HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : White Leads Crespi Past St. Francis, 33-6

Ho-hum. Another day, another record. It’s all in a day’s work for Russell White.

By the time the sophomore tailback graduates from Crespi High, he may set more marks than Wayne Gretzky.

Going into Saturday night’s Del Rey League finale at St. Francis, White needed only one touchdown to break the school’s season record of 19, set by Brian Porter in 1965.

White had three--all in the first half--to lead the Celts to a 33-6 victory over St. Francis.

The win improved Crespi, ranked No. 2 in The Times Valley poll, to 9-1 overall and 4-1 in league. St. Francis fell to 2-7-1 and 1-4.

The records have become so commonplace that half of the time he doesn’t even know he’s closing in on one.

“I didn’t even know I was tied for the record,” White said. “I was just trying to run the ball. The one I was going for was Andy’s.”

White, who has led the Valley in rushing since Week 1, fell out of the lead on Friday when Harvard’s Andy Bell took it over with 1,521 yards.

Bell enjoyed that lead for about 24 hours. Saturday night, White picked up 138 yards on 17 carries to finish the regular season with 1,606 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Only 28 of his yards on Saturday came in the second half.

That didn’t hamper Crespi’s running game, however. Fullback Jeff Kellogg gained another 84 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown, while tailback J.J. Lasley added 64 on seven carries.

Receiver Eric Kieling scored the Celts’ other touchdown when he grabbed a pass in the end zone from Rob O’Byrne for an 18-yard score.

Despite the 9-1 record, Crespi will enter the Big Five Conference playoff next week as the Del Rey League’s second-place team. St. John Bosco, which beat Crespi last week, 32-27, won the league championship.

“We were really pumped up for St. John Bosco last week,” Kellogg said. “It was a big disappointment when we lost. We really needed this win to get us back on track.”