Crespi Crushes Westminster for 4th Straight, 23-6

Two things were established Friday night at Crespi High.

One, Crespi’s sophomore phenom tailback, Russell White, can be human at times.

Two, Crespi is for real. Those three previous victories weren’t because of a lack of competition.

These things were demonstrated in a 23-6 nonleague victory over a physical Westminster team that began the season ranked No. 1 in the Big-5 Conference and No. 17 in the nation by USA Today.

White, who had gained 452 yards in the Celts’ first three games and entered Friday night’s contest with a 16.1 yards-per carry average, was crushed by four Westminster defenders for a three-yard loss on his first carry. White gained 44 yards on 6 carries in the first half. Pretty respectable, but 31 of them came on one carry. He was caught four times for losses.

But after Westminster’s Dean Eddy caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mike Austin in the fourth quarter to cut the difference to 16-6, White stopped the Lions’ momentum immediately by taking the first play from scrimmage 88 yards for a touchdown run and a back-breaker.

“Great backs will do that to you,” Westminster co-coach Jim O’Hara said. “It’s two yards, one yard, two yards, 80 yards. Just like O.J. Simpson used to do.”

White finished with 158 yards in 11 carries.

As for those Crespi doubters, the ones who still remember last season, when the Celts won their first four games and finished with a 6-4 record, well, they are again 4-0, but there’s a difference.

Last season, they weren’t exactly drawing high praise from their opposition.

“They are as good as anybody in the state,” Westminster co-coach Jack Bowman said.

Crespi’s players are starting to believe it, too.

“If we play as a team, like we did tonight, we are going places,” said linebacker Sean Howard, who was involved in 11 tackles. “Let me tell you, we are for real. That’s definite.”

If mere talk still isn’t swaying the doubters, consider:

In four games, Crespi has outscored its opponents, 130-13.

The Celts (4-0) entered the week ranked second in The Times’ Valley poll and sixth in the Big Five Conference. Westminster fell to 1-2-1.

They have arguably the best running back in the area in White, who has gained 610 yards in 39 carries and is on a pace to break the school’s season rushing record by the eighth game of his sophomore season.

One of the signs of a strong football team is that the rest of the team still succeeds even when its star is struggling.

That’s what Crespi did Friday night.

When White and the rest of the Crespi running game was being stopped, Coach Bill Redell elected to go to the pass, behind a junior quarterback who hadn’t started until this season and whose major role on the team, until Friday, was to turn around and hand the ball to White.

Quarterback Rob O’Byrne responded by completing all 10 of his passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns, both to receiver John Carpenter.

Crespi took a 6-0 lead with 1:19 left in the first quarter when O’Byrne hit Carpenter with a 10-yard touchdown pass. Kicker Jon Budge’s point-after attempt was wide, however.

Budge atoned for his mistake in the second quarter, when he booted an unlikely 41-yard field goal.

Crespi had a third-and-eight situation at its own 22 yard line with time running out in the first half. O’Byrne saw receiver Eric Kieling sprinting down the left sideline and lofted a pass that would have landed in Westminster safety Eddy’s ear. Kieling, however reached out and tipped the ball away from Eddy and made an off-balance catch.

The play, which covered 41 yards, gave Crespi a first down on the Westminster 37 yard line. O’Byrne then hit Carpenter with a 14-yard pass with four seconds left in the half, setting up Budge’s field goal and supplying the Celts with a 9-0 lead at half.