Lightning closes out ’02 season

Barry Faulkner

For the Sage Hill High football team’s seniors, tonight’s Academy

League finale against Brethren Christian, which kicks off at 7 at

Clark Field in Long Beach, provides one last entry into the scrapbook

filled with memories of the program’s first varsity season.

For those among the Lightning who will be back next season,

including several freshman, tonight’s clash is more of a bulletin

board entry.

“We’ve told our freshmen to remember these games,” Sage Hill Coach

Tom Monarch said. “They’ve had their freshman, junior varsity and

varsity experience thrown at them all at the same time this season.

They’ve hung in there and they’ve enjoyed the sport, which was what

we hoped for them before the season. Our freshmen have exceeded our

expectations.”

The senior class, including quarterback Zach Friedrichs, as well

as two-way standouts Erik Williams, Scott Cho and Cliff Swanson, will

bow out after shepherding the program through the last three seasons.

“We expected a lot from our seniors and they have met our

expectations,” Monarch said.

Friedrichs has thrown for 1,388 yards and 10 touchdowns this fall

for the Lightning (3-6, 0-2 in league). He has completed 84 of 190

with 13 interceptions, playing the last several weeks with a painful

thigh bruise that has limited his mobility.

Williams is the team’s leading receiver with 454 yards and five

TDs on 26 receptions. He has also rushed for 263 yards and one TD and

has scored another TD on an interception return.

Swanson is the team’s leading rusher with 316 yards and six TDs on

107 carries, while Cho has 19 receptions for 316 yards and two TDs.

Freshman Keya Manshadi has 14 catches for 289 yards and three TDs.

Huntington Beach-based Brethren Christian (7-2, 1-1), ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division XIII, can wrap up one of the

league’s two guaranteed playoff berths with a victory.

The Warriors, in second place behind league-leading Capistrano

Valley Christian, are paced by junior quarterback Denny Warden.

Warden leads the team in rushing (762 yards and 10 TDs) and passing

(104 of 217 for 1,707 yards and 16 TDs, with six interceptions).

Warden’s primary passing targets have been Seniors James Dingman

(40 catches for 698 yards and nine TDs), Eric McNeely (25 catches for

430 yards and two TDs) and Josh Rodgers (19 receptions for 299 yards

and two TDs).

The Warriors have just one underclassman listed on their 20-player

roster, which includes 12 seniors.

“We know we’re going to have our hands full,” said Monarch, who

cited the wear and tear of a long, arduous season, for last week’s

22-0 nonleague loss to St. Anthony, which ended the Saints’ 17-game

losing streak.

“The fuel in the tank is a bit low at this point of the season,”

Monarch said. “But our kids are looking forward to this challenge, as

they have every game this year.”