Serra Tops Crespi, 14-9, in Final Three Minutes

Two quarterbacks were better than one for Serra High, which scored twice in the final three minutes to defeat Crespi, 14-9, in a nonleague game Friday night at Pierce College.

Junior Kris Richard and senior Darnell Lacy alternated calling signals. They had little success for most of the game, but both led the Cavaliers on short touchdown marches in the fourth quarter to overcome a 3-0 deficit.

Senior tailback Frank Rice capped both drives with touchdown runs of six and 18 yards.

Crespi senior quarterback Todd McLean, who completed 17 of 32 passes for 144 yards, connected with Ryan Block for a 25-yard scoring pass on the game’s final play.

“We’ll probably go with Kris,” Serra Coach Charles Nash said. “Darnell is so intense on defense, I don’t know if he has his head into [playing quarterback]. But both did some good things tonight.”

Rice, who finished with 44 yards in 10 carries, made up for the sloppy showings of backfield mates Bryce Montgomery and Joe Hall. Montgomery and Hall each fumbled twice, thwarting promising drives on three occasions.

Crespi (5-6 last season) did not commit a turnover until the fourth quarter. But the Celts twice coughed up the ball in their own territory in the final three minutes and Serra’s pair of quarterbacks capitalized.

“Defensively, we played well enough to win,” Crespi Coach Tim Lins said. “We just made a few mistakes and we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had early.”

Crespi struggled to move the ball. Senior tailback Jamian Barbour, who finished with a game-high 66 yards in 22 carries, repeatedly was bottled up for short yardage by the Serra front.

On Crespi’s second drive, the left-handed McLean marched Crespi from its 13-yard line to the Serra 11 before Dennis Fox capped the drive with a 27-yard field goal.

The march lasted 13 plays and included completions to tight end Greg Boskin (15 yards), and receivers James Nicholas (eight) and Fox (11).

Richard replaced Lacy after one series and had no trouble moving the Cavaliers’ offense. Two drives ended because of fumbles by Montgomery, the first time at Crespi’s 14-yard line.