White Returns to Form in 28-7 Crespi Win : Celt Running Back Rebounds from Career-Low Game With 218 Yards, 2 Touchdowns

See Russell run.

A few days ago that sentence ended with a question mark rather than a period, after White was dinged up in Crespi High’s opener last week.

Friday night, it ended with an exclamation point. White carried the ball a career-high 27 times and finished with 218 yards.

White played . . . and played . . . and for good measure, he even started at cornerback as Crespi defeated Palmdale, 28-7, in a nonleague game at Palmdale.

It was all-systems go in Palmdale, where a new NASA space shuttle is being built. Any question of whether White would take flight was answered by a smile and a thumbs-up gesture from the junior tailback after the first series of downs.

White proved that he wants to post astronomical numbers again this season.

Last season, with an offensive line that sent two players to Division I schools, White never carried the ball more than 19 times in a game. Crespi finished the season with a 13-1 record and a Big Five Conference championship, while White led the state with 2,339 yards. Crespi had a hundred ways to beat you, and it didn’t hurt that White usually had a hundred yards by halftime.

By the second half, it never really mattered whether White had a second wind--it was all over except for the guys who have to keep track of the guy’s numbers.

This year, more than ever, it figures to be Russell right, followed by Russell left, until there isn’t any Russell left.

Crespi Coach Bill Redell said he plans to dare opponents to stop White.

“He’s more mature this year,” Redell said. “I can see him carrying the ball 25 to 30 times a game for us.”

And what’s more, Redell said White is thinking on his feet this year, too.

“What you have to remember is that a kid like Russell, when he only gets three or four yards on a carry, he gets a little discouraged,” Redell said. “This year it’s different. He’s a year older, he’s ready.”

In the first game of the season against Redlands, it was really different. White was practically whited-out in a 17-17 tie at Redlands that cost Crespi (1-0-1) the No. 1 ranking in the nation. A hip pointer kept White to a career-low 23 yards on eight carries.

Against Palmdale, White was right.

In fact, White had topped 23 yards by his third carry, finishing with 88 yards in the first quarter. By the half, he had 140 yards.

White also scored Crespi’s first two touchdowns, giving him four in two games. He scored on a 17-yard run in the second quarter, which got the Celts even, 7-7. He scored again on Crespi’s next possession from 15 yards out on an off-tackle play.

White gave a few pointers to the Palmdale defense, who tried to zero in on his sore hip: White left them lunging at shadows.

And for White, it should be more of the same this season.

White played until midway through the fourth period. By then, Crespi had erased any question that there would be a reprise of last week’s near demise.

“I’m a little tired,” he said as he slumped toward a postgame team huddle at midfield. “But I know I still have to do it.”

And do it all night long.