Crespi Must Face Another Arduous Test

Crespi High is in rough waters. For at least another week, that is.

The Celts last week lost their Del Rey League football opener, 34-7, to Bishop Amat, ranked No. 6 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. Friday, Crespi (5-1) must take on Loyola, 6-0 and ranked first in the state.

Crespi hasn’t beaten Loyola since Russell White was a sophomore in 1986, the year the Celts won the Big Five Conference championship.

Loyola holds a 15-3-1 series edge, but there have been many memorable games. Highlights of an annual series that began in 1973:

* 1977--Quarterback Babe Laufenberg directed Celts to the lone tie in series history, 22-22.

* 1986--Crespi storms back from a 14-0 halftime deficit to win, 21-14, even though White was held under 100 yards rushing. White never gained 100 yards against Loyola in three tries.

* 1987--Loyola wins a battle of nationally ranked teams, 15-8. White was held to 28 yards before an estimated 12,000 fans.

* 1988--White was held to 17 yards in a 17-6 Loyola victory.

* 1991--Crespi moves the ball well and dominates the line of scrimmage, but several dropped passes let Loyola off the hook. The Cubs win, 14-0, posting their second consecutive shutout over the Celts.

Loyola has won 10 of the past 11 games and held the Celts to an average of 6.7 points in that span, but don’t expect Crespi to pull the plug on the rivalry.

“We’ll keep playing them as long as they’ll let us keep taking a crack at them,� Crespi Coach Tim Lins said.

AGONY OVER

Hart offensive coordinator Dean Herrington suffered through what he termed “a year of agony� after the way Saugus dismantled Hart, 40-21, last season.

Dean, brother of head coach Mike, watched the film of the game, as painful as it was, about 500 times by his count. All the while hoping maybe the outcome would turn out more favorably with each viewing.

No such luck--until last week that is.

The No. 1 Indians’ 42-13 thrashing of then-No. 2 Saugus in the teams’ Foothill League opener was exactly what Dean needed.

“If we would have lost again, I would have had to have taken last year’s film and this year’s and burnt them,� Dean joked. “The kids did a super job and we kind of got a little redemption for last season.�

MIGHTY MITE

Canyon’s Ed Williams may be small in stature--but he produces big-time results.

The 5-foot-9, 152-pound junior is third in the area among Southern Section running backs with 938 yards. Williams has a 7.8 average per carry and has scored 12 touchdowns.

Big numbers, however, are nothing new to the diminutive Williams.

Last season, he finished third in the area with 1,554 yards (a 6.6 average per carry) and scored 19 touchdowns.

“He’s an amazing young man,� Coach Harry Welch said. “You look at him and just wonder, ‘How does he do that?’ �

RUSH TO THE FORE

How hot is Chatsworth tailback Nestor Davila? Based on his performance the past three weeks, he has outgained many of the team’s best players from the past few seasons. He has been the football version of Mr. October.

Davila has rushed for 622 yards in the past three games, a pace almost unheard of at Chatsworth. Davila has gained 889 yards in six games to lead area City Section rushers and the total is within 11 yards of being the most by a Chatsworth ballcarrier over the past seven seasons.

Bryan Addison, now a senior at Hawaii, rushed for 910 yards in 1987.

Davila’s 622 yards this month is more than the season -high rushing totals posted by team leaders Spence Durham (580 yards) in 1986, Isaac Kyle (232) in 1988, Kenya Smith (522) in 1989 and Rayna Stewart (551) in 1990.

Davila already has eclipsed the season-high total posted last season by Montay Hardison, who gained 862 yards and led the team to the 3-A Division final.

Davila also has scored 11 rushing touchdowns, the most by a Chatsworth player over the past seven seasons.

HIGH-FIVES

Keith Smith of Newbury Park, Davis Delmatoff of Hart and Eric Bennett of Simi Valley all threw five touchdown passes last week.

Camarillo’s Fahali Campbell rushed for five touchdowns and Newbury Park’s Leodes Van Buren caught five touchdown passes.

“I walked off the field really happy that we had five touchdowns,� Newbury Park Coach George Hurley said. “Then I looked in the paper.�

BOMBS AWAY

When a team has dominated as much as the Royal water polo team has in the Marmonte League, people will go to great lengths to stop the squad. The Highlanders have won 11 consecutive league titles, but their progress toward another was halted last Wednesday when a match against Westlake at Newbury Park was canceled because of a bomb threat.

Students were evacuated from Newbury Park High at 9:55 a.m. after school officials received an anonymous phone tip.

A device that Ventura County sheriffs at first believed was an actual bomb was found in a science building locker. The device, which proved harmless, was removed at 2 p.m. with the help of a robot on loan from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

An actual explosive device had been found on a stairwell at the school Sept. 30, causing an evacuation of students. It also was removed by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The match between Royal and Westlake has been rescheduled for Monday at Newbury Park. Westlake has used the Newbury Park pool for 14 years.

The two water polo teams were not the only ones affected by the bomb threat.

Newbury Park’s football team was forced to practice at a nearby park, and players and coaches from the Panthers’ water polo team said that their preparation for a match at Thousand Oaks was disrupted by leaving school four hours early. Newbury Park lost that match, 8-6.

David Coulson and staff writers Steve Elling, Vince Kowalick and Jason Reid contributed to this notebook.