Last season’s Crespi football team stormed out the gates quickly and finished 10-2 with a lot of solid juniors and sophomores. Photo: Crespi.org.
The Celts are clearly one of the current big boys of Southern California prep football, but it took them many years from the first season (1961) until they even began playing some of the other big boys. They now have all of their scores in one archive provided by Cal-Hi Sports.
Up next in this series: St. Mary’s (Stockton). For more on the Cal-Hi Sports football archives project and on how we can help your school, CLICK HERE.
The third game ever played by the Crespi of Encino football game in 1961 after an 0-2 start was a 0-0 tie against current league rival Alemany of Mission Hills.
But the Celts and the Warriors were not exactly the powerhouse Catholic school programs that they are today. They were more aligned with the smaller parochial schools in the Los Angeles region – including two schools Fermin Lasuen of San Pedro and Daniel Murphy of Los Angeles – that no longer exist.
It wasn’t until the 1973 season when Crespi first played Loyola of Los Angeles and St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs – two of Southern California’s long-time Catholic school powers – in addition to current league rival Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. It also wasn’t until 1977 when the Celts first met Bishop Amat of La Puente.
Despite its status over the years as school playing up-and-down in the CIF Southern Section’s highest division – even as recently as 2005 the Celts were in Division X – the one constant has been success.
Crespi has never had a losing decade, really only came close to having one in the 1990s and has won a reported 354 games (356 counting forfeits) in its history compared to just 228 losses (226 counting forfeits).
The school’s most memorable team was in 1986 when sophomore running back Russell White (not the same Russell White who is Crespi’s current athletic director and coach of the 2015 CIF Division IV state champs in boys hoops) led the Celts to a 13-1 record, including a 49-14 romp past St. John Bosco of Bellflower for the CIFSS Big Five Conference championship. Head coach Bill Redell also built a strong squad in 1987 that lost by just 12-7 to state and national No. 1 Fontana in the CIFSS Big Five semifinals.
The current decade is off to a strong start, too. Head coach Troy Thomas’ squad went 10-2 last season with the only losses coming by one point to Serra of Gardena 21-20 and the other to Long Beach Poly 44-27 in the CIFSS Pac-Five Division quarterfinals. And based on the returning players off that team, Crespi should have another outstanding season in 2015.
Here are some of the other Crespi records that the school now has in its possession courtesy of this archive initiative:
REPORTED ALL-TIME RECORD HEADING INTO 2015 SEASON
354 WINS, 228 LOSSES, 9 TIES*
*Including forfeit wins, records would be 75-41 for 2000s, 37-18 for 2010s and 356-226-9 for all-time.
60.1 ALL-TIME WINNING PERCENTAGE
(Based on half-win, half-loss for ties)
Best Records For Single Season
13-1 – 1986
12-1 – 1973
11-1 – 1965
Worst Records For Single Season
0-10 – 2000
0-9-1 – 1985
1-9 – 1999
Most Points Scored (Single Game)
72 – VS. Murphy (Los Angeles), 1965
70 – VS. Palisades (Pacific Palisades), 2012
68 – VS. Mt. Carmel (Los Angeles), 1972
68 – VS. Bosco Tech (Rosemead), 2004
67 – VS. Taft (Woodland Hills), 2013
65 – VS. Cantwell (Montebello), 2001
Most Lopsided Wins
72-0 – VS. Murphy (Los Angeles), 1965
68-0 – VS. Mt. Carmel (Los Angeles), 1972
68-0 – VS. Bosco Tech (Rosemead), 2004
67-0 – VS. Taft (Woodland Hills), 2013
64-0 – VS. Bosco Tech (Rosemead), 2005
64-0 – VS. Jordan (Long Beach), 2011
70-8 – VS. Palisades (Pacific Palisades), 2012
Most Points Allowed (Single Game)
64 – VS. St. Bonaventure (Ventura), 2000
Most Lopsided Loss
63-6 – VS. St. Francis (La Canada), 1999
Records Against Notable Opponents
25-15-1 – VS. Alemany (Mission Hills)
9-3-0 – VS. Chaminade (West Hills)
18-19-1 – VS. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks)
7-8-1 – VS. Serra (Gardena)
10-14-1 – VS. St. Francis (La Canada)
5-12 – VS. Bishop Amat (La Puente)
9-24-1 – VS. Loyola (Los Angeles)
Longest Win Streaks
12 – 1966, 1967 (last three, first nine)
12 – 1973 (went 12-0, then lost)
Longest Losing Streak*
16 – 1999, 2000 (lost last six, then had 0-10 record)
*There is no additional losing streak of 10 games or more.
Remember, any school in the state can have this research finished in a customized fashion in return for a reasonable fee. For details, CLICK HERE.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
