Chase Curren appears each bit like a 15-year-old. He has braces on his tooth, blond hair reduce within the center and hints on his chin that he may in the future have to shave. It’s his youthful look mixed along with his expertise as a sophomore quarterback that has Crespi Excessive soccer followers excited a couple of revival in a program that went 0-10 simply three years in the past.
Brad Vonnahme, employed as a 34-year-old high quality management assistant from Fresno State in 2022, has been given the duty of rebuilding this system. The workforce went 2-8 in 2023, 5-6 final season and is 7-0 this season after a 49-7 win over La Salle on Friday evening.
With former Crespi and Oregon quarterback Bryan Bennett tutoring Curren, the long run appears shiny. Curren threw three landing passes and scored a landing on Friday, giving him 21 TD passes on the season. The Celts had 5 sacks, together with two every from Grant Woods and Somto Nwude.
It was 40 years in the past in 1985 when a freshman operating again named Russell White enrolled at Crespi and adjusted the fortunes of the soccer program. By 1986, the Celts had been profitable the Large 5 Convention championship by beating St. John Bosco within the closing at Angel Stadium. White, a sophomore, rushed for 256 yards and 4 touchdowns in opposition to the Braves.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Curren might be the Celts’ subsequent program-changing teenager, attracting others who need to catch passes, present safety as a blocker and achieve publicity taking part in with a quarterback whose aspirations are to make the NFL.
Curren lives in Manhattan Seashore and made the choice to make the journey to Encino due to “the coaching staff. I like the environment and energy and some youth kids from my eighth-grade team also came. I like it here. It’s comfortable.”
He was the JV quarterback as a freshman, so he acquired to develop away from the pressures of social media expectations.
“You always want to strive to be that guy on varsity, but I felt it was good for me to take a year to develop and learn the system better and get more comfortable,” he stated. “I feel ready. I like the pressure that comes with being the starting quarterback. On JV, there wasn’t as many people with eyes on you. Right now there’s higher stakes, especially because we’re winning.”
Curren stunned some by operating 86 yards for a landing final week in opposition to St. Anthony.
“It was a read option, counter play, and I just pulled it,” he stated. “I was pretty tired when I got back. I’m not a run-first quarterback, so it was a little different for me.”
Final summer time, he and his father drove to Fresno and obtained non-public instruction for an hour or two from a real quarterback whisperer, Jeff Tedford, the coach of Aaron Rodgers at Cal. He labored on mechanics and his step to get extra energy on his throws. “Jeff feels he can make the throws,” stated Crespi president Ken Foersch, who performed for Tedford at Fresno State.
Stated Curren: “It was a great experience. He has a lot of wisdom and knowledge to share.”
This system is slowly including expertise. The JV program, underneath former Loyola Excessive and Cal State Northridge coach Jeff Kearin, is 16-0 the final two seasons. Freshman Antonio Glasby had a 33-yard interception return for a landing on Friday in opposition to La Salle. Sophomores Stephen Nunez and Marcus Daley had landing catches. Sophomore Oliver White returned a punt 64 yards for a landing.
There’s alternative ways to rebuild. You possibly can take brief cuts by bringing in transfers and hiring questionable assistants who attempt to use their connections to achieve new gamers. Or you possibly can slowly change the tradition and develop gamers inside the program with the hope optimistic evaluations will encourage others to hitch.
That is the dilemma for personal faculties which have had success up to now however are unlikely to return to the best stage as a result of adjustments have taken place. Will the alumni be glad with profitable titles in Division 10, 9 or 8 after earlier glory years in increased divisions? Bishop Montgomery confirmed what can occur whenever you attempt to grow to be an influence in a single day, taking in 24 transfers after which having to cancel its varsity season when transfers had been declared ineligible for offering false data.
On Friday, Crespi honored its 2005 Division X championship workforce coached by Jeremiah Ross, who succeeded Troy Thomas, the coach of the 2004 Division X championship workforce. The Celts are attempting to regain that potential and have a showdown recreation subsequent week for the Del Rey League championship in opposition to Salesian.
Curren is simply centered on persevering with to enhance each week.
“Never being complacent where we’re at,” he stated. “We need to stay humble, keep working, keep climbing the ladder and getting better every week and proving we can play against some of the better teams we previously couldn’t do.”
