Crespi Gets All Tied Up by Redlands

After the game, Crespi Coach Bill Redell was being diplomatic, which was understandable since he had practiced it most of the first half of Friday night’s game against Redlands High with a live microphone taped to his side.

Portions of the game were shown live to a national audience on ABC-TV. And even though Crespi appeared poised for a Hollywood-style happy ending, the guys in the dark jerseys--Redlands--spoiled the show.

Redell was choosing words carefully, but once he started to think about the final outcome he spoke rapidly, and with much less hesitation.

“We should have scored,” Redell said, “Should have scored? I think we did.”

Redell scratched his head as he spoke above the roar of thousands of screaming Redlands fans, all of whom had just seen Crespi fail to score on three consecutive quarterback sneaks by Rob O’Byrne with less than a minute remaining in the game.

A rowdy Redlands team held off O’Byrne, running back Russell White and Crespi--rated No. 1 in the country by the National Prep Poll--fighting the Celts to a 17-17 draw at Redlands University.

Crespi sputtered throughout the game, including the entire second half--spent without White, who was injured. No wonder Redell was beside himself. And a little confused.

“Hey, they beat us,” Redell said. “I mean tied us. Hell, it feels like they beat us.”

White, the state’s leading rusher last season as a sophomore with 2,399 yards, left the game midway through the second quarter after suffering a hip pointer. He finished with a career-low 23 yards on eight carries.

In his absence, Crespi could not effectively run its ground-oriented offense. It came to an ugly head on the controversial keeper by O’Byrne with 18 seconds remaining.

O’Byrne hit receiver Eric Kieling with a 30-yard pass to the Redlands 18 with 1:30 left. After fullback J.J. Lasley carried for six yards to the 12, O’Byrne scrambled for an 11-yard gain, setting up a first-and-goal at the 1.

With 1:45 left, O’Byrne tried his first sneak and was stopped cold. Crespi reloaded, but again O’Byrne was stopped at the goal line.

After a Crespi timeout, O’Byrne tried one last time on third down and appeared to break the plane of the goal. The ball seemed to come loose only after O’Byrne hit the ground, but Redlands pounced on it and the officials ruled it a fumble and a touchback with just eight seconds left. Redlands then ran out the clock.

“The official asked for the tape, but I’m going to burn it,” Redlands Coach Jim Evans quipped.

O’Byrne was burned up, too.

“I was in the end zone,” the senior quarterback insisted. “That’s all I have to say.”

Like Redell, however, O’Byrne found a second wind.

“I scored. I was sitting there in the end zone, waiting for the call. I know I was there before I lost the ball.”

Crespi had taken a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter without White and virtually without Lasley, who suffered cramps throughout the game. Crespi kicker Bill Gould had given the Celts that lead with a 29-yard field goal with 2:38 left in the third.

But Crespi threw blanks the rest of the way, largely because O’Byrne had to throw the ball to pick up yardage and Crespi is not a passing team.

“Losing Russell and J.J., sure that played a factor,” Redell said. “But we just weren’t sharp.”

Crespi rushed for a mere 42 yards.

Crespi took a 7-0 lead on its first possession, which was set up by a six-yard punt by Redlands’ Eric Wilson. White was tripped and visibly angered on his first three carries, which netted zero yards.

On his fourth carry, however, White cut off tackle from the 13-yard line for a touchdown. The run capped a six-play, 24-yard drive.

Redlands pulled to within 7-6 two possessions later, when short-yardage running back Larry Cabral plowed in for the first of two one-yard scoring runs. The conversion kick failed.

Crespi took a 14-6 lead when White took a pass from O’Byrne at the Redlands 40, faked defensive back Jason Benge nearly into the stands and cruised into the end zone for a 39-yard score.

It was the last of White, who was injured on Crespi’s next possession when a Redlands player slammed into his hip head-first on a sweep. White left the game under his own power and spent the rest of the game pacing the sideline.

Redlands tied the score, 14-14, on Cabral’s second blast up the middle in the second quarter and a two-point conversion pass. After falling behind on Gould’s field goal, Redlands tied the score again on Joaquin Solis’ 36-yard field goal with 6:41 left in the game.

“We talked and talked all summer about beating Crespi,” Evans said above the roar of the partisan crowd. “We felt we had nothing to lose playing against the No. 1 prep team. They thought we were a bunch of country bumpkins. We tied the best team in the nation, and I think we should have beat them.”