Attitude is everything for Lightning

Patrick Laverty

Sage Hill School football coach Tom Monarch doesn’t need to tell his

players how difficult the final two games of the regular season are

going to be.

If they didn’t know already, the Lightning are well aware of what

type of opponents they face in the Academy League after last week’s

53-0 loss to St. Margaret’s.

“The coaches and the kids have prepped themselves for this all

season,” Monarch said. “The kids are well aware of the talent that

they face.”

Because of that preparation, Monarch said the Lightning (1-6, 0-1

in league) continue to take great attitudes into Saturday’s 1 p.m.

home game against Capistrano Valley Christian (4-3-1, 1-0).

The Eagles are coming off a 40-16 victory over Brethren Christian

and present another daunting task for the youthful Lightning.

Capistrano Valley Christian has a balanced attack that averages

143 yards per game rushing, led by Peter St. John (322 yards), and

129 yards per game passing with Jeremy Ward lined up under center.

Sage Hill will counter with a freshman quarterback, Braden Ross,

and the speedy backfield duo of sophomore Keya Manshadi and Eddie

Huang. The latter leads the team with 256 yards rushing and will also

line up quarterback at times, running the option.

“We just want to keep it simple, do some clock management,”

Monarch said. “We’ll try to establish our running game, maybe with

counters, using Keya and Eddie in the backfield.”

The key for Monarch these next two weeks is maintaining the

enjoyment of the game for his young players despite the difficult

schedule ahead.

“Our goal is to keep it positive at practice these next two weeks

and make it as enjoyable as possible,” Monarch said.