Anderson era initiates against Fairmont Prep

For a program that’s not in the Academy League, Fairmont Prep is an extremely familiar opponent to Sage Hill School.

The Lightning have played the school from Anaheim for the last five years, and over that time both teams have built up their respective programs.

Tonight, they’ll see who can get the early edge in the 2007 season when Sage Hill plays host to Fairmont Prep at 7 p.m.

“They’re a young program, very similar to us,” Lightning first-year Coach Pete Anderson said. “They’ve gotten better and stronger every year.”

Fairmont Prep, which plays in the San Joaquin-West League, went 9-2 last season and 3-1 in league. The Huskies lost in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division playoffs, just like the Lightning.

In the teams’ head-to-head meeting last October, then-undefeated Fairmont Prep won, 27-20. But the Huskies had held a 27-7 lead before a late Lightning rally, instigated by Sage backup quarterback Michael Higgins. Higgins was called upon when starter Jamie McGee went out with a nagging shoulder injury.

Higgins, who has been battling a groin injury, will nevertheless be back at his preferred position of receiver tonight, with a healthy McGee behind center. They will need to cope with what Anderson called a very aggressive Fairmont Prep defense.

“They like to blitz a lot,” Anderson said. “It seems like they’re always sending someone. We worked a lot with our offensive line on picking up blitzes.”

McGee, receivers Higgins and Nick Witte and fullback Max Torres — all seniors — lead the Lightning offense.

The defense includes a strong linebacking corps of Torres, Joey Puishys, Jordan Spencer and Nazir Katbi.

“Practice has been going good,” Anderson said. “You can tell the kids are getting anxious to hit someone other than their teammates.”

Fairmont Prep senior quarterback Aryan Meknat is probably who the Lightning would like to hit the most. Meknat passed for 218 yards and two touchdowns when the teams met last season. The two touchdown passes were caught by seniors Richard Johnson and Chad Sudoko, who also return for the Huskies.

“They’ve got a real solid, experienced quarterback and some talented receivers coming back,” Anderson said. “I think they’re similar to us in that they have a balanced offense. They’ll go with whatever is working. They beat us last year with some big plays, and those are the things we’re trying to prevent.”

And, there’s few things that can build experience like a tough game in the season opener.

“I think knowing that you have a decent opponent makes you that much more focused,” Anderson said. “Your margin of error is that much smaller. With Fairmont, we have to play our best to come out of there with a win. That’s why you play the game, to see how you can respond to these situations.”

The Lightning will also use tonight as an opportunity to debut their uniforms, new for 2007. Even an old-fashioned coach like Anderson said the new threads look “pretty slick.”

Sage Hill is 3-2 in season-opening games since its first varsity season in 2002. The Lightning beat Fairmont Prep, 41-8, to open the 2005 season.