Smashmouth offense hits Sage Hill hard

Richard Dunn

An overflow crowd. A reputable football team. A strong following.

“It’s an event,” one Calvary Chapel Murrieta High football coach

said, referring to the typically large crowds at Calvary Chapel home

games.

One day, this is what Sage Hill coach Tom Monarch envisions for

his program, which played its first varsity game under the lights

Saturday Night at Linfield Christian High, where the Calvary Warriors

earned a 51-8 nonleague victory.

“This is what it’s all about right here,” Monarch said of the

electricity the small school power generated in this neck of the

woods.

Sage Hill (2-1), which could not overcome four interceptions, was

pushed around by Calvary Chapel’s double-wing offense in the first

half as the Warriors gained the bulk of their 416 rushing yards.

“Obviously, if you take away those four interceptions, it’s a

different game,” Monarch said. “But they outhit us and controlled the

line of scrimmage.”

With Sage Hill still in the football game in the second quarter,

the Lightning was shut down on a fourth-and-2 play, when Calvary

Chapel defensive end Kyle Curry nailed Sage Hill fullback Cliff

Swanson for a 3-yard loss.

After the possession exchange, Calvary Chapel scored on its second

play and built a 29-8 lead with 5:41 left in the first half.

“I thought that was the biggest play, when we didn’t convert on

fourth-and-2 in the second quarter,” said Monarch, whose team was

stopped on the ground for minus-12 yards in the first half, in which

Calvary Chapel managed a 44-8 lead.

Calvary Chapel running back Jimmy Johnson capped his team’s

opening scoring drive with a 22-yard touchdown run, after getting the

call on a right trap and cutting back the other direction.

Calvary Chapel scored again on its second possession, a series

keyed by a 16-yard screen pass from quarterback Curry to Johnson out

of the double-wing and crowned by a 15-yard touchdown run by Ryan

Brodman.

The Warriors were on the move again lat in the first quarter, but

a fourth-down touchdown run by Johnson was nullified because of

holding on Calvary Chapel, pushing the Warriors back to the Sage Hill

29. No time was left of the first-quarter clock when the Warriors

lined up again to repeat fourth down, and this time Sage Hill

linebacker Erik Williams intercepted a pass and returned it 86 yards

for a touchdown.

In the second quarter, Calvary Chapel’s Brodman intercepted a pass

to set up the Warriors’ next score, when 6-foot-4, 240-pound fullback

Jimmy Hahn, a converted lineman, reached the end zone on a 56-yard

run to give Calvary Chapel a 22-8 cushion.