Randle Harris rushed for 304 yards and 3 TDs, bringing Crespi (11-3) back from a 14-10 third-quarter deficit and helping the Celts top North Torrance, 32-14, and claim the CIF D-X Southern Section championship December 10th at Pierce College. Meanwhile the Crespi defense allowed just 83 yards, 6 first downs and no points as the Celts won their first section championship since 1986.

Harris posted the second-highest single-game rushing total in Crespi history, trailing only Russell White (who starred for the 1986 team and set the mark of 348 in 1987) and scored on TD runs of 64, 14 and 22 yards. The North Torrance defense kept him contained in the first half, when he managed just 59 yards on 12 carries, and had held him to just 79 yards on 15 carries midway through the third quarter as the Saxons took a 14-10 lead.

But then Harris exploded through the line for the 64-yard TD run, and Crespi controlled the rest of the game.

Before the game, Crespi alum and 80’s rocker Rick Springfield performed the national anthem on his electric guitar. After he finished, he smashed his instrument on the line of Marshall amps, and the show seemed to fire up the already-enthusiastic Crespi crowd. But when the Celts got the ball on the opening kickoff, they managed just 7 yards after three plays and had to punt. North Torrance gained one first down on a pass from Lyle Moevao to Brandon Matson, but three plays later an incomplete pass brought up a 4th and 8, forcing a Saxon punt.

Then came the first break of the game, and it favored North Torrance. As Daniel Torres’ punt descended, Crespi’s Daryl Fields tried to make the catch but muffed the ball, and North Torrance’s Cris Brown recovered at the 33. However, two plays later, Crespi got the ball back when Moevao overthrew a receiver and Jose Jimenez made a diving interception at the 15.

The Crespi offense then drove down the field and took the lead on a field goal by Sean Conway. A 17-yard shovel pass from Matt Wabby to Harris moved the ball to the 32, and Wabby picked up 8 more yards on the next play on a keeper. Then came a 6-yard run by Harris to the 46. On the next play, Wabby connected with Kevin Brooks for a 24-yard gain to the Saxon 30-yard line. Brooks injured his knee on the play, however, and had to leave the game. Three plays later, on came Conway to try a 41-yard field goal. The snap was wide, but holder Truk Jantz made a nice catch and got the ball in place for Conway to give Crespi a 3-0 lead.

North Torrance managed a first down on its next series, but moments later on a 3rd and 5 from the 27, Jarin McClinton made a nice tackle to hold Matson to no gain on a screen pass, forcing a punt. And when the Celts got the ball back, they went on an 8-play, 62-yard drive to extend their lead to 10-0. The big play was a 26-yard pass from Wabby to Fields that got the ball into Saxon territory. Five plays later, Wabby scored on a QB draw from 16 yards out to give Crespi a 10-point lead.

North Torrance threatened to cut into Crespi’s lead when Harvey returned the ensuing kickoff 51 yards and into Crespi territory. Harvey got past all the Crespi defenders except kicker Conway, who managed to slow him up enough to allow other Celts to come in and make the tackle. Then North Torrance went on what would be by far their best drive of the game, relying on the strong running of Andrew Banks and Harvey, the Saxons drove all the way to the Crespi 2-yard line. But on the next play, Moevao and Harvey failed to complete a handoff, and Marc Linares recovered the fumble for Crespi at the 3-yard line. Crespi nearly gave the ball back three plays later when Wabby fumbled on a QB sneak, but Taylor Wallace fell on the ball to save the possession for Crespi. That allowed the Celts to run out the rest of the clock and take their 10-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

When the second half began, it looked like a repeat of the last kickoff return when Harvey returned the ball to the Crespi 45. But this time Conway himself made the tackle, pushing Harvey out of bounds and drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty in the process. The Saxons then drove to the Crespi 16 on a series of short runs by Banks and Harvey that got North Torrance a first down. But after a 3-yard gain by Banks on first down, Jimenez threw Banks for a 2-yard loss and Harris chased down Buddy Irving for a 1-yard gain on the next two plays. That set up a 4th and 8, and when Robert Collins couldn’t haul in a Moevao pass around the 5-yard line, the ball went over on downs to Crespi at the 18. On came the Crespi offense to nurse a lead that suddenly looked to be rather large given North Torrance’s inability to score even after the long kickoff returns by Harvey.

