Sage collects Academy League laurels

Rick Devereux

The Sage Hill School football team garnered 11 All-Academy League

representatives, including six first-team selections. The Lightning

finished 7-4 and earned a wild card berth into the CIF Southern

Section Division XIII playoffs for the first time in the school’s

history.

Tom Monarch was also selected the Coach of the Year for turning a

1-8 team into a playoff representative.

Juniors Keya Manshadi, Nick Sohl, Bryan Kornswiet and Morgan

Brief, along with sophomores Don Ayres and Braden Ross, were named to

the first team.

Second-team all-league honors went to senior Amy Werblin, juniors

Michael Morgan and Brandon David as well as freshmen Dylan Milstein

and Jamie McGee.

Manshadi led the team with 1,278 yards from scrimmage and 15

touchdowns on 145 touches, averaging 8.8 yards per touch. He led the

Lightning with 14 rushing touchdowns as well as 342 receiving yards

and three aerial scores. He was second on the team with 936 rushing

yards. He also returned kicks and led the team with four

interceptions from his cornerback position.

Sohl was a standout as a linebacker, starting the year at outside

‘backer but moving to inside later in the season. He led the team

with four sacks and was second with 41 total tackles. Sohl also had

one interception and two fumble recoveries.

Kornswiet was the starting center for most of the year and

anchored a line that paved the way for 2,208 rushing yards, a school

record. He was tied for fourth on the team with 36 total tackles.

The 5-foot-2 Brief was a leader along the offensive and defensive

lines. A second-team selection last year, he played most of the 2004

season at right guard and defensive tackle, but was forced to play

other positions late in the year when several Sage players got

injured. He finished with 29 tackles, including one sack.

Ayres, a second-team all-league selection last year, gained a

team-high 1,017 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 185 carries. He

was also the leading tackler on the club with 62 unassisted takedowns

from his linebacker spot.

Ross was a second-team all-league selection as a freshman

quarterback last fall, but the sophomore made the first team as a

receiver/cornerback/punter. He led the team with 26 catches and was

second with 319 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Ross was third on

the team with two interceptions and he finished with 25 tackles. He

averaged 31.4 yards per punt and had two of his 22 kicks downed

inside the 20-yard line.

Werblin, a second-team all-league selection last year, converted

30 of 34 (.882) point-after-touchdown kick attempts and two of four

field goals with her 36-yard field goal against Viewpoint, the

longest of the season.

Morgan (6-4, 230 pounds) was a two-way starter along the line. He

started all 11 games at right offensive tackle and eight games at

defensive end. He also started two games at defensive tackle and one

at outside linebacker. Morgan was second on the team with three

sacks.

David (5-11, 230) started all 11 games at defensive tackle for the

Lightning. He finished with 17 sacks, two fumble recoveries and one

sack. David started the first six games at left offensive tackle and

then moved to left guard for two games before finishing out the

season as the starting right guard.

Milstein (5-10, 175) started eight games at inside linebacker for

Sage Hill. He was third on the team with 36 tackles despite breaking

his collarbone in the third quarter against Brethren Christian, an

injury that sat him for the final three games, including the 32-8

loss to Linfield Christian in the first round of the CIF playoffs.

McGee completed 71 of 148 pass attempts for 858 yards and five

touchdowns. He threw a season-high 143 yards against Linfield

Christian.