Crespi No Match for Loyola in 21-0 Defeat : Prep football: Undefeated Cubs dominate the Celts, who suffer their first loss in four starts.

The Loyola-Crespi high school football rivalry might go back only 17 years, but the teams have packed a lot of excitement into those annual meetings.

Over the past few seasons, the two regularly have squared off for the Del Rey League title. During the past off-season, however, the two all-boys Catholic schools were split up, Loyola moving to the Angelus League and Crespi shifting to the Mission League.

They tried to rekindle the old spirit in a nonleague contest Friday night. But, about the only thing it did for Crespi was make the Celts perhaps a little grateful that they no longer have to deal with the Cubs with a playoff berth at stake.

The Cubs rocked Crespi, 21-0, before a near-capacity crowd at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

“That’s as good as we’ve played all year,” Cub Coach Steve Grady said. “I had my doubts going in.”

He shouldn’t have.

Loyola (3-0) rolled up 317 yards and dominated on both sides of the ball.

The Celts (3-1), who have made their name over the past five seasons with an impressive running attack behind the likes of Russell White and Leonice Brown, ran the ball 14 times for 31 yards.

“Everybody gets whupped once in a while,” Crespi Coach Tim Lins said. “Hopefully, it will only be once in a while.”

Loyola, ranked No. 2 in the Southern Section Division I poll, used a balanced attack that was paced by the passing of Corby Smith and the running of Matt Vanis.

Smith, a senior and the son of USC Coach Larry Smith, completed 11 of 16 passes for 124 yards. Vanis gained 105 yards in 24 carries and scored a pair of first-half touchdowns.

Smith, who also scrambled for 24 yards in five carries, scored the Cubs’ final touchdown, a one-yard sneak on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Crespi’s Cody Smith completed 14 of 26 for 115 yards, but much of the yardage came in the fourth quarter with the game already well in Loyola’s hands.

Crespi’s inconsistent offense figured to have trouble against the Cub defense. The surprise came when Loyola had the ball.

The Celts had yielded only 23 total points in impressive wins over highly touted Kahuku of Hawaii, Redlands and Hart. They soon found out that Loyola was none of the above.

“They just dominated us,” Lins said. “They were very well prepared and beat us going away.”

The confrontation, perhaps not surprisingly, made Grady yearn for yesteryear.

“I liked the Del Rey League,” he said. “And we’ve got a good rivalry going. The last five or six years, it’s been us or them.”

Usually, it has been Loyola. With the win, the Cubs improved the series edge to 14-3-1. The Celts last won in ’86.

Corby Smith completed six of 10 first-half passes for 72 yards.