Sage Hill 8-man football repeats as undefeated Express League champion with win over Avalon
With the Sage Hill School 8-man football team leading by 12 points and just a little more than six minutes left to play in the Express League title game against Avalon, the host Lightning were on the defensive.
The Lancers were inside the Sage Hill five-yard-line, then quarterback Antonio Ramos fumbled the ball into the end zone and out of bounds for a touchback. Sage Hill had 6:06 to kill the game and the Lightning did just that.
Sage Hill claimed the school’s second consecutive undefeated league championship with a 40-28 win over Avalon on Friday afternoon at Ramer Field. The Lightning also clinched the league’s lone automatic berth into the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
While the Lightning didn’t finish the regular season with an overall perfect record for the second straight year, Sage Hill (8-1, 5-0 in league) continued to dominate the Express League since joining it last season. The Lightning are 11-0 in league play under coach BJ Crabtree.
“This is really exciting,” said Lightning quarterback Finn McClintock, who passed for three touchdowns and rushed for two scores. “Last year getting the school’s first title in history and now to have two is a great feeling.”
Sage Hill wound down the clock, culminating with an Avalon offside on fourth and one with 66 seconds to go. The penalty allowed the Lightning to take a pair of kneel downs to close out the game.
“That shows our heart,” said Crabtree, in his fourth year in charge of the Lightning. “We can finish it off ourselves. We control us. That drive right there, we controlled us and got us the league championship right there.”
The only blemish on Sage Hill’s season came in the second game, a 55-8 nonleague loss at home to La Cañada Flintridge Prep on Sept. 6.
Next for Sage Hill is the postseason, which begins on Nov. 8. The section will release the playoff pairings on Sunday.
The Lightning, ranked No. 6 in the division, held the lead for much of the game against No. 7 Avalon (5-4, 4-1), scoring on a three-yard touchdown run by McClintock within the first two minutes of the game. Defensively, Sage Hill had its hands full with Avalon wide receiver Adalberto Martinez and 230-pound fullback DeAngelo Reyes.
On special teams, Sage Hill was strategic, keeping the ball away from Martinez as much as it could and only allowed the junior one kick return more than 25 yards. Martinez, who had 11 catches for 117 yards and three touchdowns, and Reyes, who had 11 carries for 67 yards, couldn’t do enough on offense as Sage Hill’s defense stayed composed.
“We obviously didn’t get them every single time — they made some plays — but our kids believe in eight-manning the ball and fly around making plays,” Crabtree said. “Our kids believe.”
McClintock, who wasn’t the team’s original starter, threw for 287 yards and ran for 33 yards.
McClintock did well to evade Avalon’s big defensive line for the most part, going down once in the third quarter, requiring the athletic trainer to come to his aide. He was quick to release his throws, completing 18 of 31 passes.
“He overthrew a couple passes, but the kid’s got great heart,” Crabtree said. “He only weighs about 130 pounds [and he’s] getting hit by 200-plus [pound] guys. He’s got great instincts.”
McClintock found Alvaro Corona and Ben Romeo for 10-yard and eight-yard touchdowns, respectively, in the first quarter. Corona managed to catch four passes for 92 yards, and he also took Sage Hill’s kickoffs and extra-point kicks.
“If you have a whole team of Alvaros on the field, or off the field in life, you’re winning, man,” Crabtree said.
Sage Hill, with only three seniors, plans to win in the playoffs. Last year, the program won its first 8-man playoff game, beating Flintridge Prep 28-26, before exiting with a 56-7 loss to Canoga Park Faith Baptist in the quarterfinals.
“We have a lot of great players on this team,” said McClintock, who’s part of Sage Hill’s big junior class. “Everyone contributes to this team. There’s not one player who’s just a bench player.”
Express League
Sage Hill 40, Avalon 28
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Avalon 14 – 0 – 8 – 6 — 28
Sage Hill 21 – 6 – 13 – 0 — 40
FIRST QUARTER
SH – McClintock 3 run (Corona kick), 10:45.
SH – Corona 10 pass from McClintock (Corona kick), 5:11.
A – Ramos 14 run (run failed), 2:40.
SH – Romeo 8 pass from McClintock (Corona kick), 1:09.
A – Martinez 21 pass from Ramos (Martinez pass from Ramos), 0:40.
SECOND QUARTER
SH – Romeo 2 pass from McClintock (run failed), 2:46.
THIRD QUARTER
SH – McClintock 9 run (pass failed), 8:03.
A – Martinez 21 pass from Ramos (Ramos run), 5:33.
SH – Karahalios 1 run (Corona kick), 3:37.
FOURTH QUARTER
A – Martinez 10 pass from Ramos (run failed), 10:50.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
A – Reyes, 11-67.
SH – McClintock, 10-33, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
A – Ramos, 15-20-1, 145, 3 TDs.
SH – McClintock, 18-31-0, 287, 3 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
A – Martinez, 11-117, 3 TDs.
SH – Corona, 4-92, 1 TD.
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