Sage Hill charged up

Bryce Alderton

For much of last season, Sage Hill School junior Keya Manshadi

watched his teammates do battle each week while he recovered from a

fracture above his ankle.

But in Sage’s football opener Friday, Manshadi put on a show for

all to see, including visiting Midway Baptist.

Manshadi had the game of a career, scoring four touchdowns,

including two on interception returns totaling 130 yards, to power

the Lightning to a 42-14 nonleague victory over Midway Baptist on a

sunny, warm afternoon.

Sage Hill sophomore tailback Don Ayres also gave the Patriots

fits, scoring on touchdown runs of 72 and 57 yards, part of his 179

rushing yards on nine carries.

The 6-foot, 175-pound Manshadi tallied touchdown runs of 54 and 17

yards and finished with 98 rushing yards on eight carries, helping

Sage Hill amass 332 yards on the ground and score 42 consecutive

points after Midway Baptist jumped in front, 6-0, on Adam Williams’

5-yard burst with 5:04 left in the first quarter.

The quick-strike Lightning scored 28 points off six Midway Baptist

turnovers -- three fumbles and three interceptions -- to exact

revenge on the Patriots, who prevailed, 48-15, when the teams met in

last season’s opener.

A more mature, better-conditioned Sage Hill team took the field

Friday, Coach Tom Monarch said.

“This year, the intensity is up 50% and we’ve worked extra hard,

conditioning-wise, to get through all last four quarters,” Monarch

said. “We have a group of juniors and [four] seniors that are still

relatively young, but they’re not freshmen and sophomores anymore.”

The Lightning scored four touchdowns in nine offensive drives and

the longest of those was five plays.

A three-play, 66-yard drive, capped by Ayres’ 57-yard touchdown

burst up the middle, put Sage ahead, 7-6, and there was no looking

back.

The drive was set up when junior defensive end Michael Morgan

stripped a Midway ballcarrier and junior middle linebacker Bryan

Kornsweit recovered to give Sage a first down on the Patriots’

31-yard line.

Monarch was also particularly pleased with Sage’s defense after

Midway scored its first touchdown.

Linebackers Nick Sohl, Ayres, freshman Dylan Milstein and

Kornsweit began filling holes and issued some punishing blows on

Patriot ballcarriers.

“When we can hear helmets popping on the sidelines, we are very

happy,” Monarch said.

Sohl forced and recovered the same fumble while Milstein also

induced a fumble.

The stingy Lightning defense also halted a Midway drive in the

third quarter, when the Patriots, trailing, 35-6, had a

first-and-goal on the Sage 4-yard line.

O’Hare and Manshadi, playing cornerback, each stopped Midway

ballcarriers for 3-yard losses. After an incomplete pass, Manshadi

capped his scoring surge by cutting across the middle for the

interception and then outracing everyone for the aforementioned

97-yard TD scamper.

Manshadi, who missed half the season and only then saw minimal

playing time a year ago, was eager to get back on the field, healthy.

“It’s horrible to watch from the sidelines, but I love everything

now about our team, our [offensive] line, and our freshman are

stepping up and making big plays,” Manshadi said. “[Friday] our team

stepped up.”

Freshman quarterback Jamie McGee completed 3 of 9 passes for 46

yards, 30 of those yards to senior tight end Stephen Hancock.

“This year is going to be amazing,” Manshadi said.