Crespi Erects Air Show to Balance a Solo Act on Ground by White

Ever in search of a different motivational ploy, Bill Redell promised the Crespi High football team all the cold sodas they could guzzle if they managed to score four times in the second half of a 7-on-7 game against Birmingham on Saturday.

Evoking his best imagery, Redell painted a mental picture any advertising man would have been proud to call his own. By the end of the speech, Redell had a team full of parched players frothing for a frosty one.

The trouble was, when the stakes are for cold drinks on a hot day, it takes cold cash to make the payoff. After combing through his pockets, Redell realized he didn’t have the bucks to back up the bribe.

Enter Brian Kennedy, a friend from Redell’s high school days in the San Gabriel Valley, who made his fortune in outdoor advertising and roadside billboards. Kennedy, unlike Redell, had remembered to bring his charge card.

“Credit card? You gotta be kidding,” Redell cracked. “The guy damn near bought the L. A. Kings last year.’

And while Redell hasn’t matched him dollar for dollar in the earnings department, this year’s Crespi team seems ready to occupy its own high-rent district in the national football ranks.

Redell’s son, Ron, completed 21 of 32 passes for 240 yards and 5 touchdowns as Crespi defeated Birmingham, 34-24, in the Birmingham passing tournament. Crespi, which defeated Saugus in a first-round game, withdrew from the tournament after the second game because White and Redell are enrolled in a 10-week class to tutor them on the rigors of the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Franklin, the City Section 3-A Division champion, defeated Bellflower, 28-20, in the final.

With a pair of wins, the Celts improved to 22-0-1 in summer competition which, for those who think Crespi is primarily a running team, is surprising indeed.

It seems Bill Redell has designed a billboard of his own this summer, one that reads: To air is human.

“I don’t find our success surprising at all,” Bill Redell said. “I think we can be an excellent passing team. We just happen to have the best running back in the state, maybe in the country, too.”

Certainly, senior tailback Russell White is the Celts’ high roller. White was selected the state player of the year as a sophomore, named all-USA Today as a junior and is currently included on virtually every preseason All-American list in the country. White led the Celts to the Big Five Conference title in 1986 and the conference semifinals last year, where they lost to eventual-champion Fontana.

Ron Redell said Crespi’s success this summer has proven that passing can be something other than window dressing for White’s superlative ground game.

“Sometimes, the other things get overlooked and rightfully so, what with Russell gaining 300 yards a game,” Ron Redell said. “I want us to be able to do whatever it takes.”

So does his father.

“I think we’ll be looking to throw around 25 times a game,” Bill Redell said. “We’re looking for more balance. I think we threw around 17 times a game last year, so we’re definitely trying to move it up a notch.”