Crespi Back Deserves Star Treatment

by Jill Painter,
Daily News Staff Writer

This appeared in the “Los Angeles Daily News,” Dec 11, 2004. Crespi Carmelite High School, an all-boys high school administered by the Carmelites, is in Encino, California. Reprinted with permission.

Crespi High of Encino’s final playoff game brought out the stars. Saint Louis Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan, a Crespi alum, watched from the sideline. Angels manager Mike Scioscia, whose son Matt is on the team, sat in the stands. And rock star Rick Springfield, whose son Josh goes to Crespi, played a spirited rendition of the national anthem on a red electric guitar.

	(L to R) Matt Wabby #8, Q.B. Junior being recruited by Notre Dame; Sam Chamberlain; Daryl Fields, recipient of full scholarship to Utah State and Randle Harris, currently the fastest in the state for the 100 meter dash

But Crespi senior running back Randle Harris was the real star of the show, running for 305 yards and three touchdowns to lead Crespi to a 32-14 victory Friday over North Torrance in the Southern Section Division X final at Pierce College.

“I felt good,” Harris said. “The O-line was dominating. They took it upon themselves to dominate. They were bumping me, but the one thing they didn’t know was that we had character.”

Crespi players dumped a bucket of ice water on fourth-year coach Troy Thomas after the game. Thomas took over a program that had won one game in two seasons before he arrived and has gone 34-13 since. He couldn’t have been happier than to see his first class of freshmen, now seniors, win the title.

A very strong Defensive Line for the Celts includes (L to R) Sione Fua #71, junior being recruited by Stanford; Siamak Bonabi, class of 2005; DJ Holt #3, a top returning sophomore; Sam Chamberlain #73, destined for Harvard next year; Jeremiah Tupola, a top returning junior; Coach Brett Nordyke, a 1994 graduate of Crespi and James McCarthy #60, senior

“It was great to see the guys I started with succeed in the end,” Thomas said. “We all believed in each other. I’m thankful for that.”

The Celts finished the season at 11-3 and beat the Saxons, who, after losing to Mira Costa in their season opener, had won 12 consecutive games.

North Torrance was down 10-0 at halftime but scored 14 third-quarter points on interception returns for touchdowns. Anthony Ramos returned a Matt Wabby pass 52 yards for a touchdown after a block from Rudy Irving sprung him the final 20 yards. Two plays later, Wabby threw another interception, this one returned 20 yards by Mike Jones for a score.

The momentum swing didn’t stay with North Torrance for long. On the first play of Crespi’s ensuing drive, Harris ran around the right side, stepped out of a tackle and ran 64 yards for a 17-14 lead.

“We told our offensive coordinator if we put the ball in Harris’ hands, we’d be fine,” Thomas said. “He’s so good and so strong. It was beautiful from our sideline.”

Harris also scored on runs of 13 and 22 yards, high-stepping his way into the end zone. It was that easy. And it was that tough for North Torrance, which all season had been able to control games with its rushing attack. Andrew Banks managed just 45 yards on 11 carries.

The ending was especially tough for North Torrance coach Todd Croce. Leading by 18 with five minutes left, Crespi recovered an onside kick—a move that didn’t sit well with Croce. “We’ll leave that alone,” Croce said. “But I didn’t feel it was the right thing to do.” Crespi drove to North Torrance’s 8-yard line but took a knee for the final two plays. Thomas said he just didn’t want to give the Saxons a chance to return the kickoff. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” Thomas said. “I said I was sorry. He said he thought it was classless, and I think he’s still upset, so I’ll try to call him. We had a great conversation before the game. By no means did I mean anything by it.” And with that, Thomas had some celebrating to do.