Sage Hill focuses on the future

Steve Virgen

Sometimes life, yes, even high school football, pales in comparison

to what occurs in real life. Such was the case Thursday night when

the Sage Hill School football team lost 53-0 to Academy League host

St. Margaret’s.

Lightning Coach Tom Monarch told his players to learn from the

game as a foundation for the future. The young Sage Hill players also

learned how to play amid adversity, for it was St. Margaret’s junior

Joey Kelly who showed the example.

On the game’s final play, it appeared as if St. Margaret’s was

running up the score, as Kelly ran off right tackle for a 1-yard

touchdown. However, Tartans Coach Brady Lock gave Kelly the ball late

in the game as a reward for the boy who was playing despite

unfortunate circumstances.

Joey’s father, Dr. Robert Kelly, died in his sleep from effects of

heart failure last Saturday.

“I told the team to go for a shutout for my dad,” said Kelly, a

6-foot-2, 225-pounder who plays in the trenches, on the offensive and

defensive lines. “My dad didn’t love anything more than to watch me

play. I felt like he was behind me the whole time.”

The Tartans (4-3, 1-0 in league) put the game away in the first

half, scoring on five of their six possessions, gaining a safety and

also grabbing more points after an interception return for a

touchdown for a 44-0 lead. The second half lasted a little over 30

minutes as the officials used a running clock -- time wound down

regardless of incomplete passes or first downs.

Monarch said he was told by Lock before the game that there would

be a possibility Kelly would score. Yet it wasn’t as if the Lightning

let Kelly run in untouched.

“I didn’t think that touchdown was classless at all,” Monarch

said. “[Kelly] had been going through a lot with his father passing

away. I would have put him in for a touchdown myself if I were in

[Lock’s] situation.”

After Kelly scored, his teammates cheered wildly and hugged him.

Kelly’s touchdown run capped a dominant performance by the Tartans,

which Monarch used as a blueprint for his team.

“Just hang tight,” Monarch told his players after the game. “Be

patient, but remember this game. You remember it as a foundation for

the future.”

St Margaret’s junior quarterback Sebastian Bacon seemingly

provided an example for Sage Hill freshman signal-caller Braden Ross.

Bacon threw four touchdown passes and 158 yards on 13-of-15 passing in the first half. He hit eight different receivers and he also ran

in a 28-yard TD.

The Tartans used a shotgun attack with four wide receivers and

also came at Sage Hill with a no-huddle scheme. The Lightning (1-5,

0-1) had no answers, on offense or defense. Ross had his worst game

of the season, throwing four interceptions in the first half, but

Monarch never lost faith in him and Ross’ confidence never wavered.

“I told Braden, ‘You’re most likely the only ninth-grade starting

quarterback in Orange County [varsity] football,’ ” Monarch said.

“The best thing for him is that he’s getting experience. I told him

to keep that in the back of his mind. He never gave up and he kept on

wanting the ball.”