Sage Hill seeks steady progress

The Sage Hill School football program is on the upswing.

Two years ago, there were just 25 players on the roster, forcing

the majority to play both offense and defense as Coach Tom Monarch

instilled fundamentals.

The team went 1-8 and was outscored by an average of 23.8 points

per game.

But last year, with the addition of five players, the story was

different. The Lightning finished 7-4 and reached the CIF Southern

Section Division XIII playoffs for the first time school history.

Monarch believes the swing will continue upward.

“I think the last season propelled us into this season,” said

Monarch, entering his fourth year at the helm. “The hopes are to kind

of pick up where we left off last year. We had a great summer and we

have a lot of senior leadership this year, which we’ve never had.”

Sage Hill currently has 38 players on the roster, a significant

jump from two years ago when almost every player was starting both

ways. This year, Monarch has a deeper pool to choose from, which also

means there will be much-needed rest for athletes during games.

In addition to a beefed up squad, there are plenty of key

returners this year to provide the leadership Monarch has been

craving.

Entering the program’s fourth varsity season, this will be the

first Lightning team on which players have competed in the sport for

four years. The abundance of experienced players translates to less

time Monarch has to spend with the basics of the game.

“We haven’t had that prior to this season,” said Monarch, the

reigning Academy League Coach of the Year. “The seniors help run

practice, help mentor younger players and they know the offense,

defense, stretching drills and what jokes I’m going to tell. Coming

into this year, we won’t have to work so much with the fundamentals

and we can elevate our level of play and expand ourselves on both

sides.”

The leadership this year is bountiful. There are nine returning

starters on offensive and eight on defense. Thirteen seniors are

listed on the roster.

Six first-team All-Academy League players return, including senior

running back Keya Manshadi, who led all Newport-Mesa players with 20

touchdowns last year.

Other first-team all-league returners include junior running back

Don Ayres, junior receiver Braden Ross, and senior linemen Bryan

Kornswiet, Morgan Brief and Nick Sohl.

Manshadi and Ayres are expected to split the load in the

backfield, as the team will be running about 50% of the time, Monarch

said. Sophomore quarterback Jamie McGee will be showcasing his arm

for the other half of the snaps.

A slashing, open-field runner, the 6-foot, 175-pound Manshadi

returns after a season in which he rushed for 936 yards and 14

touchdowns, in addition to 342 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Ayres (6-0, 175), more of a power runner according to Monarch,

rumbled his way to a team-high 1,017 rushing yards, along with 12

touchdowns last season.

Paving the way for the two runners is what Monarch considers the

greatest improvement to the team from a year ago.

“I think we’re a better football team,” Monarch said. “I think the

main thing is the offensive line. We have seniors all the way across

for the first time. Anybody that knows football, whether it’s high

school, college or the pros, knows an experienced offensive line win

championships.

“The kids have lifted hard, gotten stronger, quicker, bigger and,

in conjunction with their experience, will be the strongest point.”

Seniors Kyle Ramer (6-2, 240), Brandon David (5-10, 230),

Kornswiet (5-8, 175), Brief (5-4, 160) and Sohl (6-1, 180) will fill

out the offensive line.

A non-personnel issue that could play a factor in Sage’s season is

the field lighting situation. The program had four temporary stadium

light standards installed -- one on each corner of the field, Monarch

said. For the first time, all home games will be played at night.

One home contest was played in the evening last year as the school

underwent a trial run with the lights. The team responded with a

62-19 rout of Silver Valley, posting a single-game record for most

points scored.

Six home games are scheduled at 7 p.m. this year.

Sage lost to Linfield Christian, 32-8, in the first round of the

Division XIII playoffs last season, capping a season in which a

complete turnaround from the year prior took place.

“We’ve put ourselves in the mind-set where the waiting game for

Sage Hill is over,” Monarch said. “If you want to dance, you have to

pay the fiddler. Over the last few years we’ve paid a lot of money to

the fiddler and now it’s time to dance.”

Colors: Forest green, silver and white.

League: Academy.

2004 record: 7-4, 1-2 in league.

Type of offense: Multiple.

Type of defense: Four-four.

Head coach: Tom Monarch (fourth year, 11-19)

Staff: Monarch (co-offensive coordinator); Brad Gossen

(co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks); Steve Hingst (defensive

coordinator); Mike Marchetti (assistant defensive coordinator,

linebackers); Jason Eldridge (receivers, secondary); Pete Anderson

(offensive line, defensive ends, linebackers, conditioning).

Returning starters: Nine offense, eight defense.

Returning lettermen: 26.

Returning with honors: RB/DB Keya Manshadi; OL/LB Nick Sohl;

OL/LB Bryan Kornswiet; OL/DL Morgan Brief; RB/LB Don Ayres; WR/DB

Braden Ross; OL/DL Michael Morgan; OL/DL Brandon David; QB/DB Jamie

McGee.

2004 results

*--*

42 Mdwy. Bapt. 14

7 V’nova Prep 21

40 Twin Pines 7

35 Fairmont 0

31 Viewpoint 6

62 Silver Valley 19

14 Sherm. Ind. 0

7 Breth. Chr. 30

0 St. Marg’s. 49

24 CV Chr. 12

CIF Div. XIII playoffs

8 Linfield Chr. 32

*--*

2005 schedule

Friday, Sept. 2 -- Fairmont Prep (home), 7

Friday, Sept. 9 -- Saddleback Valley Christian (home), 7

Friday, Sept. 16 -- at Midway Baptist, 4

Friday, Sept. 23 -- Sherman Indian (home), 7

Saturday, Oct. 1 -- Viewpoint (home), 7

Friday, Oct. 7 -- Twin Pines (home), 7

Friday, Oct. 14 -- at Silver Valley, 7

Friday, Oct. 21 -- Bye

Friday, Oct. 28 -- Brethren Christian* (home), 7

Friday, Nov. 4 -- at St. Margaret’s*, TBA

Friday, Nov. 11 -- Capistrano Valley Christian* (home), 7

*denotes league game