But then came North Torrance’s scoring explosion, a pair of touchdowns 52 seconds apart, that gave the Saxons a 14-10 lead. Crespi had moved the ball nearly to midfield on a 13-yd run by Harris and a 13-yard pass from Wabby to Fields. But then Wabby went back to pass once more, and was flushed from the pocket. As he rolled right, he lofted a pass towards a receiver along the near sideline. But North Torrance’s Anthony Ramos got there first, grabbing the ball in stride and carrying it 52 yards for a touchdown.

Suddenly Crespi appeared rattled. On the ensuing kickoff, Alan Urquidez tried to catch the ball but ended up missing it. Harris picked up the ball at his 14 but was immediately forced out of bounds at the 17. Then came a false start penalty on Crespi. Following a 6-yard run by Harris, Crespi tried an inside screen pass. But something went terribly wrong, and Wabby’s pass landed in the hands of North Torrance’s Mike Jones, who returned it 19 yards for another touchdown. That gave North Torrance a shocking 14-10 lead despite Crespi’s having dominated play for most of the game.

But things soon turned back into Crespi’s favor, and Harris was the one who turned them that way. After Fields returned the ensuing kickoff to the Crespi 36, Harris took a handoff on the next play and burst through the line. Pulling away from North Torrance defenders with each step, Harris sped 64 yards for a touchdown. That not only gave Crespi the lead once more, but it also turned the momentum back in the Celts’ favor. Crespi would hold their lead the rest of the game. And the North Torrance offense wouldn’t manage so much as another first down.

When North Torrance got the ball back, they actually lost 2 yards in 3 plays against a fired-up Crespi defense. Then Harris nearly blocked the punt, and the Celts got the ball at the Saxon 43. Six plays later, Crespi scored again to take control of the game. And of course it was Harris who did the scoring. After running for gains of 7, 5 and 13 yards, Harris burst through for 14 yards and his second touchdown just 33 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 24-14.

When Crespi kicked off, once again Harvey came up with a big play to give North Torrance a chance to score. This time Harvey took the ball at his own 4 and returned it 48 yards to the Crespi 48. Once again, Conway made the saving tackle, though once again he drew a penalty on the play (a 5-yard facemask penalty). Still, that saving tackle once again stood up as the Crespi defense stopped North Torrance without allowing a first down. Moevao’s pass intended for Collins on 4th down fell short, turning the ball back to Crespi at the 44.

And when Crespi got the ball back, they drove for yet another touchdown to extend their lead to 32-14. There was a scary moment, however, when Harris stayed down after a 3-yard run early in the drive. After being helped off the field, he sat out one play, but then he returned. And any questions anyone might have had about his health were answered right away when Harris burst through the middle of the line and into the end zone for a 22-yard TD run, his third score of the game.

Then Crespi got a little tricky. On the extra point, the Celts lined up in a swinging-gate formation with kicker Conway and holder Jantz off to the right side. But rather than adjust the formation and kick the point, as they’d done the first three times, the Celts snapped the ball directly to Fields, who was lined up in a wing position. Fields carried the ball into the end zone untouched to make it 32-14. Then on the ensuing kickoff, the Celts huddled behind the ball, as they’d done on each kickoff. Then they ran towards the ball as a group, just as they’d done each time. But rather than stop and re-form the coverage team into a conventional alignment, this time Conway kicked the ball. McClinton recovered the ball at the North Torrance 49 to give Crespi possession once again.

From then on, it was just a matter of running out the clock. Harris carried several more times, including an 18-yard gain that yielded a first down. And he rambled for 9 yards to the Saxon 11-yard line that gained another first down. After that, the only remaining suspense surrounded the dousing of Coach Thomas with Gatorade and/or ice water. But the savvy coach anticipated the move and knocked over the tub before it could be poured on him. That was about the only thing that went wrong for the Crespi players after the 5-minute mark of the third quarter.

The win capped a marvelous season for Crespi, and a remarkable turnaround from an 0-10 mark in 2000. But Coach Troy Thomas, a starter on Crespi’s 1986 champs, took over the following year. After a 4-5 season in 2001, the Celts improved to 9-3 in 2002 and 10-2 last season before claiming the section title this year. The season total of 11 wins is the highest for Crespi since that 1986 championship season.

