Stunned Crespi Unable to Recover From Bishop Amat’s Start, 34-7

If there was a silver lining for Crespi High, at least it was over quickly.

Painless, though, it wasn’t.

Bishop Amat rolled up 480 yards of offense and took apart the Celts, 34-7, in a Del Rey League opener at Bishop Amat on Friday night.

The Lancer rout was almost surgical in its precision and took only 1 hour 55 minutes.

“We were real happy with the offense,” said Bishop Amat Coach Mark Paredes, whose team is ranked sixth in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. “We’d been sluggish in the first half before tonight.”

Bishop Amat (6-0, 1-0 in league play) led, 34-0, before Crespi avoided the shutout.

The Lancers gained yardage almost at will. Quarterback Mike Smith completed 10 of 14 passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns. He completed his last six attempts.

Tailback Rodney Sermons rushed for 79 yards in 14 carries, caught a 30-yard scoring pass and passed to sophomore receiver Daylon McCutcheon for a 57-yard scoring play in the third quarter.

The outcome was already moot when Smith passed to receiver Ernesto Arredondo for a 50-yard touchdown on Bishop Amat’s first possession of the second half for a 27-0 lead. Arredondo also caught a seven-yard scoring pass in the second quarter.

Crespi (5-1, 0-1) was stymied throughout the first half. Three times the Celts crossed midfield--twice penetrating the 30--and failed to score when Bach Stabile missed field-goal attempts of 45 and 41 yards.

Celts quarterback Matt Walker completed 12 of 27 passes for 163 yards and tailback Torie Lee rushed for 87 yards in 17 carries.

If there was a critical play, it came with Bishop Amat leading, 7-0, at the start of the second quarter. Crespi seemingly had stopped a Bishop Amat drive at the Lancers’ 17 when three defenders broke through the line as punter George Guzman bobbled a low snap around the eight-yard line. Guzman found a wide-open lane around left end and scrambled 29 yards to set up another score.

“It was a big play,” Crespi Coach Tim Lins said. “How many teams have a punter that runs a 4.5-(second) 40?”