Sage Hill looking for a strong start

In its last two games, the Sage Hill School football team has come to play in the fourth quarter.

The Lightning, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division, have outscored their last two opponents, Western Christian and Fairmont Prep, 26-7, in the final 12 minutes.

But both of those games were still losses, and coming out ready to play has been a talking point for Sage Hill (2-2) as it prepares to play host to Army and Navy of Carlsbad (3-1) tonight at 7.

“Different teams have different personalities every year,” Sage Hill Coach Tom Monarch said. “We just happen to be a team that doesn’t come out on fire. But coaches can’t put on pads out there; there’s only so much talking you can do before the game. The players have to grab the bull by the horns from the beginning.”

Monarch said it was unclear if Lightning quarterback/free safety Jamie McGee would be able to play tonight. McGee re-aggravated a lingering shoulder injury last week against Fairmont Prep.

Backup quarterback Michael Higgins, who normally plays wide receiver, came in and almost rallied the Lightning to the win.

“Jamie’s shoulder is still sore, and we’ve been running Higgins as quarterback all week,” Monarch said. “We don’t know yet. We might even let them both play quarterback.”

Whoever plays quarterback tonight for Sage Hill, they will have Don Ayres at running back. After missing two games, Ayres returned from a shoulder injury against Fairmont Prep and rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown.

Monarch said Ayres, a 2005 Newport-Mesa Dream Team selection after rushing for 1,018 yards and excelling at linebacker, is feeling even stronger now.

“He feels good,” Monarch said. “He’s moving up to a little bit of outside linebacker. I’m going to watch him closely, but I was very happy with how he played. We want to be well-prepped for league, when we’ll have three or four big games in a row.”

The Sage Hill coach said the Lightning will need to bring intensity tonight against a solid Army-Navy team, which has won three consecutive games since losing its opener to Sage’s Academy League rival St. Margaret’s.

“They’re a very good team, probably one of the better ones we’ve played so far,” Monarch said. “We’ll have our hands full, but that’s one of the best way to prepare yourself for league.”

He said the Warriors run an I-formation offense and a three-four defense, blitzing often on defense.

Sage Hill probably can’t afford to spot Army-Navy a large first-half lead, like the Lightning have done the past two games.

“They’re pretty physical and they execute extremely well,” Monarch said. “We’ll definitely have to be more physical than we have been, just to compete with them. We need to play with more intensity.”

Monarch said it shouldn’t be a problem for the Lightning to get fired up.

“We need a combination of execution and a physical game, to mend the two together,” he said.