Witte, Sage upstage Huskies

NEWPORT COAST — Third-and-43.

Not a position a high school football team wants to be in during its first game of the season, at home no less.

In the third quarter Friday night, Sage Hill School was backed up farther than the fans who waited in line for food from the In-N-Out hamburger truck at the pregame tailgate party.

Enter Nick Witte.

The Lightning senior receiver caught a Jamie McGee pass in the open field, turned on the afterburners to outrun two defenders and made up 41 of the yards on one play. Max Torres then picked up the first down, then ran it in for the score, giving Sage a touchdown lead in a game it would eventually win over Fairmont Prep, 30-26.

“That was our big momentum swing,” Sage Hill Coach Pete Anderson said. “That was huge. Jamie was throwing the ball awesome tonight. He was throwing excellent. And Witte’s been our secret weapon. He played part of a season his freshman year, then had a shoulder injury. But we’re tickled that he came out for his senior year. He’s a phenomenal weapon with his speed.”

McGee completed five of his first six passes, finishing 14 for 22 with 199 yards. Five of the completions were to Witte.

The game went back and forth early, with Sage jumping out to an 8-6 halftime lead on a leaping, eight-yard touchdown catch by senior receiver Preston Oklejas on a slant pattern to the back corner of the end zone. McGee found Witte on the two-point conversion with 6:23 left in the half.

That was after the visiting Huskies used up more than 10 minutes on their first drive of the game, culminating in Richard Johnson’s one-yard touchdown run with 1:54 left in the first quarter.

But Anderson said he wasn’t worried.

“If it takes an offensive team a full quarter to score, your defense is doing a lot of good things,” he said. “That’s something to hold your head up about, nothing to be worried about. We just wanted to get our hands on the ball.”

Sage Hill built a 30-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter when McGee scored on a five-yard keeper, but Fairmont return man Aryan Meknat ran back the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a score to cut the lead to 10.

With less than two minutes to go, Johnson caught a touchdown pass to cut the Lightning lead to four. Sage Hill’s Jordan Spencer recovered the ensuing onside kick, but a Lightning fumble gave Fairmont one last chance.

On fourth-and-10 at the Lightning 44, however, Lightning defensive end Craig Jackson hit Meknat as he threw, ending the Huskies’ last threat.

“That kick return gave them new life, then it was our turn not to give up,” Anderson said. “I was very pleased with not giving up and their overall conditioning. We had guys who were in there every play of the night, and they could go another game right now, they’re in such good condition.”

Meknat, a senior, was the do-everything player for Fairmont Prep as its quarterback, leading rusher and kick returner. He was especially dangerous in the second half.

On the quarterback draw plays that the Huskies frequently ran, Meknat often broke tackles and scrambled for 71 of his 114 rushing yards in the second half.

But after Fairmont Prep’s first prolonged drive, the Huskies seemed to go away from their passing game until the fourth quarter, while the Lightning were building up their lead.

Sage Hill plays host to Midway Baptist Friday at 7 p.m.

SAGE HILL 30, FAIRMONT PREP 26

FIRST QUARTER

FP – Johnson 1 run (kick failed), 1:54.

SECOND QUARTER

SH – Oklejas 8 pass from McGee (Witte pass from McGee), 6:23.

THIRD QUARTER

SH – Torres 7 run (kick failed), 7:01.

FP – Johnson 31 pass from Meknat (Lajevardi pass from Meknat), 2:15.

FOURTH QUARTER

SH – Higgins 11 run (Higgins pass from McGee), 11:30.

SH – McGee 5 run (Higgins pass from McGee), 5:43.

FP – Meknat 80 kickoff return (run failed), 5:30.

FP – Johnson 11 pass from Meknat (run failed), 1:33. 

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

FP – Meknat, 14-132; Bendaw, 6-10; Sudoko, 4-6; Johnson, 2-4, 1 TD.

SH – Higgins, 6-54, 1 TD; Torres, 11-43, 1 TD; Multari, 6-12; McGee, 8-minus-5, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

FP – Meknat, 11-16-0, 102.

SH – McGee, 14-22-0, 199, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

FP – Johnson, 5-41, 2 TD; Sudoko, 3-34; Lajevardi, 2-23; Bendaw, 1-4.

SH – Witte, 5-105; Oklejas, 4-45, 1 TD; Torres, 3-16; Higgins, 1-25; Multari, 1-1.