Crespi Gets Some Luck of the Celts

Lins called the play.

Lins threw the pass.

Lins caught the pass.

And as easy as one, two, three, Crespi High toppled St. Paul, the No. 9-ranked team in the state, on Friday.

Crespi Coach Tim Lins called for a quick sideline pass on fourth and one from the St. Paul 12-yard line with 28 seconds to play and Crespi trailing, 13-7.

Crespi quarterback Dave Lins fired the pass directly into the upraised hand of a St. Paul defensive end. The ball caromed high into the air, and landed in the lap of . . . Lins! The quarterback, not the coach, who incidentally is not related to the quarterback.

“I thought about throwing it again,” said Lins, who instead dashed three yards for a first down.

Crespi hurried to the ball and Lins, the quarterback, coolly . . . fumbled the snap. Crespi again hurried to the ball and Lins stopped the clock by throwing an incomplete pass with eight seconds to play.

Lins, the coach, called a slant pass to Marcos Solorzano. Lins, the quarterback, hit him in the stomach with a touchdown pass.

Greg Boskin kicked the extra point to give Crespi the victory, making every Lins in attendance very happy.

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Add Tim Lins: The victory was doubly sweet for the coach, a St. Paul alumnus.

“Coach is a mellow guy and he didn’t make a big deal out of it, but he told us he wasn’t used to losing (when he was playing) at St. Paul,” Dave Lins said. “I guess they always won when he was in school there.”

St. Paul was 22-3 in 1977-78, when Lins was a Swordsman wide receiver.

The Celts are 2-0 in Del Rey League play after going 2-3 in nonleague games, and are poised to make the Division I playoffs with another victory.

Last season Crespi started slowly, squeezed into the playoffs and reached the semifinals before losing to Eisenhower, 7-3.

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Add Dave Lins: The 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior is the area’s leading Southern Section passer, having completed a remarkable 69.6% of his throws.

Lins completed 21 of 24 for 164 yards against St. Paul and is 134 of 193 for 1,396 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.

Oh, and he has one reception.

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U-turn: The low came a month ago in a 14-13 loss to Newbury Park, Agoura’s fourth defeat without a victory.

“That’s when we got beat by a girl,” said Charger quarterback Eric Fitzgerald, referring to Chrissy Sanford’s winning field goal on the last play.

Nobody cracked, nobody panicked, and the long wait to give rookie Coach Charlie Wegher his first victory came the next week, 35-13 over Channel Islands.

Dramatic victories over Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley have followed, and suddenly Agoura finds itself 3-1 in Marmonte League play and tied for second place.

“We kept the faith. Coach Wegher kept telling us we had to believe,” said Ryan Capretta, who caught two touchdown passes Friday in a 22-20 victory over previously unbeaten Simi Valley.

Agoura’s rebound is remarkable considering that both starting offensive tackles, 6-6, 300-pound Elliot Silvers and 6-foot, 235-pound Keith Ostwald, are out with injuries. Wegher patched up the line by moving fullback Jon Gibbs to guard.

Jason Hicks moved from guard to tackle and Scott McKinney, a 6-3, 270-pound senior, has filled on the other side.

“When we didn’t have immediate success, I had to take a close look at what we were doing,” Wegher said. “But I determined that what we were doing eventually would work, and the kids have believed in it. That’s the key.”

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308 A.D.: It took 25 years, but Larry Logan made it look easy on his first try. In his initial start as the San Fernando quarterback, the 5-11 junior broke the school record for passing yardage in a game by throwing for 308 in a 42-28 victory over Birmingham on Friday.

Anthony Davis set the previous record of 289 against Hollywood in 1969. Davis, who went on to star at USC, holds nearly all of San Fernando’s career passing and rushing records.

Logan, whose father, Larry, played defensive tackle for San Fernando in 1974-75, also set a record for best completion percentage in a game, 63.2%.

“I didn’t expect records, but Larry has the type of athletic ability that can make him a excellent quarterback,” said Sean Blunt, the San Fernando coach.

Logan replaced Keijuan Douglas, who moved to receiver. Logan connected with Douglas for a 15-yard touchdown to open the scoring and later teamed with him on a 50-yard touchdown pass play.

Douglas also made an interception in the end zone. “Keijuan showed me a lot, putting his feelings aside and doing what was best for the team,” Blunt said.