No. 1 Bishop Amat Downs Crespi, 28-6
The team is ranked No. 1 in the nation. Maybe the tailback should be, too.
Senior Daylon McCutcheon, whose father, Lawrence, played running back for the Rams, appeared every bit the Division I prospect he is proclaimed to be as Bishop Amat High trounced Crespi, 28-6, in a Del Rey League game Friday night at Bishop Amat.
McCutcheon rushed for three touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass while piling up 260 total yards. He rushed for 189 yards in 19 carries, including scoring runs of 12, 76 and seven yards. He caught two passes for 71 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown pass play.
Bishop Amat (9-0, 4-0 in league play), ranked No. 1 nationally by at least one publication, did the rest with defense, checking Crespi’s emotion-filled offensive drives and sacking Celt quarterback Dave Lins right out of his shoes.
The victory assured Bishop Amat of at least a share of the league title. Crespi (5-4, 3-1) remains in second place.
Lins fared well, considering the savage pass rush he faced. He completed 21 of 39 for 158 yards. But he was sacked six times for minus-44 yards and emerged from one pileup doubled over in pain and his shoe untied.
“I bit my tongue, I chipped my tooth,” Lins said. “But that’s football. They’re a great team. I mean, No. 1 in the nation. And that tailback is awesome.”
There is little doubt that McCutcheon (5 feet 11, 185 pounds) is headed somewhere after high school. Every time he touched the ball he was in a hurry.
He opened the scoring with a 12-yard run on his second carry.
Six minutes later, he caught a swing pass from quarterback James Free and was off and running again, going 43 yards for a score that gave the Lancers a 14-0 lead.
Early in the second quarter, McCutcheon made an interception in the end zone. Four plays later, he took a handoff and ran 76 yards for a touchdown.
“We’ve been able to make the big play all year,” McCutcheon said. “They held us on some plays. But after a while, we’re gonna break one.”
Tailback Jamian Barbour was a bright spot for Crespi, rushing for 121 yards in 13 carries, including a 42-yard burst for a touchdown in the third quarter to narrow the Lancers’ lead to 21-6.
McCutcheon, who sat out most of the second and fourth quarters, countered by leading Bishop Amat on a 10-play, 69-yard drive.
He carried seven times for 36 yards, including a seven-yard sweep for the score.
“I think they’re a great football team,” Crespi Coach Tim Lins said. “They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect. My goodness, I think we did pretty well.”
Wide receiver Jeff DeFinney led Crespi with nine catches for 56 yards. Wayne Emerson added six receptions for 39 yards, and Marcos Solorzano had five for 47 yards.
FRIDAY’S YARDSTICK
Top performances of area high school football players. C16