Sage Hill ready to rumble

Sage Hill School football coach Tom Monarch has little resemblance to boxing promoter Don King, and the Newport Coast isn’t exactly reminiscent of Zaire.

But Monarch was thinking in boxing terms heading into tonight’s Academy League finale pitting his Lightning against the St. Margaret’s Tartans, to be held at 6 p.m. at Sage Hill.

Monarch referred to the game as a “Rumble in the Jungle” between the two teams, both 3-0 in league, in what amounts to a league championship game. It’s unclear which team is 1974-era Muhammad Ali and which team is George Foreman, but the point is made, as both teams like to move the ball on the ground.

“It really should be a ‘Rumble in the Jungle,’” Monarch said. “That’s what I’d like to see. There’s no better way to prepare yourself for a playoff game than to play the No. 1 team [in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division] and have a good, old-fashioned Rumble in the Jungle.”

Both Sage Hill (6-3), ranked No. 5, and St. Margaret’s (9-0) have already clinched CIF playoff berths, and neither team can finish worse than second in league. But while St. Margaret’s may not be the self-proclaimed greatest of all time like Ali, the Tartans have done what they’ve pleased against Sage Hill recently.

Sage Hill lost, 49-0, to St. Margaret’s in 2004, and the Lightning fell, 56-8, to the Tartans in 2005.

“We have nothing to lose,” Monarch said. “They’ve just always had an extremely strong program. We have to be opportunistic, and really play out of our shoes and play our best. Looking at several of their game films, they rarely make mistakes.”

The Lightning haven’t made many mistakes in their last two games, either. Sage Hill rolled to a 63-16 nonleague win over Amino Leadership on Oct. 27, following that up with a 42-14 triumph over Capistrano Valley Christian on Nov. 4.

The Sage Hill running and passing attacks have both been gelling. Quarterback Jamie McGee had five touchdown passes in the win over Animo, and running back Don Ayres had 177 yards and four TDs in the win over Capo Valley Christian.

Both will have to have solid nights against a St. Margaret’s defense that Monarch said is very quick.

“That’s the whole idea,” Monarch said. “We’ll have to [use both pass and run] because if you get too predictable, they’ll shut it down. They’re both going to have to click. I don’t think one without the other one will be successful.”

On offense, Monarch said St. Margaret’s is very similar to Sage Hill. He said the Tartans like to spread it out, but can also run out of that spread formation, with senior Michael Duenes and junior Hunter Steffien.

Sage Hill will again be without juniors Michael Higgins and Tom Multari tonight. Monarch said Higgins (broken collarbone), a two-way starter at receiver and cornerback, could return as early as a CIF Northeast Division first-round playoff game next week.