PHOTOS: Crean Lutheran tops Capo in memorable match-up of father, son coaches

Rick Curtis of Crean Lutheran and his son Sean Curtis of Capo Valley after Friday’s game. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano, Ted Rigoni, Howard Lyon, Amy Temple and Wendy Rueter).

Crean Lutheran and Capistrano Valley football players battled it out Friday night in an early season non-league game that will be remembered for having a father and son leading their squads, a rare occurrence.

The father, Rick Curtis coached Crean Lutheran, which improved its record to 3-0 with a 23-6 victory while his son Sean Curtis led Capo Valley (2-1).

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

Rick Curtis had coached his son when he played at Northwood (where the two later coached together) and Crean Lutheran and Capo Valley had met before in scrimmages. Friday’s match-up in front of a capacity crowd at Crean Lutheran, marked the first time this father and son combination had coached against each other in a regular season game.

The game happened when both programs needed a game due to scheduling changes.

“I don’t know if I want to do this again,” Sean Curtis said with a smile after talking with his father after the game. “It was stressful, I have the utmost respect obviously because I know the type of work that him and his staff put in. I think both of us don’t want to make it about that and want to make it about the players.

“My wife put it best, in a couple years it’s going to be a really special memory walking across to shake his hand at the end of the game, that was pretty special.”

“It was pretty cool,” Rick Curtis said. “It was a surreal moment, how many times do you get to play your son?”

Crean Lutheran, plagued by some first quarter penalties and a fumble, started off a bit shaky and Capo Valley took advantage to move ahead 6-0 on a 21-yard TD pass from quarterback Talon Spencer to Izaiah Bennett with 4:56 left in the first quarter. The Cougars were unable to convert a 2-point pass.

Capo Valley’s defense dug in to keep the game close, stopping a Crean Lutheran drive at the Cougar 10-yard line later in the quarter.

In the second quarter, Crean Lutheran’s Dillon Booth provided the spark the Saints were looking for when he bolted 62 yards for a TD in the second quarter, putting Crean Lutheran ahead 7-6. The play turned the whole game around for Crean Lutheran, which was facing a fourth and two in its own territory.

The Saints Caleb Bey scored on touchdown runs of 7 yards in the second quarter and 10 yards in the fourth quarter and talented junior quarterback Caden Jones showed his dual threat capability passing (21 completions for 162 yards) and running the ball. Eric Miao kicked a 30-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to give Crean Lutheran a 17-6 lead.

Bey, who had big gains on second efforts, rushed for 149 yards on 13 carries.

“It was a good football game,” Rick Curtis said. “I knew they would come out ready to play and they did in that first quarter. We have a hard time getting started so they took advantage of it, we had some penalties and were a little excited for the game. I thought we did a really good job bouncing back.”

Rick Curtis said Booth’s TD run was a big lift.

“That was a big play on fourth and two,” he said. “That was the big play of the game, it just kind of got our offense untracked and then we did a great job in the third and fourth quarters.”

“I was looking to get the first down and extend our drive,” said Booth, who rushed for 92 yards on three carries. “My line makes it easy for me so I saw a big old gap and I saw the end zone right when I got the ball and I took off. I did the same play in the scrimmage, the exact same thing.”

Booth said the game meant a lot to Rick Curtis.

“He was hyped, this was the craziest I’ve ever seen him, he was ready for this,” he said.

Capo Valley was led by Spencer, who passed for 101 yards and by running back Za’Dyn Hall, who rushed for 51 yards on nine carries.

“It’s a battle, it’s a physical game,” Capo’s Sean Curtis said. “I thought our boys hung in there. We knew they were going to get after us on both sides of the ball up front. Our game plan was to try and milk clock and keep their offense off the field, they’re a really special group of receivers and that quarterback, the other side is pretty good too with that D-line.

“We just battled. We had a pretty good game plan. I knew going against this coaching staff we couldn’t do anything that we had already done. We tried to mix it and show some new stuff. I’m just proud of the execution of our players.”

Crean Lutheran’s defense stepped up too.

Free safety Javari Nash had two interceptions, including one in the end zone with 5:57 remaining after Capo Valley drove the ball to the Crean Lutheran 25-yard line.

Both Rick Curtis and Sean Curtis shook hands after the game and later met to take pictures and reflect on a special night for the Curtis family.

There were lots of smiles and plenty of memories for years ahead.

—-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com