ENCINO — The Crespi High School football team leaned on standout quarterback Chase Curren to erase a three-score deficit in a come-from-behind 26-21 win over visiting St. Francis on Friday night.
Curren, a junior three-star recruit who holds 19 Division 1 offers according to 247Sports, had a hand in all four touchdowns in the win for the Celts (2-1).
He finished 17 of 21 passing with touchdowns to Stephen Nunez and Oliver White while adding 70 rushing yards and two more scores.
“He’s an elite competitor,” said Crespi coach Brad Vonnahme. “Chase has grown tremendously in terms of never letting circumstances faze him. He just goes out there and makes plays. That’s what you need at that position, and we’re fortunate to have him.”
Curren scored the game-winning touchdown with 2:03 left to play. After being flushed out of the pocket, he raced in for an 11-yard touchdown. A pair of Knights (0-2) defenders met him at the goal line, but Curren wouldn’t be denied. He lowered his shoulder and barreled his way in to finish off the comeback.
“He is extremely tough,” said Vonnahme. “He’s a football player. He’s obviously a quarterback, but he’s a football player and he’s tough and takes pride in proving that to people.”
Added Curren: “I was just thinking, I’ve got to get in that end zone for my teammates. I gotta put it on my back and just go get that win.”
Nunez was his top target, pulling in seven catches for 90 yards. He also chipped in with over 100 return yards on kickoffs and punts.
“He is very reliable for us,” said Curren. “He’s a hardest worker in the room type of guy. He’s gonna go out there and make plays for us every single week and he did it again today.”
On the opening possession of the game, St. Francis quarterback Vito Schiada capped a six-play drive when he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Grant Walker.
The Knights extended their lead after Lucas Morzov recovered a fumble that set up St. Francis in the red zone early in the second quarter. Morzov also had a sack earlier in the half.
One play later, Isaiah Harris ran into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown. He finished with 68 rushing yards in the loss.
Late in the half, Chris Acosta came up with another fumble recovery for St. Francis. This time it set up a 37-yard touchdown pass from Schiada to Mason Maddox for a 21-point lead with 13 seconds remaining before halftime.
“At half I just pointed out that everything was self-inflicted,” said Vonnahme. “We know what we are capable of, and I don’t think anybody wavered. There was no finger pointing at halftime. There was no blame game. Everybody understood that our mistakes were correctable and then came out here in the second and just took care of things.”