High School Football : Unbeaten Crespi Rallies to Beat Loyola, 21-14

The Del Rey League game Saturday night between Crespi of Encino and Loyola at Glendale High School was billed as a battle between David and Goliath.

And it was, except this time Goliath, or rather Crespi, was too big and strong for its undermanned opponent, Loyola, turning a 14-0 halftime deficit into a 21-14 win.

Crespi upped its record to 8-0 overall, 3-0 in the Del Rey League. Loyola dropped to 6-2 overall, 1-2 in the Del Rey League.

“We’re little guys,” Loyola Coach Steve Grady said. “They overpowered us in the second half. We just ran out of gas.”

At the beginning, though, David held the advantage.

Loyola, injury-riddled and outweighed by Crespi’s huge offensive line, managed to build a 14-0 lead behind an inspired defense that frustrated Crespi’s heralded sophomore running back, Russell White. Loyola’s offense put together two scoring drives while the defense frustrated White.

Quarterback George Paton directed the Cubs on an 80-yard, 11-play drive in the first quarter, throwing for 65 yards on the drive. John Winnek culminated the drive, taking an option pitch and running seven yards for a touchdown.

In the second quarter, the Cubs drove 59 yards, the key play a flea-flicker pass from wide receiver Tony Porratta to Andres Kennedy. Porratta took a lateral from Paton behind the line and lofted a pass to Kennedy in double coverage. Kennedy carried the ball to the 8 for a 37-yard gain, and two plays later Paton scored on a three-yard keeper.

White had 73 yards in 14 carries in the first half, getting about half of his yardage on one play. The Loyola defense contained him, forcing him inside and never letting him break free.

The frustration reached its peak when White fumbled at the Loyola three-yard line with less than a minute to play in the first half.

But in the second half, Crespi turned to other running backs, J.J. Lasley and Jack Kellogg, as they simply ran over the outmanned Cubs.

Kellogg carried the ball 12 times for 99 yards in the half, including a 51-yard run that set up the tying touchdown by White.

“Kellogg is a heck of a back--he’s our unsung hero,” Crespi Coach Bill Redell.

Lasley scored Crespi’s first touchdown, faking a handoff to White on a reverse and racing 41 yards through traffic for Crespi’s touchdown.

Crespi’s winning touchdown was set up by runs by Kellogg, and quarterback Rob O’Byrne went 14 yards for a touchdown on a counter play.

White finished with 97 yards in 19 carries, far below the 15-yard average per carry he brought into the game. Kellogg finished with 13 carries for 101 yards.