Crissman’s appendix is a non-issue

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It has been a long time since anyone’s appendix was more celebrated than that of Nick Crissman. The Edison quarterback, who had his removed on Sept. 4, took the field for the first time since the operation on Friday in the No. 10 Chargers’ 6-0 loss to No. 8 Servite in a battle of top 25 teams in the Southland.

Crissman’s performance was one of the bright spots on the night for Edison. ‘Nick did fine’ Coach Dave White said. ‘We can’t run the ball, we can’t pass protect, we dropped about six balls. We didn’t deserve to win.’

Crissman completed 11 of 25 for 139 yards and an interception on his last play of the night. Six passes were dropped, including one in the end zone. He was sacked five times, and also hit hard many other times.

‘I’m a little sore,’ Crissman said. ‘That last hit really rung my bell. I’m extremely sore all over. There were a couple of close calls.’

Crissman had three small incisions to remove his appendix, which was infected but had not yet burst. He wore no bandages or special protection.

‘I’ve never been asked so much how my appendix is doing,’ Crissman said. ‘I say I don’t have one anymore so it’s doing really well.’

Crissman may have not seen the last hit of the night coming, but he did see enough of Servite’s defense to draw a solid conclusion: ‘Their defense was fast, and really strong.’

One thing that may have affected Crissman’s numbers was the absence of his brother, Jeff, in the lineup. Jeff, a junior, is a receiver who sprained his ankle. ‘He was iffy before the game, and then he tweaked it before the game,’ said Nick, who has committed to UCLA. ‘I’ve never seen my brother drop a ball.’

- Martin Henderson