Notre Dame Rekindles Emotion of Old Rivalry With Win Over Crespi

The message on Notre Dame High’s sideline chalkboard was simple: “Winning isn’t everything, but beating Crespi is.”

The Knights got everything Friday night, beating the Celts, 41-37, and leaving Crespi to face the sad reality of losing an almost-sure No. 2 ranking in next week’s Southern Section Division II playoffs.

The Celts, 7-3 overall, 5-1 in Mission League play, entered the game ranked second in both the Southern Section and Times Valley polls.

But against Notre Dame, they were facing a nemesis. The rivalry has been one of the Valley’s fiercest through the past 20 years, but Crespi Coach Tim Lins downplayed the teams’ history before the game, saying that a two-year layoff during the 1988 and ’89 seasons calmed matters.

The game changed that view.

“The rivalry is a lot more alive than we thought it was,” he said afterward.

The win came despite a splendid effort from Crespi quarterback Cody Smith, who completed 29 of 41 passes for 370 yards.

Late in the game Smith was at his finest, completing 15 consecutive passes to rally the Celts to the brink of a perfect league season.

His last pass, however, was intercepted by Note Dame’s Daniel Guerrido at the eight-yard line with eight seconds remaining.

Crespi, which had not lost to the Knights since 1984, gained possession when Torie Lee recovered an on-side kick with 49 seconds left. Derek Williams scored two seconds earlier when he caught Smith’s fourth scoring pass of the night.

Notre Dame (4-5-1, 2-4) had built a seemingly comfortable 41-30 lead with two minutes two seconds left on Damon Germanides’ one-yard touchdown run.

Germanides gained 73 yards in five carries, while teammate Jabbar Craigwell added 86 yards and a pair of scoring ruins in 13 carries.

Leitualasa Malieitulua picked up 60 yards, including a seven-yard scoring run, in nine carries.

Scott Nunez caught a pair of touchdown passes to account for Notre Dame’s other scores.