Smith Returns to Rescue Crespi, 21-17

The ending was out of this world.

And for most of the second half Friday night, so was Cody Smith.

“I’m still a little bit fuzzy,” the Crespi High quarterback said as teammates took turns pounding his backside. “I got lit up all game.

“Does this make sense? You might have to interpret this. I’m talking hieroglyphics.”

OK, so he walked like an Egyptian for a few minutes, but before the game ended, he was ready for a Crespi coronation, wobbly or not.

Smith might have to watch the game film to understand the magnitude of his heroics as he led Crespi to an improbable 21-17 Mission League victory over Chaminade at Pierce College.

Smith was knocked for a loop midway through the third quarter and left the game. But before it was over, he led the Celts on their winning drive.

Crespi trailed, 17-14, after a 43-yard field goal by Ted Corcoran with 1 minute 29 seconds remaining. Smith, who twice left the game because he was woozy, returned.

“We interviewed him twice on the sideline and asked him to describe some of our plays,” Crespi Coach Tim Lins said. “He didn’t make sense at first, but he was finally able to do it, so we sent him back in.”

Taking possession at the Crespi 28, Smith (11 of 19 for 129 yards) completed a second-down pass to Joe Ruggiero for 15 yards. Smith then threw a fade pass down the right sideline to tight end Alex Pupich, who rumbled 45 yards to the Chaminade 12 with 1:02 left.

Two plays lost a yard, and Crespi called a timeout with 31 seconds left. Adding to the drama, Chaminade’s Mike Szekley suffered a spinal injury on the preceding play and was removed from the field on a stretcher. He was taken to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills.

After a 10-minute delay, Smith connected with Ruggiero for a 21-17 lead with 26 seconds left. Smith took a shot from a blitzing linebacker as he delivered the ball.

Superlative stuff from a player who could hardly stand upright for most of the second half. On the play that initially forced him to the sideline, Smith was slammed into the rock-hard pole-vault runway that parallels the sideline.

“It’s my head,” Smith said as he shook hands with Chaminade players. “Everything is a little blurry.”

It all caught up with Smith a few minutes after the final gun. After climbing aboard the team bus, Lins said that Smith began feeling disoriented. The Los Angeles Fire Department was called and Smith also was taken to Kaiser Permanente by paramedics. The team bus sat in the parking lot, viewing the scene as Smith was tended to and loaded aboard the paramedic truck.

“He started to fade real fast,” Lins said. “Once he got on the bus, he really went downhill.”

Chaminade (5-2, 2-2 in league play) twice seemed to have Crespi (5-2, 3-0) on the ropes. The Eagles took a 14-7 lead on a one-yard run by sophomore tailback Franklin Saunders with 7:04 to play. However, Crespi’s Dereck Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to tie the score.

Crespi almost blew the game on its next possession. On a fourth-and-one play from the Celt 33, Deron McElroy was stopped for no gain.

Lins had gathered his staff around him in a circle before deciding to go for it on fourth down. His assistants requested that Lins send in the punt team. Tailback Torie Lee was serving as quarterback at the time, and Lins was roundly second-guessed.

“They all said to kick it,” Lins said.

Chaminade held, and Corcoran kicked his 43-yard field goal three plays later. All it did was set the stage for Smith’s unlikely return. Even the opposition couldn’t grouse.

“What a fun game, huh,” Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson said.

Smith was hammered on the sideline again as he threw an interception with 6 minutes 53 seconds left in the third quarter. Smith was belted as he released the ball, and the play drew a flag for a personal foul. It saved a touchdown: Chaminade defensive back Adam Crecion intercepted a pass by Smith for the second time, and returned it 30 yards for an apparent touchdown.

Officials awarded Chaminade the ball at the Crespi 39, but Corcoran missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt to end the drive.

After the hit, Smith left the game and was replaced by Lee. Smith returned for one series in the fourth quarter but was still too groggy to be effective and threw an interception--his third--and again was replaced by Lee.

Leading, 7-0, the Celts seemed poised to take charge in the first half when an interception killed a scoring opportunity. Crespi drove to the Chaminade 47 when a pass by Smith was overthrown and picked off by Crecion, who raced down the right sideline to the Celts’ 28.

On the first play, Saunders burst through a hole up the middle, broke a pair of tackles and bolted in for the score with 6:39 left in the half.

Crespi took a 7-0 lead on its first possession after a 30-yard punt return by Ruggiero gave the Celts possession at the Chaminade 30. Smith completed the drive with a two-yard scoring pass to Lee with 7:41 left in the quarter.

Crespi drove into Chaminade territory four times in as many first-half possessions but could only produce seven points.