Sage Hill has a chance to get an Academy award tonight

Barry Faulkner

The Sage Hill High novelty act continues tonight, as the Lightning

open its first varsity Academy League season with a road game against

Capistrano Valley Christian at Laguna Beach High. Kickoff is at 7.

Coach Tom Monarch’s Lightning (3-2), ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern

Section Division XIII, ended a two-game losing streak with a 27-0

triumph over Fairmont last week. It was Sage Hill’s first shutout.

Capo Valley Christian (2-3), ranked No. 7 in CIF Division XIII,

snapped a three-game losing skid with a 26-7 win over Maranatha last

week. The Eagles, coached for the sixth season by Keith Patefield,

reached the Division XIII quarterfinals last year and are favored to

join Brethren Christian as the league’s two automatic playoff

qualifiers this season.

Monarch believes Brethren Christian is by far the strongest team

in the four-team league and is confident his team has enough to

defeat fellow Academy foe St. Margaret’s. So, if the Lightning is to

crack the league’s upper division, it will need to come up big

against the Eagles.

“Our kids understand the playoff structure and they understand

this game is going to be a tremendous challenge,” Monarch said. “I

think we’re going to need about three big plays, we’re going to need

to commit zero or one turnover, to limit our penalties, and force a

turnover or two. We’re going to have to slow their offense down,

because I don’t expect us to shut them down.”

Monarch said the Eagles hold the edge in the trenches on both

sides of the ball.

“This is probably one of the best offensive lines we’ve faced,”

Monarch said. “They are bigger than us and they are more

experienced.”

The Eagles are less experienced at the skill positions, where a

cast of juniors has produced most of their offensive statistics.

Junior Mike Bialik is the leading rusher with 256 yards and three

TDs on 33 carries, while juniors Peter St. John (175 yards and two

TDs) and Kory Nielson (111 yards and one TD) have also been

productive.

Junior quarterback Jeremy Ward has thrown for 476 yards and two

TDs, completing 43 of 96 with seven interceptions, while junior Karl

Hodel is the leading receiver with 20 catches for 204 yards and a

pair of TDs.

Eric Schlegel, a 6-foot-2, 245-pound senior linebacker, paces an

Eagle defense that has allowed an average of 15.4 points per game.

Sage Hill, producing nearly 23 points per contest but giving up

32.6 per game, is led offensively by versatile senior Erik Williams.

Williams, slowed by a groin pull in Weeks 2-4, rushed for 114

yards on 14 carries against Fairmont and leads Lightning receivers

with 13 catches for 219 yards and two TDs. He has also scored on an

interception return to match senior fullback Cliff Swanson with a

team-best five TDs.

Swanson is the team’s leading rusher with 254 yards on 75 carries.

Senior Zach Friedrichs has completed 36 of 79 passes for 654 yards

and seven TDs. He has thrown seven interceptions.

Monarch said he will unveil a handful of new running plays this

week and will also put Friedrichs in the shotgun for the first time

this season.

“But this game isn’t going to be decided by X’s and O’s,” Monarch

said. “This one will come down to who can control the line of

scrimmage.”