Crespi 45 - Eagles 13
Crespi ends Santa Margarita’s season
ENCINO, CA., November 14, 2014 – You couldn’t have asked for a better start if you were a member of the Santa Margarita football team in Friday’s CIF-SS Pac-5 Division first-round game.
On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback KJ Costello rolled out and found Kyle Sweet for an 80-yard touchdown.
But after that brief moment of jubilation, everything turned against the visiting Eagles (6-5).
Crespi of Encino (9-1) scored on its first four possessions and never looked back, racing to a 45-13 victory. The Celts, coached by former Servite coach Troy Thomas, will host Long Beach Poly in the second round.
“Things sort of unraveled after that,” Santa Margarita coach Rick Curtis said. “It is unfortunate we end this way because we had a great season. They’re a good football team, but we just didn’t play our best game.
“The penalties killed us in the first half and it continued in the second half. We knew there was some stuff that they did and we warned the officials about it, but it kind of turned on us. We lost our poise in the first half and that killed us.”
The Celts didn’t need all of the help that Eagles gave them. Santa Margarita was hit with 16 penalties for 168 yards.
Crespi’s TJ Brumfield rushed for 222 yards and four touchdowns. The Celts gained nearly 400 yards on the ground.
“It is difficult because you don’t see it all the time,” Curtis said of Crespi’s veer offense. “It was the first time we saw it all year. We had trouble with it and they ran some counter which they hadn’t done before. That hurt us several times. We missed some tackles. They have good running backs and great offensive line and it is tough to come back on a team like that.”
The Eagles tried to fight their way back into the game late in the second on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Costello to Sweet. They missed the extra point and trailed 28-13.
However, Crespi worked its way down the field diligently, leading to a 30-yard field goal from Cristian Bianchi for a 31-13 lead at halftime.
“We knew that if we didn’t get pressure on this kid (Costello), that he could light us up,” Thomas said. “On the first play, we didn’t get any pressure. After that, we got some hits on him and that was something that we definitely had to do.”
While Thomas and Celts are moving on, Curtis said there are positives to take from the season, his first as coach, but there is still work to be done.
“We have to build on this year,” Curtis said. “There are a lot of areas that we have to improve on, so we will build on that and have a great off-season and get ready for next year … it will start pretty soon.”
| Crespi | 21 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 45 |
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
SM – Sweet 80 pass from Costello (Sweet kick)
CRE – Massett 25 run (Bianchi kick)
CRE – Starks 35 run (Bianchi kick)
CRE – Brumfield 35 run (Bianchi kick)
CRE – Brumfield 19 run (Bianchi kick)
SM – Sweet 4 pass from Costello (Sweet no attempt)
CRE – Bianchi 30 FG
CRE – Brumfield 24 run (Bianchi kick)
CRE – Brumfield 3 run (Bianchi kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: CE - Brumfield 24-222, Massett 6-54, Starks 14-89; SM - Sweet 8-18, Hall 8-51
Passing: CE - Massett 3-7-0-6; SM - Costello 12-25-2-0
Receiving: CE - Tell 2-3, Starks 1-3; SM - Bianchini 3-32, Sweet 6-127, Caragao 2-21, Rasheed 1-12
By Damian Calhoun
Friday, November 14, 2014
The Orange County Register
