Lightning faces a big test today

Barry Faulkner

The euphoria of the Sage Hill High football team’s first varsity

victory last week over San Diego-based Midway Baptist has faded

somewhat as the Lightning prepare to host highly regarded Calvary

Chapel of Downey today at 3:30 p.m.

And Lightning Coach Tom Monarch fully expects the Grizzlies to

induce some of growing pains he anticipated for his youthful squad

this fall.

“These guys are bigger, stronger and faster than the guys we faced

last week,” Monarch said of a Calvary Chapel unit ranked No. 10 in

CIF Southern Section Division XIII.

Grizzlies Coach Steve Clark welcomed nine starters back for his

ninth season at the helm and the Delphic League representative is

still hungry for a victory after a 35-7 loss to Western Christian

Saturday.

“Of our first five games, I’ve thought Downey would be one of the

tougher teams we’d face,” Monarch said. “This is going to be a good

test for us. Win or lose, I’d like to see a little more fundamental

play and hard hitting with fewer missed tackles. Regardless of the

score, those are the things our coaches are looking for.”

Monarch said assignment defense will be another emphasis this

week, against a Calvary Chapel option attack.

“If their option is working for them, it could be a very, very

long afternoon,” Monarch said. “We need to stop their best plays,

meaning the option, the fullback dive and the isolation play off

tackle. We’d like to force them to try and beat us by throwing the

ball.”

The Lightning made short work of Midway Baptist, 42-24, but now

face the challenge of build on the momentum created from that

victory.

“There was a lot of electricity at our field (against Midway),”

Monarch said. “It wasn’t pretty, by any means, but I thought our

veterans did what we thought they could do and I liked the

aggressiveness a lot of our freshmen showed. But we did have a lot of

problems with fundamentals, which we expected.”

Monarch said the first game revealed a sound offensive lineup, but

some experimentation will be needed to finalize the personnel puzzle

on defense, particularly the interior line.

“Most of it is just experience,” Monarch said the defensive

struggles, as Midway Baptist compiled 148 of its offensive yards on

the ground, primarily between the tackles.

Monarch singled out the efforts of two-way standouts Cliff

Swanson, Scott Cho, Erik Williams and Zach Friedrichs against Midway.

Swanson, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound fullback, rushed for 147 yards on

19 carries, including touchdowns of 38 and 2 yards. He also sparkled

at middle linebacker.

Cho, a tight end and defensive end, had four catches for 64 yards

and one TD, while spending much of his time on defense nailing ball

carriers in the Midway backfield.

Williams had two receptions for 49 yards and one TD, while

Friedrichs completed 7 of 10 passes for 153 yards and three TDs,

without an interception. He also rushed 10 times for 56 yards,

including the school’s first varsity touchdown on a 9-yard scramble.

The Lightning won the turnover battle last week, 4-2, and Monarch

said taking advantage of the fumbles that can occur in option

offenses, would significantly enhance his team’s chances against the

Grizzlies.

*

CIF Top 10 Division XIII 1. Capistrano Valley Christian; 2. Brethren Christian;

3. Pasadena Poly; 4. Campbell Hall; 5. rio Hondo Prep; 6. Hamilton;

7. Flintridge Preparatory; 8. Saddleback Valley Christian; 9.

Linfield; 10. Calvary Chapel Downey. Others: Fairmont Prep, Sage

Hill, Chadwick, Grace Brethren.