Sage shows fight

NEWPORT COAST — The measure of the fight in the Sage Hill School football team was evident to the end of a 38-0 nonleague home loss Friday to Linfield Christian.

But, perhaps, the best display of pluck from the Lightning came several moments after both teams exchanged postgame handshakes at midfield.

That’s when Lightning sophomore quarterback Colton Gyulay, whose 5-foot-7, 130-pound frame had been leveled, yanked, flung and flexed in ways a healthy human should not, approached Sage Coach Derek McIntyre with a simple, but symbolic question.

“Do you need me for the JV game [today]?” Gyulay inquired.

McIntyre, who praised the effort put forth by his outmanned squad against the No. 4-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division, smiled immediately, shook his head slightly and responded with respect.

“No, I think you’ve earned the day off,” McIntyre said.

Gyulay was sacked four times and tackled for one additional loss, while fellow sophomore quarterback Randall Mycorn was drilled twice in the pocket by a dominant Lions defense.

On eight other occasions, Sage ballcarriers were stopped at or behind the line, while 10 additional offensive plays netted no more than two yards for the hosts (1-6).

Meanwhile, Linfield Christian (5-2) which has now outscored opponents, 181-33, during its four-game winning streak and ended the Lightning’s 2007 season with a 62-32 first-round playoff thumping, gained at least 20 yards on nine offensive plays and had five more plays produce double-digit pickups.

But the Sage Hill defense was not denied some distinction, as the Lightning intercepted two passes, recovered three Lions fumbles, and stood firm to force a late field goal after Linfield had first-and-goal at the Lightning five-yard line.

“I’m very happy with the effort of the kids tonight,” McIntyre said. “We had a number of kids out due to injury or illness, but I thought our kids really came forth with an effort. Linfield Christian is a quality team. We’ve had a very tough [pre-league season], playing a lot of teams that will be in the playoffs and CIF contenders. And we fell good about that. We came out here and gave an effort. We forced five turnovers and played as hard as we could. Our defense really stepped up and I’m proud of that.”

Freshman safety Taylor Pretty returned an interception eight yards on the second play of the game and junior inside linebacker Dusty Orrantia picked off a pass on Linfield’s first offensive play after halftime.

Orrantia also recovered a fumble and caused another fumble that was recovered by senior outside linebacker Justin Barbour.

Junior outside linebacker Mo Kreitenberg also recovered a fumble for the Lightning, which limited the visitors to 10 points and 132 yards of offense after intermission.

Sage, however, found little solace and even less production offensively, as senior Jelani Reynolds led the way with 32 rushing yards on 11 carries.

The Lightning finished with 10 rushing yards on 33 attempts and was a mere four of 21 passing for 26 yards.

LINFIELD CHRISTIAN 38, SAGE HILL 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Linfield 7-21-7-3-38

Sage Hill 0-0-0-0-0

FIRST QUARTER

LC – Musquiz 56 run (Brown kick), 8:07.

SECOND QUARTER

LC – Muzquiz 5 run (Brown kick), 11:55.

LC – Muzquiz 1 run (Brown kick), 10:18.

LC – Maranville 7 pass from Morelez (Brown kick), 6:47.

THIRD QUARTER

LC – Blake 25 run (Brown kick), 6:10.

FOURTH QUARTER

LC – Brown 23 FG, 1:38.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

LC – Muzquiz, 14-244, 3 TDs; Do, 11-45; Blake, 1-25, 1 TD; Mackichan, 1-2; Fahrion, 2-0; team, 2-minus 2.

SH – Reynolds, 11-32; Ross, 9-8; Schumacher, 1-1; Mycorn, 2-minus 10; Gyulay, 10-minus 21.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

LC – Moralez, 10-19-2, 136, 1 TD.

SH – Gyulay, 3-14-1, 24; Mycorn, 1-7-0, 2.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

LC – Maranville, 4-36, 1 TD; Stewart, 2-45; Blake, 2-22; Grigoli, 1-26; Carter, 1-7.

SH – Multari, 2-24; Kreitenberg, 1-2; Orrantia, 1-0.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].