Sage rolls in opener

Sage Hill School football coach Tom Monarch has preached about the

enhancement of his offensive line all summer long.

But before Friday night, it was just theories and projections, all

untested on the gridiron. Apparently, however, Monarch’s projections

turned out to be pretty accurate.

The starting squad in the trenches, comprised of all seniors,

helped enable running backs Don Ayres and Keya Manshadi to combine

for 240 yards on the ground and four touchdowns in the Lightning’s

41-8 season-opening nonleague victory against visiting Fairmont Prep

Friday night.

Ayres, a junior, pounded for 143 yards on 13 carries for three

TDs, while Manshadi, a senior, slashed his way for 97 yards on 11

carries and one TD.

“I’ll put it this way; [the offensive line] is blowing open holes

so wide, I could gain five yards per carry, and I have a hernia -- a

legitimate hernia,” Monarch said jokingly. “But, we had to win it

with our offensive line and our defensive line. We preached that all

week.”

The starting offensive line of Kyle Ramer, Brandon David, Bryan

Kornswiet, Nick Sohl and Michael Morgan also gave sophomore

quarterback Jamie McGee the needed time to complete 5 of 8 passes for

75 yards and two touchdowns. McGee’s first throw of the game went for

29 yards and a score to Manshadi for a 14-0 lead after the conversion

as time expired in the first quarter.

McGee later added a 10-yard TD pass to junior receiver Braden Ross

with 35.6 seconds remaining in the first half.

Ayres’ TDs came on runs of 17, 16 and 5 yards, respectively, while

Manshadi’s lone rushing TD was a 1-yarder in the third quarter, as

Sage (1-0) -- playing under the lights for just the second time since

the program began three years ago -- improved to 3-1 in season

openers and 3-1 all-time against the Huskies (0-1).

“This is definitely a great season opener, under the lights,” said

Ayres, who rushed for 131 yards and two TDs in the Lightning’s 35-0

victory over Fairmont Prep last season. “We just took care of

business tonight. We’ve been working hard all summer and this felt

good tonight.”

Sage’s defense, led by the defensive line, held Fairmont to just

67 yards on the ground through 15 carries while limiting Huskies

sophomore quarterback Chad Sudoko to 80 yards on 9-of-14 passing with

one interception.

The defense had the shutout going until 2:02 remaining in the

game, when Fairmont’s Spencer Williams, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior

running back, broke a run loose for 63 yards and a touchdown, though

at that point, many of the Sage reserves were playing.

Ross contributed to the defense’s success at the corner back

position, picking off a pass and returning it for 46 yards with

seconds remaining in the third quarter. At the other corner position,

Manshadi made a couple of key tackles and broke up a pass.

“This is incredible,” said Manshadi, who also returned the

second-half opening kickoff 49 yards to the Fairmont 46. “With the

lights, the home crowd before school even started and we get a 41-8

victory? It’s incredible.”

But Manshadi, who posted 175 all-purpose yards with two TDs, was

even more pleased with his offensive line.

“This was the line’s game,” he said. “Coach Monarch came in here

telling us that if the line doesn’t do their job, we’ll have a tough

game. But, as you guys saw, the offensive line and the defensive line

came up, stepped it up, blocked the linebackers and gave an awesome

pass rush. It’s easy to be a running back when you have a line like

that.”

After holding the Huskies to six plays on offense during the first

series, Sage got the ball back and quickly got on the board. Ayres

took a quick handoff up the middle and went completely untouched for

17 yards into the end zone.

Sage once again held Fairmont to six offensive plays on the next

series, as Ayres and senior defensive lineman Brandon David made key

tackles.

The Lightning didn’t waste much time scoring again. On the fourth

play of Sage’s second offensive series, McGee connected with Manshadi

down the right sideline for a 29-yard touchdown at the end of the

first quarter. Sage led, 14-0, after two successful extra points by

senior Zach Milder.

Ayres added his 16-yarder in the second quarter for another TD,

while McGee and Ross connected on a touchdown near the end of the

second quarter, lifting Sage’s first-half lead to 27-0 after the

conversion.

And following an Ayres touchdown, a Manshadi TD and a Fairmont

punt snap that sailed out of the back of the end zone for a safety,

Sage tacked on 14 more points in the third quarter.

“This was great,” Monarch said. “I told the team all week that

Fairmont had great running backs, especially with [Williams]. They

were a physical team. They had some pretty decent athletes and they

were well coached. It was a much better Fairmont team than they were

last year.”

The Lightning host Saddleback Valley Christian next Friday.