White Struts His Stuff as Crespi Trounces Alemany

When it comes down to it, there’s one really effective way to stop those Crespi High critters--slow down junior running back Russell White. If it can be done, it makes an opponent’s task so much less frightening.

Friday night at Alemany, White scored from 80 yards out on Crespi’s first play from scrimmage.

For Alemany, it might as well have been called Mission Impossible in Mission Hills. White racked up 223 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Celts raised their record to 7-0-1 and 3-0 in Del Rey League play with an easy, 38-14 win.

Every time White touched the ball, you could almost see chills running down the backs of the Alemany defenders. It was almost as though they were saying “This guy’s a ghost out here.”

“We worked on stopping him all week in practice,” Alemany Coach Enrique Lopez said. “But we don’t exactly have anyone like that to practice against. We have a guy that runs the 40 in 5.4.

“Heck, he runs it in 4.4.”

White scored on runs of 80, 10 and 75 yards, and returned the second-half kickoff 91 yards.

“We keyed on White, we just couldn’t get to him,” Lopez said. He broke all the tackles. My God, he’s incredible.”

Crespi’s defense did a number on the Alemany passing game. Quarterbacks Roy Talavera and Joey Rosselli were harassed all night by the Celts’ front four, and linebackers got in on the fun, too.

“They blitzed a lot without us knowing,” said Rosselli, a sophomore left-hander who was 10 of 25 for 138 yards and a touchdown. “From what I saw tonight, they have a balanced attack. It’s not just White.”

The win dealt a blow to some of the Crespi balance, however. Senior quarterback Rob O’Byrne, who entered the game as the fifth-leading passer among Valley-area Southern Section teams with 822 yards, broke his right arm on a 20-yard scramble in the first quarter. O’Byrne was taken to Valley Presbyterian Hospital for X-rays.

Ron Redell, a junior, filled in for O’Byrne on offense and also did some damage defensively, intercepting a Talavera pass in the end zone to snuff an Alemany rally and set the stage for White’s 80-yard score in the first quarter.

Crespi Coach Bill Redell said the loss of O’Byrne would hurt the team, but that Redell, his son, can pick up the slack.

“Sure, Rob’s a good passer, a good defensive back and a Division I prospect,” he said. “But Ron can do the job. I’ve said all year that we have the two best quarterbacks in the Valley, and that includes Jeremy Leach. Both of these guys have better feet.”

White has a pretty good set himself.

His 10-yard dash in the first quarter gave Crespi a 14-0 lead. Fullback J. J. Lasley scored from a yard out in the second quarter, and a Bill Gould field goal from 37 yards gave the Celts a 24-0 lead at the half.

White returned the second-half kickoff 91 yards to give Crespi a 31-0 margin, which all but ended the hopes of Alemany, which fell to 3-3-2 and 0-2-1 in league play.

“These guys don’t compare with the other league teams,” said Lopez, who should know. Alemany tied St. John Bosco, 21-21, and lost to Loyola, 6-0, last week.

Alemany finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter on a 9-yard pass from Rosselli to tight end Vince Ferry.

Ferry finished with six catches for 107 yards.

Alemany’s final touchdown came on a 3-yard run by running back Ray Campuzano.

All in all, Redell said he was happy with the team’s performance--for most of the game.

“For three quarters, we did a helluva job,” he said. “Alemany’s a good football team, but our offensive and defensive line play was strong, our secondary was strong, and Russell was Russell.”