HS FOOT: Injured Crespi star QB lost for season

GITTELSON BITS

Kevin Prince, a standout quarterback at Crespi High of Encino who has eight Division I college offers (including UCLA), will miss the rest of the football season after an MRI revealed a torn ACL on his knee.

Prince was injured Friday in an opening 20-6 victory over Birmingham of Lake Balboa. He’s scheduled to undergo surgery in three weeks.

“This is going to be a hard test for us – we’ll see how we handle adversity,” tight end Joseph Fauria said. “We can’t just react to this. We’ve got to answer to it, and the next couple of weeks will prove it. We’ll see how we do.”

Sophomore Bryan Bennett is Prince’s replacement. Crespi plays at Kennedy of Granada Hills on Friday.

“This is football, and it will be a great life lesson for our kids,” coach Jeremiah Ross said. “This is a huge loss, but we talked about it, and decided we can just pack it in and call the season over, or they can fight and get after this thing. They’re going to get it done.”

-- gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com