Rough start for Sage Hill

A new coach and season for the Sage Hill School football team, same season-opening opponent and result.

The Lightning kicked off the year on Thursday night against Calvary Chapel, and the Eagles walloped Sage Hill yet again in an opener.

Calvary Chapel ruined Abram Booty’s coaching debut with the Lightning, winning 40-7 at Jim Scott Stadium. Booty’s first time leading a high school program is a lot different compared to what he did a year ago on the field.

Booty coached 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds on the Newport-Mesa Seahawks Pee Wee Division team, guiding them to the Orange County Junior All-American Super Bowl in November. He has teenagers now and they weren’t nearly as successful in their first try together.

The man Booty coached against in Sage Hill’s opener also used to guide youngsters, with Costa Mesa Pop Warner. Chris Cox has enjoyed success against the Lightning since he began coaching Calvary Chapel.

Two years ago, Cox picked up his first win in his first game as coach by defeating Sage Hill. Beating the Lightning is all Cox knows. The Eagles have won the last four openers against the Lightning by an average of 25.5 points per game, and they used big plays by quarterback Patrick Glasgow to prevail again.

Glasgow rushed for a 50-yard touchdown and threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Josh Debernarde. The scores came in the second quarter, allowing Calvary Chapel, ranked No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division preseason poll, to take control and a 27-7 lead into halftime.

Glasgow completed 16 of 34 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns. Sage Hill amassed 160 yards through the air, almost half of them on one play.

One of the few bright spots for the Lightning was Caden Sheetz’s 71-yard touchdown pass to wideout Jacob Copeland midway through the second quarter. Copeland, a transfer from Texas, is Booty’s nephew and the 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior did most of the work on the score, catching an underneath pass before he exploded to the left and down the Lightning sideline.

Other than that, Sage Hill turned the ball over three times on downs, twice on fumbles, and once on an interception. The mistakes led to Sage Hill’s fifth straight setback dating back to last season.

Only 19 players dressed for Sage Hill. One key player missing from the game was Jake Fisher, a starting returning wide receiver. Fisher, who also plays strong safety, was unavailable because he was ejected in the regular-season finale last year for fighting, costing him the first game of this season.

Sage Hill could have used Fisher, a senior. The first four plays from scrimmage for the Lightning proved to be disastrous. Sage Hill fumbled on the first one, seeing Calvary Chapel lineman David Andrade pounce on the ball inside Sage Hill’s 30-yard line.

Six plays later, Calvary Chapel struck first. Tailback Braeden Stack took a toss and stretched it out for a 17-yard touchdown run 1½ minutes into the game.

On Sage Hill’s next possession, it almost lost the ball again. Sheetz, who completed 13 of 35 passes for 160 yards, tried another toss to running back DJ Henry, and the ball landed on the turf. Sage Hill recovered the ball, but the offense couldn’t move forward, though. The next two passes went out of bounds, forcing a punt.

The following opportunity for Sage Hill’s offense came with 7:46 left in the first quarter and it had great field position. A late hit by Calvary Chapel on punt returner David Dewey put the Lightning on the opponent’s 49, but nothing came of it for Sage Hill.

Nothing went right for Sage Hill. Booty went on to suffer the same fate as Sage Hill’s previous two coaches, another loss to Calvary Chapel to start the season.

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Nonleague

Calvary Chapel 40, Sage Hill 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Sage Hill 0 – 7 – 0 – 0 — 7

Calvary Chapel 6 – 21 – 7 – 6 — 40

FIRST QUARTER

CC – Stack 17 run (kick blocked), 10:23.

SECOND QUARTER

CC – Glasgow 50 run (pass failed), 10:31.

CC – J. Debernarde 80 pass from Glasgow (Koth kick), 8:27.

SH – Copeland 71 pass from Sheetz (Rosoff kick), 6:50.

CC – Stack 8 pass from Glasgow (Glasgow run), 5:13.

THIRD QUARTER

CC – Stack 13 pass from Glasgow (Koth kick),:21.

FOURTH QUARTER

CC – Nava 1 run (kick failed), 8:27.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

SH – Henry, 13-47.

CC – Bustillos, 7-55.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

SH – Sheetz, 13-35-1, 160, 1 TD.

CC – Glasgow, 16-34-0, 279, 3 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

SH – Copeland, 2-70, 1 TD.

CC – Rogers, 4-104.