Junior Varsity Football: Sage Hill comes up short

Steve Virgen

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO - Officially, the Sage Hill High football team

lost, 6-0, as a junior varsity squad, but Lightning Coach Tom Monarch

believed his Lightning battled against Saddleback Valley Christian’s

varsity unit Friday.

However, according to CIF rules, Sage Hill, in its second season as a

football program, will play a junior varsity schedule, according to CIF

rules. Next year, the Lightning will enter varsity competition.

“If one of the teams is a varsity squad and one is not, to me that’s

not a varsity contest,” CIF Southern Section Assistant Commissioner Rob

Wigod said.

Saddleback Valley Christian, which defeated California School for the

Deaf/Riverside, 28-14, used its same starting quarterback, Coleman Fait,

and star running back Brian Harbin, to win the game, but this was a

junior varsity contest. Yet, Monarch thought otherwise.

“This was a varsity game,” Monarch said. “I’ve watched (film on the

Warriors) and there were no personnel changes. They had a weaker opponent

(against California School for the Deaf). I think it actually helped

them. It helped fine-tune a lot of their stuff. It was almost like

getting a live scrimmage. I wouldn’t mind having a game against a weaker

opponent (Thursday) and then coming out here and play in a tough game. We

don’t care if we’re playing somebody’s JV or if we’re playing Newport

Harbor’s varsity. We approach it as another football game.”

Both coaches agreed the schools have a natural rivalry because both

football programs began last year.

Saddleback Valley Christian believed its only victory of last season

came over the Lightning, 26-0. But, Sage Hill reminded officials, it was

not a varsity team because the Lightning had no seniors and were mostly

made up of sophomores. The Warriors could not count that win as a varsity

victory and finished the 2000 season 0-7.

“(Sage Hill) is not on the (CIF) master schedule as a varsity team,”

SVCH Coach Mike Henjum said. “Last year, we thought it was a varsity

game. And we called it in. But on the next Monday, they called in and we

really looked stupid. They said they were a frosh-soph team. But it was a

great game. The whole time (this year) we’ve been thinking this was a

junior varsity game.”

The Warriors were originally set to play the California School for the

Deaf on Oct. 18, but SVCH Athletic Director Rod Markum rescheduled the

game for Thursday “because we had a junior varsity game (Friday) with

Sage Hill,” he said.

In Friday’s game the Warriors’ Jayson Boyd scored the game’s only

touchdown, catching a 33-yard toss from Fait with under seven minutes

remaining in the first quarter. The hosts (3-0) scored three touchdowns

that were called back because of penalties, including a 40-yard punt

return would-be score by Harbin.

Sage Hill junior Scott Cho led the Lightning defense with two sacks,

as the Lightning held the Warriors scoreless through three quarters.

-- Barry Faulkner contributed to this story.