Night shift for Sage Hill?

Matinees will likely give way to main events during Sage Hill School

football games come next month.

Coach Tom Monarch said there is 90% certainty that four 80-foot

light posts will be installed for every home game this season.

Officials with the city of Newport Beach and the Irvine Co. are

reviewing permits for the structures and Monarch said approval could

come within days.

Installation of four towers -- two on each side -- could begin as

early as the week following approvals. Monarch said the lights will

be temporary, meaning they will run off a generator. If city

officials don’t consider the lights a “nuisance”, Monarch will push

for permanent installation, with underground electrical lines.

Parents, school administrators and Monarch made the push for

lights at every home game. Parents footed the bill for the entire

project, which Monarch estimates costs between $35,000 and $40,000.

Sage Hill experimented with lights for one game last season. The

Lightning responded with a school-record single-game scoring output

in a 62-19 victory over Silver Valley.

The favorable response jump-started the effort for lights at every

home game this year, Monarch said.

“It’s high school football the way it was meant to be,” said

Monarch, who has steadily built the program from its varsity debut

three years ago.

The Lightning come off their most successful season, finishing 7-4

and securing the program’s first CIF Southern Section playoff berth.

“We finally have a good number of seniors who have worked hard,”

said Monarch, the Academy League’s reigning Coach of the Year. “The

hard work they’ve put in the last few years is going to pay off in

conjunction with the lights; it’s going to highlight their

performance.”

But Monarch won’t rest easy until he sees the light structures

gently climbing into the sky.

“I’ve learned to never say never, whether it’s good, bad or

indifferent.”

Monarch doesn’t want the lights to grab all the spotlight of the

upcoming season, the one he is most excited about.

“[The lights] will bring some of the local residents who want to

see the best show in town,” he said.