Crespi Drought Ends

It’s been five years since Crespi High won a football playoff game. It’s been even longer for Littlerock--seven years, to be exact. And counting.

Robert Muller threw two touchdown passes to Kevin Carden and Evan Driedger kicked a 50-yard field goal to lead at-large Crespi to a 17-7 victory over second-seeded Littlerock in a Southern Section Division III game Friday night.

The Celts (6-5), who lost five in a row--including a 54-13 loss to St. Paul last week in their Mission League finale--slowed Littlerock’s potent running attack and capitalized on the Lobos’ uncharacteristic sloppiness.

Littlerock (10-1), Golden League champion and in search of its first playoff victory since the program began in 1991, fumbled six times, losing two, and quarterback Richard Newton threw an interception.

Crespi, which plays at Valencia in a second-round game Friday, led, 7-0, at halftime and 17-0 before Newton connected with Keith Williams for a 20-yard touchdown with 1:47 to play.

But Crespi spent most of the game shutting down Littlerock drives and eating up the clock with its own possessions.

Crespi’s Blake Tibbetts rushed for 68 yards, 51 in the second half.

“We had to step up and show some courage, and we did,” Crespi Coach Tim Lins said. “I’m proud of the way we played. We had to play well after last week.”

Carden hauled in an 18-yard pass from Muller to open the scoring on the Celts’ second possession. Muller completed 11 of 24 passes for 86 yards and an interception.

After Driedger’s field goal gave Crespi a 10-0 lead midway through the third quarter, Carden caught a 17-yard scoring pass from Muller with 2:50 to play to seal the victory.

The play capped a nine-play, 63-yard drive that spanned almost five minutes.

Carden also recovered a fumble, and Mike McNicoll had an interception and a fumble recovery.

“All week, we prepared really hard,” Carden said. “We played with a lot of emotion in the second half. We wanted to show that we are a team to be reckoned with.”

Littlerock, which had not committed a turnover since the second game of the season, seemed to implode.

Running backs Keith Williams and Rodney Woods were held to a combined 119 yards and both lost fumbles.

Williams’ 19-yard gain in the second quarter was the Lobos’ longest run from scrimmage and only the fourth that went for at least 10 yards.

‘My compliments to Crespi,” Littlerock Coach Jim Bauer said. “And my apologies to our fans because I didn’t have us ready to play. I hope we didn’t embarrass the Golden League.”