Lancers lambaste Lightning

NEWPORT COAST — The sequence became all too familiar for the Sage Hill School football team on Friday night.

Western Christian quarterback Luke Fernandez took the snap from center and handed it off to running back Jeff McGregor, who found a hole and gained impressive yardage.

McGregor ran for 280 yards and four touchdowns as the Lightning (2-1) suffered their first loss of the season, 31-13, in a nonleague home game.

Western Christian (2-2) built a 24-0 halftime lead, as McGregor followed his big offensive line for 184 yards in the first two quarters.

“They just dominated the trenches in the first half, and that’s what won this football game,” Sage Hill Coach Tom Monarch said. “I really think they could have had anyone back there at running back. We have a young defensive line, and their [offensive] line was more experienced, bigger and stronger than ours.”

But Sage Hill helped Western Christian out, fumbling the ball on its first possession at its own 25-yard line.

The Lightning defense held and the Lancers had to settle for the field goal, but it wouldn’t be long before McGregor began to assert himself.

Midway through the first quarter, he sliced through a big hole in the middle of the field and cut back to the sideline, on his way to a 49-yard touchdown run to give the Lancers a 10-0 lead.

After a Sage Hill turnover on downs, McGregor was at it again, carrying the ball four consecutive times. On the last carry, he took it in from 24 yards out, breaking two would-be Lightning tackles along the way.

But the next drive was a backbreaker, as the Lancers went on a 90-yard drive that took up nearly half of the second quarter. This time, McGregor carried it six consecutive times, finding the end zone on the last rush for a 24-0 Lancers lead.

Western Christian threatened again just before halftime, but Michael Higgins’ interception at the Sage Hill seven-yard line got the Lightning out of trouble.

Down big at halftime, Sage Hill adjusted.

“We were running a five-three defense at first,” Lightning strong safety Braden Ross said. “We changed it and brought two defensive linemen back to play linebacker. Their running back was amazing, and he was able to find the holes in the first half. But in the second half, we were able to fill them up and it was a whole different game.”

McGregor rushed 17 times in the second half, but only one of those was for more than 10 yards.

But Sage Hill also had trouble getting things going, and the score stayed 24-0 until the fourth quarter.

After McGregor scored early in the quarter, Sage Hill quarterback Jamie McGee — feeling the effects of a strained shoulder — led two Lightning touchdown drives.

“He did a great job,” Monarch said. “I asked him if his shoulder was too sore in the fourth quarter, and he said ‘No, sir.’ After that, he led us to 13 points.”

Starting with just more than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, McGee led the Lightning on an 80-yard drive that featured three third-down conversions. The final one was Max Torres’ two-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal, putting Sage Hill on the board.

Alex Edelstein’s onside kick was recovered by Higgins, then McGee did it again, with the big play being Higgins’ acrobatic catch off a ball deflected by a Lancers defender.

Ross ran it in from two yards out with less than three minutes to go, making the final score more respectable.

“In the second half, we spread it out a little bit to give Jamie some more time to throw, and that opened up our passing game,” Monarch said. “…That’s exactly what I was looking for at halftime, and our goal is to carry that momentum into next week.”

Ross said the team wasn’t down at all.

“[The fourth quarter] is something that we can build on for next week,” Ross said. “You can learn a lot more from losses than wins.”