Lightning wears out down stretch

Bryce Alderton

Before the halfway mark of the first quarter, Sage Hill High and

visiting Mary Star of the Sea had put up 21 points with all signs

pointing to a high-scoring affair Friday afternoon at Sage Hill High,

but then a light rain began to fall and stayed the rest of the game

as the scoring slowed and the San Pedro-based Stars (5-2) outlasted

the Lightning, 34-20, in a nonleague matchup.

The game began as ominous as the dark clouds that enshrouded the

field Friday for Sage Hill with the Stars’ Keith Brown taking the

opening kickoff 92 yards for a TD.

The Lightning (3-4, 0-1 in the Academy League) took an early lead,

14-7, after quarterback Zach Friedrichs, 18 for 27, for 247 yards,

threw two touchdown passes, one to Erik Williams for 38 yards and a

40-yarder to Keya Manshadi, the Lightning’s leading receiver with

four catches for 71 yards.

In the end, the Stars capitalized on a Sage Hill fumble and an

interception late in the third quarter and early in the fourth

quarter, respectively, to score two touchdowns just 91 seconds apart

to stop the Lightning for good.

“We had a chance to tie it up in the third (quarter) and to throw

20 up is nice, I’m very pleased, said Lightning Coach Tom Monarch.”

Senior Steve Redlew ignited Mary Star’s game with a 47-yard TD run

and later quarterback Daniel Ramirez hit Jonathan Phillips on an

18-yard strike to pad the lead to 34-14.

The Lightning scored a late touchdown with Cliff Swanson gaining

16 of his 22 yards on a TD scamper.

Friedrichs, under constant pressure, spread the ball around to

five receivers, connecting with Manshadi and Williams for touchdowns

and completing five passes to Swanson for 60 yards, four to Scott Cho

for 40 yards and two to Eddie Huang for 19 yards.

Mary Star of the Sea presented a balanced attack, rushing 23 times

and quarterback Danny Ramirez throwing 13 times and completing 10 of

those passes for 103 yards, with two touchdown passes and no

interceptions.

Sage Hill (3-4, 0-1 in the Academy League) used just six plays on

their opening drive to score their first touchdown, a 38-yard pass

from Friedrichs to Williams to get the Lightning within one at 7-6.

Erik Good recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff to put

the Lightning at their own 48 and four plays later Friedrichs,

rolling to his left to avoid the rush, hit Manshadi, running along

the western sideline, with a 40-yard TD strike to give the Lightning

its only lead after Cho caught a Freidrichs pass for the two-point

conversion, 14-7.