Prep Football : Crespi’s White Earns Davis Award

Russell White, who rushed for 2,269 yards and 34 touchdowns this season for Crespi High School in Encino, has been selected as the first winner of the Glenn Davis Award, to be given annually to the top high school football player in Southern California.

White, a 6-foot 1-inch, 195-pound junior running back who led Crespi to the Big Five Conference title in 1986 and the semifinals this season, received the award Sunday at The Times’ football banquet in the Anaheim Hilton. Carson linebacker Arnold Ale, L.A. Locke running back Darian Hagan, El Toro quarterback Bret Johnson and Santa Monica running back Glyn Milburn also received consideration.

An outstanding athlete who finished second in the state triple jump as a sophomore and is playing junior varsity basketball this season before again competing in track, White is gifted with speed, acceleration and size.

“There are very few who have come around like Russell White and there’ll be very few to follow,” Crespi Coach Bill Redell said. “It’s a coach’s dream come true to have a player like him on your team.

“What sets him apart is his tremendous balance and great vision of the field. He does some things that make you think he has eyes on the side of his head and the back of his head. And that’s in addition to his great speed and great quickness.”

White, who averaged 10.1 yards a carry, finished seventh in the Southern Section in regular-season rushing despite missing one game with an injury and often coming out at halftime or the third quarter when Crespi had big leads. He is tied for third place on the all-time Southern Section single-season scoring list with 228 points.

In two seasons, White has averaged 10.9 yards a carry and scored an average of once every 6.5 times he has carried the ball. Most impressively, he has averaged 16 points in each of the 26 games he has started on varsity.

Sunday, he received a standing ovation while accepting the trophy, available to players in the City, Southern and San Diego sections.

The award is named after the 1946 Heisman Trophy winner from Army, who, before teaming with Felix (Doc) Blanchard to form the famous “Mr. Inside-Mr. Outside” combination, starred at Bonita High. While at the La Verne school, the Bearcats won the Southern Section title in 1942 by beating Newport Harbor, 39-6, with Davis scoring five touchdowns.

Davis joined The Times in 1954 and in 1959 became director of special events, a position he held until retiring last year. He currently lives in La Quinta.

Winners of the back, lineman and coach of the year for each of The Times’ 12 circulation areas were also announced at the banquet, at which USC Coach Larry Smith was the guest speaker. They were:

Central City--Hagan (back), Josh Price of L.A. Loyola (lineman) and Steve Grady of Loyola (coach).

Inland Empire--Derrick Malone of Fontana (back), Chris Ybarra of Fontana (lineman) and Randy Brown of Hemet (coach).

San Gabriel Valley--Mazio Royster of Bishop Amat of La Puente (back), Bascom Mellon of Diamond Bar (lineman) and Lou Farrar of Charter Oak of Covina (coach).

Glendale--Bill Morris of St. Francis of La Canada (back), Joe Ferguson of Hoover of Glendale (lineman) and Nic Larez of La Canada (coach).

San Fernando Valley--White (back), Kyle Cummings of Crespi (lineman) and Rich Lawson of Chaminade of Canoga Park (coach).

Ventura County--Marc Monestime of Thousand Oaks (back), Roger Jones of Channel Islands (lineman) and George Machado of Hueneme of Oxnard (coach).

Orange County--Johnson (back), Reza Mehdizadeh of Fountain Valley (lineman) and Mike Milner of Fountain Valley (coach).

South Coast--Donald Levingston of St. Anthony of Long Beach (back), Bob Pierce of Long Beach Wilson (lineman) and Al Taylor of Long Beach Wilson (coach).

Southeast--Adan Avina of Montebello (back), Melvin Johnson of Lynwood (lineman) and Doug Rihn of Montebello (coach).

San Diego County--Darren Wagner of Lincoln of San Diego (back), Bob Brasher of Point Loma of San Diego (lineman) and Bill Christopher of Mt. Carmel of San Diego (coach).

Westside--Milburn (back), Willie Crawford of Beverly Hills (lineman) and Jack Epstein of Palisades (coach).

South Bay--Curtis Conway of Hawthorne (back), Ale (lineman) and Steve Newell of El Segundo (coach).