and 3 touchdowns in 10 carries in a 33-7 Crespi win over Burbank last Friday.

White’s two-game totals: 259 yards and plenty of rave reviews and comparisons.

“He’s not as big as (Aaron) Emanuel, but he seems to be a better athlete,” said Carson, whose team played against Emanuel when the USC tailback was at Quartz Hill two years ago. “He runs great, catches the ball well and takes up a lot of space when he blocks.”

Something else to keep in mind: White, the nephew of former USC Heisman Trophy winner Charles White, is just 15 and a sophomore.

The Celts (2-0) also have one of the top linebackers in the area in Sean Howard, 6-5 and 215; tight end, John Carpenter, 6-5 and 230, and 10 other returning starters. Yes, this could be a big year at Crespi, provided somebody doesn’t come in and screw things up.

How times change: Westminster opened the season with size, a great defense, 14 starters back and ranked No. 1 in many area polls and No. 17 in the nation by USA Today. Being in the limelight sure was fun.

“We’ve been preparing our kids for this (the high rankings) since January,” co-Coach Jim O’Hara said. “The people have a very good work ethic here so I don’t worry about any complacency here.”

And then the Lions played a game.

A 14-14 tie with Valencia of Placentia was hardly what most people expected.

After beating Irvine last Thursday to improve to 1-0-1, Jack Bowman, the team’s other coach, thought about the difference in the two weeks and said: “The kids were scared to death of their No. 1 ranking.”

Think some people would have some fun if Compton of Dominguez and Culver City were to play this year? If nothing else, it would make for a good group picture.

The starting cornerbacks at Dominguez are Rynatro and Shintaro Harris, identical twins.

The starting wide receivers at Culver City are Karlos and Kayton Carter, identical twins.

You really can’t tell the players without a scorecard.

When those teams finish playing doubles, the winner could play Burbank and its starting wide receivers Brett Howard. Both of them.

Brett Howard and Brett Howard are not related. They just share the same name.

The Carson football team has implemented a stricter version of the City’s C-average, no-fail rule, changing the district policy of 10 weeks on the sideline to the entire season in fairness to those who are playing all the time.

“The (eligible) players are out there working their tails off all the time,” Coach Gene Vollnogle said. “The kids who are ineligible now can’t take part in workouts past 3 (p.m.) on school days. The rest of us are working all the time, putting new things into the game plan and all of the sudden the 10-week mark comes and we bring the other players in? I don’t think that’s fair to the team.

“If they’re not eligible, we’re not going to pick them up at midseason. We’ll go with what we’ve got. It just disrupts too many things.”

Add eligibility: According to a report from Texas, three basketball recruits and nine football recruits at Southwest Conference schools are ineligible because, although they might have made the standards set down by Proposition 48, they did not do it on national test dates, as required by the NCAA.

In other words, it’s not just important how you do, it’s when you do it.

The tests can be taken most any time during the year, but only 10 dates are set aside when the testing services monitor the exams, and only then are they said to be official.

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Prep Notes El Modena of Orange, a Southern Conference semifinalist and one of the top teams in Southern California last year, is 0-2 in 1986 and has been outscored, 63-0, by Huntington Beach Edison and Anaheim Esperanza. . . . Chris Martin of Whittier Christian, an All-Southern Section 1-A choice in basketball last year who is playing his first year of varsity football, had 296 yards and 5 touchdowns in the Heralds’ 44-15 win Saturday against Big Bear. He has 501 yards in two games. . . . Albert Fann, a key member of the Reseda Cleveland basketball team that reached the City 4-A basketball finals last season, rushed for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns Friday in the Cavaliers’ 18-7 win over Chatsworth. . . . Tackle Matthew Butkus, son of Dick, is the first sophomore to start on the offensive line for L.A. Loyola in 15 years. He is 6-2, 220.