HIGH SCHOOLS:

Jamie McGee is staring down one more shot at hero-dom, and he’s taking it seriously.

The Sage Hill School senior quarterback, who has passed for 1,675 yards this season, will get one more crack at Academy League rival St. Margaret’s, a team the Lightning has never beaten.

What a delight it would be for McGee and the Lightning to ring the Tartans’ smugly undefeated bell, though it hardly seems likely.

St. Margaret’s, which sits atop the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division rankings at 7-0, handed Western Christian a 70-20 smiting Oct. 19th.

That averages out to one touchdown every 4.8 minutes.

The margins of defeat against St. Margaret’s haven’t been much better for the Lightning (6-1). Sage Hill lost, 42-21, in 2006, and 56-8 in 2005. McGee’s freshman year, 2004, the Lightning lost, 49-0.

But hey. No one ever thought they’d see the day that Appalachian State could actually compete with Michigan for more than a quarter or so, much less beat the Wolverines on a blocked field goal.

If Orange County high school football is anything like this year’s college season — which yes, is a bit of a stretch, I’ll admit — then anything’s possible.

Sage Hill finished 9-2 in 2005, and its only regular-season loss was to the Tartans, who stopped a seven-game win streak at their stadium door.

This time, Sage Hill is looking to do the same thing to St. Margaret’s, the defending Northeast Division champion, which has won 21 straight and 36 of its last 38.

McGee gets cast as the charging hero because well, nearly 70% of the offense rests on his throwing arm. In seven games, the Lightning have rushed for 781 yards, which is pretty paltry compared to McGee’s numbers.

“Every game presents and develops differently,” Sage Hill Coach Pete Anderson said. “If we’re having success throwing, we’re not going to stop just for the run’s sake. If it’s not broke don’t fix it. If a defense can’t adjust to the passing game, we’re not going to change it.

“We just have so much confidence in our passing game, as of yet, no one has been able to stop that. Any time our passing game has failed, it was because of our errors.”

McGee, who has played quarterback pretty much since he was 7 — interspersed with a couple of inconsequential stints at tailback or receiver — is comfortable with the responsibility.

A last-minute win at Linfield Christian Friday only elevated the team’s hopes more. In four years, McGee had never before faced a situation where the outcome of the game rested on one throw, from him.

The Lightning had been trailing by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and he led the offense on two scoring drives. McGee threw the game-winning pass, a two-point conversion, to Nick Witte.

“It was pretty crazy,” McGee said. “It helps unite our team, and the last quarter we played together. I think that definitely helps for this game. We all got to a point where we trusted each other, and we’d all get our jobs done.”

McGee is not a rah-rah pump ’em up kind of guy. He’s just not.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not competitive.

He and his teammates pay attention to the CIF polls. Sage Hill moved up a spot this week, to No. 8 in the Northeast Division. No. 2-ranked Saddleback Valley Christian is 7-0, and No. 3-ranked Brentwood is 6-1.

“We’re bigger, and we definitely have more talented athletes on our team,” McGee said, matter-of-factly, when asked to compare Sage Hill and St. Margaret’s.

It was the closest he’d get to very calmly, very politely throwing a gauntlet.

“It’s just a matter of picking apart their defense, and I think there are weak points in their secondary. I think we can have success passing, definitely. And I trust in the offensive linemen to give me time.”

Savior in green or no, McGee will finish his career at Sage Hill having posted lofty passing yards at quarterback. He currently boasts 6,505 career passing yards and 72 passing touchdowns with at least three games left.

SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected]