Lopez Rests With the Defense: The Evidence Points to Crespi

There will be, according to Alemany High Coach Enrique Lopez, two keys to tonight’s Big Five Conference championship game between Crespi and St. John Bosco. The first is whether Crespi’s defense can handle the Braves’ wide-open veer offense. The second is whether the St. John Bosco defensive players spend the night looking at the front of Russell White’s jersey or just the back of it after it has flashed by them.

Lopez says that Crespi will contain the St. John Bosco offense. And he’s convinced that White, Crespi’s brilliant 15-year-old tailback, will make the St. John Bosco defenders think they have anvils tied to their ankles.

His prediction: Crespi 34, St. John Bosco 21.

During the regular season, Lopez’s Alemany team, which finished with a 3-7 record, was buried by Crespi, 41-7, but pushed St. John Bosco to the limit before falling, 34-28. “We scored 28 points against Bosco, and there’s no way we should have scored that many. Not with the team we had,” Lopez said.

In November, St. John Bosco handed Crespi its only loss of the season, 32-27. Since then, Lopez said, Crespi’s defense has made enormous strides.

“Defensively, Crespi is so tough,” Lopez said as he watched a tape of the first meeting between the Big Five finalists. “It’s the main reason they’ve won so much. The defense has just been tremendous in the last few weeks. They’re always causing fumbles with a swarming, hitting defense. And in a big game like this, I’ll always go with the best defensive team. Right now, Crespi has a vastly better defense than St. John Bosco.”

What the Crespi defense will see in the 7:30 p.m. game at Anaheim Stadium is a well-oiled machine running the veer. Quarterback Jim Sterner runs the option offense efficiently, sliding down the line and either slicing through the defense himself or pitching the ball to tailback Oscar Meza. When the holes are closed, Sterner throws to several receivers, the best being Kelvin Means.

Watching the game tape of Crespi-St. John Bosco I, Lopez repeatedly pointed out how difficult the Bosco veer is to stop. On one play, Sterner faked a dive into the line then pitched to Meza for a 20-yard gain. At least seven Crespi defenders bought the fake, crashing into Sterner and pulling him to the ground before discovering that the ball, and Meza, were long gone.

“Somehow, when we played them we stopped that veer, or at least the running part of it,” Lopez said. “We made Sterner start thinking more about the pass. But when he started throwing at us, he killed us. Means is very, very hard to cover, and Sterner can really throw the ball.

“What Bosco does is dare you to stop the run. If you can’t, the game is over. You don’t have a chance. If you do stop the run, they go to the pass. And when you start dropping people off for pass coverage, they go back to the running game. It’s the most frustrating thing in the world for an opposing coach.”

But against Crespi, Lopez said, the Bosco veer may be veered right out of the game and back to Bellflower.

“Crespi is good against the run, very good. Maybe a 9 on a 10 scale,” he said. “I think they’ll handle the option run just fine, and that will force Bosco to throw.”

Running the veer would be quite a bit easier for the Braves if they had White.

“Russell White is one of a kind,” Lopez said. “They don’t come along too often like him. They don’t play him too much because he’s just a sophomore, and you don’t want to break a kid when he’s so young, but against Bosco, they’ll use Russell as much as they have to. He could have a really big game. That ‘He’s only a sophomore’ stuff has to go right out the window.

“Bosco has to try to keep Russell between the two tackles. If he gets outside, he’s gone. There is no one at this level that can consistently bring Russell down once he gets outside and into the secondary.”

At that moment, in the dim light of the film room, White took a handoff, pulled up to throw a pass but instead tucked the ball away and headed downfield. Twenty-five yards later he was bumped out of bounds by the St. John Bosco free safety.

“If the free safety has to make the tackles on White, Bosco will be in big trouble,” Lopez said. “He is so dangerous. If Bosco can find a way to keep Russell under 100 yards, they can win the game. But don’t count on it. Russell White will, I believe, put a lot of points on the board.”

Unless, of course, injuries play a role. White has been hobbled in the last few games, and teammate J.J. Lasley, also a running back, has not practiced all week because of a leg injury.

“If Lasley doesn’t play at all, and Russell gets hurt because he might have to carry the ball so many more times, then I think it’s all over for Crespi,” Lopez said. “Take Russell out of this game and Bosco should win.”

HOW ENRIQUE LOPEZ RATES CRESPI-ST. JOHN BOSCO

A 1-TO-10 SCALE ON TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

Crespi St. John Bosco Size 9 8 Speed 9 8 Passing 7 10 Running 10 9 Pass Defense 7 8 Run Defense 9 5 Special Teams 8 7

Prediction: Crespi 34, St. John Bosco 21