Crespi Beats Loyola, 21-14, Once White Gets Going

Crespi High found itself in a somewhat different situation Saturday night at Glendale High. The Celts were losing.

Crespi, which had never trailed in its first seven games this season, was behind Loyola by 14 points at halftime and, if that wasn’t bad enough, its talented tailback, Russell White, had been smothered by the Loyola defense.

Crespi, ranked No. 2 in the Southern Section Big Five Conference and The Times’ Valley poll, rebounded to score 21 points in the second half and notch a 21-14 Del Rey League victory.

It was the Celts’ first win over Loyola since 1980 and only its third victory over the Cubs in 14 meetings.

Crespi limited Loyola to only 24 total yards in the second half, and White and running Jeff Kellogg started finding holes in the Cubs defense.

What was the difference between the first and second halves?

“Effort,” Crespi linebacker Sean Howard said. “At halftime, we got chewed out. We had to show the true Crespi character. We came out in the second half and really got physical. They were talking a lot in the first half, but they weren’t saying much in the second half.”

Loyola Coach Steve Grady, however, was willing to talk.

“We ran out of gas,” he said. “We’re little guys. They’ve got a lot of weapons. Russell is fast and Kellogg is good, too. We played our hearts out but they’re hard to beat. This is their year.”

The loss was Loyola’s second straight and dropped the Cubs to 6-2, 1-2 in league. They lost, 28-27, to St. John Bosco last week. Crespi, which improved to 8-0, 3-0 in league, will meet St. John Bosco next week in a game that will likely decide the Del Rey championship.

Perhaps the biggest news from Saturday night’s game was that White was held to less than 100 yards. It was the first time this season that it has happened.

The sophomore tailback gained a paltry 97 yards and scored the game-tying touchdown, an eight-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Kellogg, a senior, gained 115 yards in 15 carries.

“They were keying on Russell,” Kellogg said. “So we just used him as a decoy and punched me up the middle on them.”

On the Celts’ next possession after White’s touchdown, quarterback Rob O’Byrne scored on a 14-yard bootleg to give Crespi the lead and the win.

“I felt a real rush as I scored,” O’Byrne said.

“Rush” was right. Crespi pounded away at the Loyola defense for 308 rushing yards.

Running back J.J. Lasley added 60 yards on seven carries. His 40-yard touchdown run on a fake reverse to White got Crespi on the board with 5:24 left in the third quarter.

Loyola running back John Winnek gave the Cubs an early 7-0 lead when he scored on a seven-yard run late in the first quarter. Winnek’s run capped an impressive 11-play, 80-yard drive.

Winnek, Loyola’s leading rusher with 675 yards, was injured on the scoring play, however, and was taken off the field on a stretcher. He was taken to Glendale Adventist Hospital with what was believed to be a broken left leg.

RUSSELL WHITE, CRESPI HIGH RUNNING BACK

ATT YD AVG TD Saturday 19 97 5.1 1 Season 100 1,313 13.1 18