Crespi Thwarted, 17-10, on Big Plays by Loyola

Moral victory? What’s a moral victory?

Although Crespi High played well on Saturday night, the Celts blew a 10-point lead and lost, 17-10, to Loyola in a Del Rey League game at Glendale High.

“There is no satisfaction at all,” Crespi quarterback Dave Lins said. “They had one or two big plays. That was it. We should have killed these guys.”

Crespi Coach Tim Lins, whose team dropped to 3-4, 0-2 in the league after losing to the 10th-ranked team in the state, was happy with the Celts’ effort, just not the result.

“We played well enough to win,” he said. “We played very well.”

The key play in the game was a 67-yard run by Loyola’s Kadar Hamilton with the score tied and 3 minutes 58 seconds remaining. It set up a one-yard dive by Bobby Thomason that gave Loyola (6-1, 2-0) a lead with 2:42 to play.

Hamilton, who gained 177 yards in 21 carries, had his big run just after Loyola converted on fourth and one at the Loyola 26. Loyola Coach Steve Grady first sent his punt team onto the field, then requested a measurement. Seeing that his Cubs were less than a foot from a first down, he went for it.

After Loyola scored, Crespi’s comeback attempt was stopped when Dave Lins threw an incomplete screen pass that was ruled a fumbled lateral and recovered by the Cubs.

Lins completed 15 of 24 passes for 127 yards. As usual, the remainder of the Celt offense was provided by tailback Shaun Williams, who gained 100 yards in 20 carries.

Most of Williams’ yards came on a 56-yard touchdown run that gave Crespi a 7-0 lead with 5:46 to play in the first half.

Crespi added a Mark Herz 26-yard field goal to take a 10-0 halftime lead.

Loyola scored on a five-yard run by Hamilton with 5:34 remaining in the third period.

It was set up by a nice catch by Brian Fabian, who outjumped Vito Clemente to make a 36-yard reception.

The Cubs tied the score on Mark McDonald’s 35-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.