Rivalry Between Crespi, Notre Dame Is Not as Intense as It Once Was, but It’s Still the Biggest Game of Year

It once was considered a blood feud, featuring death threats and provoking some fans to engage in retaliatory acts of vandalism.

Now, administrators say, the football rivalry between Notre Dame and Crespi high schools has matured into a kinder, gentler competition that eschews rowdy behavior in favor of good, clean fun.

But don’t expect a love-in when the teams from neighboring Catholic schools meet for the 23rd time at 7:30 tonight at Notre Dame.

“It’s just that we don’t like each other at all,” said Dave DeMartinis, Notre Dame’s senior quarterback.

The feeling is mutual.

“We’re out to get them,” said Blake Tibbetts, a junior running back from Crespi.

Tibbetts’ distaste for the Knights has been fueled this week by the repeated playing of Notre Dame’s fight song in the Crespi locker room, courtesy of Celts Coach Tim Lins.

“We’re getting tired of it,” Tibbetts said.

The Celts are tired of losing to their archrival as well.

Crespi once dominated the series, winning 12 of the first 16 games, but the Celts have taken their lumps lately. Notre Dame has won the last three games and is again the favorite thanks to a high-powered offense that averages 43 points a game and features running back Justin Fargas, the region’s leading rusher and scorer.

The Knights will be tested by a stingy Crespi defense that has allowed nine points in three games. Both teams are 3-0.

“I think it’s a big game for the Valley,” said St. Francis Coach Bill Redell. “Crespi has a very fine team and Notre Dame has a great team.”

Redell, who was Crespi’s coach in 1982 and from 1985-88, has mostly fond memories of the rivalry--his Celts were 4-0 against Notre Dame. He can even joke about the death threats he received the week before the 1986 game.

“It was probably my wife,” he quipped.

The threats--a telephone call placed to Redell at Crespi and a letter left on a bus tire at school--were no laughing matter at the time. Crespi officials contacted police, who sent an extra officer to guard Redell during the game at Crespi. There were no incidents as the Celts, led by sophomore running back Russell White, waltzed to a 41-3 victory.

No connection was ever established between the threats and Notre Dame, except in the minds of Crespi’s players, who were already upset over having “N.D.” painted on their field and in the school parking lot.

Similar acts of vandalism at both schools prompted Notre Dame officials to suspend athletic competition with Crespi in 1988, leading to a two-year “cooling off” period in the football series.

The schools resumed competition against each other in 1990, and officials say since then the rivalry has evolved into a more friendly affair. The teams have not been in the same league in football since 1991.

“There was a conscious effort on the part of administrators at both schools to cool things off,” said Kevin Rooney, Notre Dame’s football coach and athletic director. “It shouldn’t be like it was. It’s important to have rivalries, but rivalries that are based on respecting one another, competing hard and shaking hands at the end of the game.”

Rooney said just the opposite was true when he left the Bay Area to become Notre Dame’s coach in 1980. In his first game against Crespi, the Celts went for a two-point conversion after their last touchdown in a 43-7 victory, an apparent payback for Notre Dame’s 34-18 victory in 1979.

“I couldn’t figure out what had happened, but that’s the way things were back then,” Rooney said. “I guess it was like USC-UCLA, a do-or-die and hate-the-other-guy kind of thing.

“I remember when you’d walk by the stands at halftime, there would be people swearing at you. I’m sure it was the same for both teams. It was pretty intense.”

Lins, the Crespi coach since 1989, says any hard feelings between the schools will be confined to the field tonight.

“I don’t know if we feel like we hate each other,” he said. “Maybe for 48 minutes.”

With only five miles separating Crespi in Encino and Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks, the schools draw from a similar pool of students, making for a natural geographical rivalry.

“The closeness of the schools makes a difference,” Lins said. “Many of the players [on both teams] know each other. I think the game brings out the best in both schools.”

The rivalry has been known to divide families and cause discomfort for those with ties to both schools.

David Doyle was understandably evasive when asked who he’ll be rooting for tonight. He was an administrator for 13 years at Notre Dame, the last six as principal, before becoming a counselor at Crespi this fall. He made the move to devote more time to working on his doctorate.

“I’ll be on the field somewhere,” Doyle said. “I’ve got 13 years of friends on the [Notre Dame] side of the field and players I know on both sides. It’s kind of a nice situation to have--one big family.”

Stephanie Connelly, who replaced Doyle as Notre Dame’s principal, comes from a family with split allegiances. Before becoming a vice principal at Notre Dame last year, she worked for 16 years at all-girls Louisville, the sister school to all-boys Crespi.

Connelly’s son, Chris, graduated from Crespi in 1995 and her daughter, Camie, attended Louisville and was a cheerleader for Crespi before graduating last spring.

“It was a hard year in our house last year,” Connelly said. “My daughter and I were on different sides of the field.”

Despite her background with Crespi, Connelly says she bleeds Notre Dame blue and gold.

“These are my boys,” she said. “I’m rooting for my boys.”

Lins says one of the advantages of preparing to play Notre Dame is that he doesn’t have to worry about a lack of emotion. He knows Crespi’s players will give a spirited effort, especially in the role of underdog.

Everybody understands the importance of the game,” Lins said. “It kind of speaks for itself. We’re not doing anything special, other than playing the Notre Dame fight song. . . . Hopefully we won’t have to hear it too much during the game.”

Don’t count on it, Connelly says.

“I hope they know the words,” she said.

*

THE RIVALRY

* CRESPI (3-0) vs. NOTRE DAME (3-0)

7:30 tonight at Notre Dame High, Sherman Oaks

* Series History: Crespi leads 14-8. Year-by-year scores: C16