Bryce Alderton As the sun set over...

Bryce Alderton

As the sun set over the hills looking out West toward the Pacific

Ocean, players on the Sage Hill High football team huddled, ‘hooted

and hollered’ in joy over what they had just accomplished, a win in

the school’s first varsity football game.

With a six-touchdown performance, including scoring the first 20

points of the game, the Lightning outpaced visiting Midway Baptist,

42-24, in a nonleague game Friday at Sage Hill.

After the game, smiles abounded as family members and friends

greeted the players as they walked off the field.

Senior fullback Cliff Swanson, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound “horse with

the ball,” as Coach Tom Monarch calls him, met up with his father,

who congratulated him on his, and the team’s, performance.

Swanson rushed 19 times for 147 yards and scored two touchdowns in

his varsity debut.

“It’s unbelievable,” Swanson said while lifting his legs up and

down to stretch parts of his battered body. “I couldn’t have hoped

for the game to go any other way with the school spirit and

everything.”

About 200 fans cheered on the Lightning Friday. The Newport Beach

Police Department’s Color Guard held the American and California

flags accompanied by the Sage Hill choir, which sang the national

anthem.

“We’ve come so far,” Swanson said. “The thing that makes this

extra sweet is that these guys beat us by one two years ago.”

Monarch coached Sage Hill last year’s junior varsity team and

expressed pride that this year’s seniors experienced their first

varsity win in their first varsity game.

“Hey I’m an undefeated coach,” Monarch said. “It’s really great

for the five seniors who were out here when we had an eight-man

team.”

Sage Hill finished 6-2 last year in junior varsity competition and

picked up right where it left off early in Friday’s contest.

After the Patriots went four-and-out on their first series, the

Lightning got the ball with 9:51 left in the first and mustered a

six-play scoring drive that ate up 2:39.

Swanson ran for gains of 12 yards twice and 9 yards in the drive

to set up senior 6-2, 185-pound quarterback Zach Friedrichs for his

9-yard touchdown. Friedrichs finished the contest 7 of 10 for 153

yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Friedrichs was just warming up, as Sage Hill got the ball with

2:54 left in the quarter at its own 43 when Friedrichs found 6-4,

205-pound Scott Cho streaking down the right sideline for a 43-yard

touchdown pass play to put the Lightning ahead, 14-0. And they

regained the momentum early in the second quarter as Friedrichs hit

5-11 freshman Keya Manshadi with a 37-yard strike down the left

sideline to put the Lightning up, 20-0. Midway Baptist blocked the

conversion kick.

Midway Baptist rebounded in the second quarter, outscoring Sage

Hill, 16-14, but the Sage Hill defense came up with a key turnover

with 5:22 left in the half and Midway Baptist facing second-and-eight

on its own 40. Cho made a crushing hit on Patriot quarterback John

Carr that jarred the ball loose and Sage Hill recovered at the 38.

The Lightning struck on the very next play as Swanson took

advantage of a hole opened by his offensive line and rumbled 38 yards

into the end zone.

The Patriots couldn’t contain the deep threat from Friedrichs as

he connected with 6-foot, 185-pound wide receiver Erik Williams on

another 43-yard touchdown strike with 9:21 left in the third quarter

to put Sage Hill up, 34-16. Then, after a 3-minute, 27-second drive

by the Patriots resulted in a Turner touchdown, Sage Hill executed a

10-play drive that lasted 3:44, its longest of the game.

Friedrichs displayed his agility and speed on fourth-and-nine at

the Midway Baptist 42, eluding tacklers in the pocket and scrambling

to his right for an 11-yard gain. The Lightning collected four of its

16 first downs on the drive, capped by Swanson’s 2-yard run with 1:59

left to round out the scoring. Friedrichs finished with 56 yards on

the ground to contribute to Sage Hill’s 226-yard rushing total.

Cho and Swanson swarmed around Patriot ball carriers all game, as

did 6-0, 200-pound linebacker Ray Lim and 6-foot, 170-pound defensive

lineman Drew Roeser, who caught Graham in the backfield for an 8-yard

loss during Midway Baptist’s second drive of the fourth quarter.

“(Cho) is maybe the best defensive player on the field, he’s so

quick,” Monarch said. “The defense was average, a lot of bend but no

break The linebackers have to move up and fill the holes a lot more

because they were overpowering us off tackle. The key was the offense

clicking because we had to score almost every time to win so jumping

out to a lead helped the newcomers.”