Lightning get past Valiants

NEWPORT COAST — It was almost a surreal moment for Braden Ross.

For the Sage Hill School football team, it provided a moment of relief.

On a wild opening night full of turnovers, Ross, a senior wideout for the Lightning, hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Jamie McGee with 1:03 left for the go-ahead score in Sage’s 24-13 nonleague win over visiting St. Genevieve.

And just to make sure the pesky Valiants from Panarama City didn’t come back to life, junior defensive back Tom Multari picked off a pass and returned it to the one-yard line before fumbling, and junior linebacker Max Torres recovered in the endzone for a touchdown and a 24-13 lead with the conversion to squelch St. Genevieve’s last legitimate drive.

But it was Ross and McGee who enabled the Lightning sideline to breathe a sigh of relief in the closing moments, knowing a loss to a team that went 0-10 last season was not going to happen.

“It was unbelievable,” said Ross, who finished the night with eight catches for 140 yards and two scores. “I couldn’t believe I still had the ball when I got in the end zone. It was the best feeling of my career.”

For a while, however, the situation didn’t seem all that peachy for the Lightning (1-0).

Trailing, 13-10, with 5:14 left, Sage Hill went three plays before being intercepted. After the Lightning defense held St. Genevieve to a three-and-out, Sage got the ball back, but fumbled three plays later with 1:22 left.

But on the very next play, Multari recovered a Valiant fumble and Sage was back in business. Two plays later, Ross was in the end zone with the go-ahead score.

“They were tenacious,” Lightning Coach Tom Monarch said. “I knew coming into this game it was going to be a barn-burner. After the game, I told [St. Genevieve Coach Tony White] that this wouldn’t have been a bad loss if we would have lost. It was a great game for both teams.”

McGee, who started getting hot in the second half after senior running back Don Ayres carried the load in the first half, connected with Ross on multiple occasions in the waning minutes.

McGee, a third-year starter as a junior, finished 14 for 24 with 213 yards and two touchdowns. He hit Ross for the game’s first score on a seven-yard TD pass in the first quarter.

“It was really wild, really emotional,” McGee said about the outcome. “But we stuck through it in the fourth quarter and we pulled it out.”

The outcome wasn’t all beneficial for Sage Hill, though. Ayres left the game in the fourth quarter with a shoulder that was possibly separated, Monarch said, and his status will likely be known by Monday.

Ayres rushed for 76 yards on 24 carries.