Sage opens league play

Patrick Laverty

Now comes the difficult part for Sage Hill School’s football team.

As if the growing pains of a 1-5 nonleague schedule weren’t

enough, a young Lightning team now enters Academy League play against

some of the toughest competition they’ve faced this year.

Sage Hill opens league play at St. Margaret’s tonight at 7. The

Tartans (4-3) have the best record of the four Academy League teams

and defeated Sherman Indian, which Sage Hill lost to last week, 24-8

earlier this year.

But there are some bright spots for the Lightning.

Freshman quarterback Braden Ross had his best game of the season

in last week’s loss, completing 14 of 17 passes for 201 yards.

One of those passes went to sophomore Keya Manshadi, who played

his first game this season after missing five contests because of a

leg injury. His return gives Lightning Coach Tom Monarch a plethora

of offensive options.

“I think we’re going to open it up a little bit,” Monarch said.

“We’re also considering Eddie [Huang]at quarterback and moving Braden

to wide receiver like we had planned at the beginning. We’ll probably

work with Braden and Eddie both at quarterback.”

With Ross coming off his best game, Monarch wants to spread the

field with Manshadi, Huang and junior Alex Samel. In fact, he wants

to look a lot like St. Margaret’s.

The Tartans have thrown for 1,464 yards this season, led by junior

quarterback Sebastian Bacon.

“[St. Margaret’s Coach] Brady [Lock is] an outstanding passing

coach and always has been,” Monarch said. “He takes what he has and

has a nice balanced attack.”

Sage Hill will likely counter with two safeties, Huang and

Manshadi.

The key for Manshadi is making sure he is capable of playing

through the fourth quarter.

“We’ll have to use him sparingly, he’s not in four-quarter shape,”

Monarch said.

Stamina has been a concern for Monarch and his staff throughout

the season and he hopes going to a more passing-oriented attack

helps, particularly with his lineman, the majority of whom go both

ways.

“I think our kids just get worn down during the game,” Monarch

said. “When the numbers are thin, it’s very difficult to maintain a

running game for four quarters.

“Our young linemen, they really adapt to pass blocking. They pass

block real well.”

The adjustment comes with an added bonus for sophomore center Kyle

Ramer, who took over the position two weeks ago after Bryan Kornswiet

was injured. Ramer will be responsible for snapping the ball in a

shotgun formation as the Lightning look to spread the field.

“[Ramer is] only a sophomore and he’s done a great job with the

pressure we’ve put on him,” Monarch said.