Rain no bother to Lightning

NEWPORT COAST — It was a game that featured often-heavy rain, lightning in the distance and a scoreboard that shorted out in the first quarter.

Through all of this, Sage Hill School stuck to its game plan in its Academy League football opener against Linfield Christian on Friday night.

Don Ayres scored the first three Lightning touchdowns as Sage Hill (3-3, 1-0 in league) romped, 37-8.

The rain, especially in the first half, made a ground game necessary. But equally impressive was how comfortable Sage Hill quarterback Jamie McGee looked in the pocket, considering the playing conditions.

McGee threw for 112 yards in the first half alone.

“He was on fire all week [in practice],” Sage Hill Coach Tom Monarch said. “He threw a wet ball well, which is difficult to throw because it’s heavy. But since his arm strength is better now, he did it well. You practice how you play, and he had a great week of practice.”

The rain started just before kickoff and got heavier as the first half went along. But that didn’t deter the Lightning, who scored on their second possession against the Temecula-based Lions (1-6, 0-1).

“It just made it more fun,” said Sage Hill senior center J.J. Schumacher. “It made it a lot more fun. We all wanted a rain game, and we got it.”

McGee converted a third-down quarterback sneak to the Linfield Christian 37. On the next play, he found Ayres on a touchdown pass down the Sage Hill sideline.

Both teams had trouble converting for much of the rest of the half. But with the scoreboard inoperable and time being kept on the field, Sage Hill had an 83-yard touchdown drive late in the half.

On first-and-goal at the Linfield Christian on-yard line, Ayres pounded it into the end zone to give the Lightning a 14-0 halftime lead.

The visiting Lions had no completed passes in the first half and just 40 yards from scrimmage.

Monarch said the key to the Lightning defense was having four healthy linebackers — Ayres, Max Torres, Braden Ross and Joey Puishys.

“What we’d been lacking the last few weeks was our linebackers stepping up to fill the holes,” Monarch said. “We had four solid ‘backers back there tonight, and that was the first time we’d really had that all season.”

Sage Hill came out even more determined in the second half. The Lightning couldn’t capitalize on McGee’s interception of Linfield Christian quarterback Jason Moralez near midfield, eventually turning the ball over on downs at the Lions’ 12.

But, on the next play, Moralez fumbled the snap and Puishys recovered.

Ayres ran it in from 10 yards out, and the Lightning were cruising, 22-0.

The defense came up big again late in the third quarter. Ross, slanting across the field, reached back to intercept Moralez’s pass and took it 40 yards up the sideline for a touchdown.

Soon after Linfield Christian punted the ball back early in the fourth quarter, McGee handed to fullback Torres at his own 21.

Torres did the rest, running 79 yards up the middle for a TD.

By then, the rain had stopped, but the Lightning was still going strong.

“I saw the hole open, and I just took off,” Torres said. “I could see the shadow of the guy behind me, and I just kept hoping that he wasn’t that fast.”

Monarch said the win was obviously very important if Sage Hill hopes to qualify for the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division playoffs.

“It was tremendous,” he said. “I told these kids all year that we really have to jump on the first league game. We only have four [other] teams [in league], so the first team to two victories has a good shot at making playoffs.”

“We’re halfway there.”