No. 1 Loyola Brushes Off White, Crespi : Celt Tailback Held to 19 Yards as Cubs Churn Out 17-6 Win

Stadium ushers from Loyola High had T-shirts on sale before the Del Rey League championship game against Crespi on Saturday night. Featured on one was a caricature of a broom giving the clean sweep to a football with Crespi All-American running back Russell White’s uniform number written on it.

Loyola’s defense followed through and dusted White and the Celts, holding Crespi to only 143 yards in a come-from-behind, 17-6, win at Glendale High.

White finished with 19 yards in 10 carries and was held to less than 100 yards for the third time in 3 years by the Cubs, who are ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today. The Crespi senior was easily outgained by Loyola’s Fuller brush man--Johann Fuller--who had a game-high 138 yards in 24 carries and 1 touchdown.

“They’re every bit as good on defense as their reputation said they were,” Crespi Coach Bill Redell said. “We tried a lot of different stuff and didn’t get anything done.”

Crespi took a 6-3 lead at the half on a pair of field goals, but for the second week in a row, Loyola roared back for a win. And for a second season in a row, it meant a league title.

Loyola (10-0, 4-0 in league play) gained only 138 yards in the first half but came out firing in the third quarter.

Behind Fuller and backfield mate Mike Buckley (87 yards in 17 carries), Loyola reasserted itself with its specialty--power football.

“We got away from what we do best,” Loyola Coach Steve Grady said. “We passed a little and got a little cute. Then we went back to the run.”

Loyola took the second-half kickoff and methodically bulled its way along on an 8-play, 75-yard drive. Buckley, a senior, carried 4 times for 50 yards in the drive, which quarterback Matt Smith capped with a 1-yard keeper with 8:08 left in the third quarter, giving Loyola a 10-6 lead.

The Loyola defense held Crespi (5-5, 3-1) to 91 yards in the second half as Fuller and Buckley went to work. “We knew they’d be fired up because they had nothing to lose,” Fuller said. “We put it all together in the second half.”

Fuller led the charge for Loyola’s final score. He carried 5 times in a 6-play, 53-yard drive that he climaxed with an 8-yard dash up the middle.

Fuller and Buckley had a combined 169 yards in the second half, 99 by Fuller.

The first half was a battle of kickers. Loyola’s Paul Stonehouse, a two-time all-conference selection, gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal with 11:33 left in the half. When Stonehouse shanked a 23-yard punt from his own 23-yard line, however, he put himself in the position to be upstaged by Crespi’s Matt Saputo. Saputo followed 5 plays later with a school-record 51-yarder with 2:31 left in the half to tie the score.

On Loyola’s ensuing possession, Smith was pressured on a rollout play and threw a wobbly pass over the middle that was intercepted by Crespi linebacker Chris Romero at the Loyola 42.

Romero’s 10-yard return gave Saputo another shot, and with 4 seconds left in the half, he converted from 43 yards.