The562’s coverage of football in 2024-25 is sponsored by The Terry Donahue Memorial California Showcase.
The562’s coverage of St. Anthony athletics is sponsored by Jane & B.I. Mais, Class of 1949.
Second place in the Del Rey League will be up for grabs tonight at Clark Field as St. Anthony welcomes in the Crespi Celts for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Both teams enter the game at 3-1 in league play, knowing they finish in one of the top 3 guaranteed playoff spots behind presumed league champ Salesian. Technically, a share of the Del Rey League title is on the table, but it would require 0-4 La Salle to pull a huge upset on 4-0 Salesian.
When comparing the Saints and the Celts, St. Anthony has had the league’s best offense over its four league games, scoring 134 points while allowing only 61 for a combined margin of +73. Meanwhile, Crespi’s +/- against league opponents is just +10, with 87 points scored and 77 allowed during league games.
Looking at their matchups against Salesian, which fell on consecutive weeks, the Celts dropped that game by a score of 38-0 while the Saints were able to give them their only competitive game of the Del Rey season in a 10-7 defeat.
Interestingly, St. Anthony is just 1-4 at home this season with a perfect 3-0 record on the road, but that can mostly be attributed to a difficult home schedule, especially in the preseason. The Saints have really turned a corner in the second half of the season and are looking to get to 5-5 heading into the playoffs.
Jasiah Lolesio-Pua is coming off a four-touchdown performance against Harvard-Westlake last week and is a good bet to find the end zone again (perhaps a few times) in his final guaranteed game at Clark Field.
Crespi’s offense has run through junior quarterback Masyn Harvey, who leads the Celts’ run-heavy offense, averaging 7.8 yards per carry. His 119 carries make up nearly half of the team’s total rushing attempts on the season and he has 13 rushing TDs on the ground this season.
This is a new league rivalry for both schools who haven’t met on the gridiron for at least two decades.