In addition to Harris, there were many standouts for the Celts. Wabby finished 8 of 12 passing for 105 yards, and ran for a 41 yards and score. Fields caught 4 passes for 45 yards. Jimenez had an interception and a big tackle for a loss. And Conway not only kicked a field goal and 3 extra points, but he made or helped on three saving tackles on kickoffs.

North Torrance finishes 12-2 and ends a 12-game winning streak that began after a season-opening loss to D-III Mira Costa. Banks led the offense with 45 yards rushing on 11 carries, while Harvey excelled on special teams with 4 kickoff returns for 156 yards. Ramos and Jones each returned interceptions for touchdowns, while Brown registered a sack and recovered a fumble. But the Saxon offense was held to just 83 yards, including only 10 net yards in the second half, and 6 first downs.

Friday, December 10, 2004 – 7:30 – John Shepard Stadium (Pierce College), Woodland Hills

CIF D-X Southern Section Championship Game

1st Quarter: C – FG Conway 41 yds 2:58 (3-0)

2nd Quarter: C – Wabby 16 yd run (Conway kick) 2:58 (10-0)

3rd Quarter: NT – Ramos 52 yd interception return (Capuano kick) 5:52 (10-7)

NT – Jones 19 yd interception return (Capuano kick) 5:00 (10-14)

C – Harris 64 yd run (Conway kick) 4:44 (17-14)

4th Quarter: C – Harris 14 yd run (Conway kick) 11:27 (24-14)

C – Harris 22 yd run (Fields run) 5:10 (32-14)

First Downs: Crespi 21 (17 run, 4 pass), North Torrance 6 (5 run, 1 pass)

Rushes-Yds: Crespi 48-317, North Torrance 27-78

Passing Yds: Crespi 105, North Torrance 5

Comp-Att-Int: Crespi 8-12-2, North Torrance 2-5-1

Return Yds: Crespi 52, North Torrance 246

Sacks-Yds: Crespi 0-0, North Torrance 1-6

Fumbles-Lost: Crespi 2-1, North Torrance 1-1

Penalties-Yds: Crespi 5-45, North Torrance 2-18

Time of Possession: Crespi 28:48, North Torrance 19:12

Rushing: C 5-Harris 35-304, 8-Wabby 11-41, team 2-(-2);

NT 21-Banks 11-45, 6-Harvey 7-22, 5-Irving 8-10, 2-Moevao 1-1

Passing: C 8-Wabby 8-12-2-105; NT 2-Moevao 2-5-1-5

Receiving: C 9-Fields 4-45, 2-Brooks 1-24, 5-Harris 1-17, 7-Ciccolini 1-11, 3-Holt 1-8;

NT 13-Matson 2-7, 6-Harvey 1-(-2)

Punters: C 10-Conway 1-44; NT 10-Torres 3-36.0 avg

Interceptions-Ret Yds: C 6-Jimenez 1-0; NT 23-Ramos 1-52, 4-Jones 1-19

Fumble Rec: C 56-Linares; NT 55-Brown

Sacks-Yds: C none; NT 55-Brown 1-6

Kick Returns: C 9-Fields 2-43, 5-Harris 1-3; NT 6-Harvey 4-156, 13-Matson 1-11

Punt Returns: C 9-Fields 3-6; NT 13-Matson 1-8

Notes: Crespi finishes 11-3 and wins its first section championship since 1986 (and second overall). North Torrance finishes 12-2. 11-Jantz made two nice catches on kick snaps, including on the field goal, and got the ball ready for Conway each time. Fields muffed NT’s first punt and Brown recovered. But 2 plays later Jimenez made his int; Crespi scored the FG on that possession. 2-Brooks injured his left knee on a 24-yd reception that set up the FG. 76-Wallace recovered a Crespi fumble to retain possession in the second qtr. Harris’ 1st TD came one play after the second interception return. 10-Conway tackled Harvey twice and slowed him up once on his three long kickoff returns. 31-McClinton recovered an onsides kick for Crespi after their last TD. 80’s rocker Rick Springfield, a Crespi alum, performed the national anthem on his electric guitar prior to the game and then smashed the guitar over his amps when he was finished.

For more of Dave's coverage of Santa Clarita Valley football, click on the link: DR's SCV football website

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