Advertisement

High School Football: Sage starts fast

Share

Talk about a fast start.

Less than a minute into Friday night’s nonleague game against Escondido Charter, the Sage Hill School football team was already up by two touchdowns.

The Lightning accomplished it with a 94-yard opening kickoff return for a touchdown by Vince Wetmore. Then they recovered a pooch kick, and two plays later senior quarterback CJ McCord found junior receiver Jake Fisher for a six-yard touchdown pass.

The early momentum was more than enough as host Sage Hill routed Escondido Charter, 38-12, evening up its season record at 2-2.

Advertisement

“It was nice,” McCord said of the fast start, which had the Lightning up, 14-0, before some fans had settled into their seats. “The past game [a 45-6 loss at Viewpoint of Calabasas], we started really, really slow. It just helped us gain momentum throughout the rest of the game.”

McCord certainly started hot at quarterback as well. He finished with 220 passing yards and four touchdown passes. On defense, he added two interceptions from the cornerback position.

McCord said the two interceptions on defense are the first ones of his high school career. Senior Zach Burns also added an interception for the winners, who allowed Escondido Charter just three completed passes on 12 attempts.

Escondido Charter (0-4) was typically content to run the ball with junior tailback Mutula Kwangaba, who rumbled for 172 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. The one time the White Tigers fooled the Lightning was on a halfback pass, when Tristian Jones found James Frazier for a 24-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.

But, by then, Sage Hill had already amassed a 21-0 lead. The third touchdown came as McCord found Wetmore on a 14-yard pass midway through the second quarter.

Sage, which received a 26-yard field goal with a second left in the half to claim a 24-6 halftime lead, didn’t stop there.

Kwangaba’s touchdown run pared the Lightning lead to 24-12 midway through the third quarter. But McCord led the Lightning on a five-play drive, culminating in his second touchdown pass of the night to Fisher from 13 yards out.

Two plays later, he intercepted a pass over the middle, returning it to the Escondido Charter 25-yard line.

From there, Sage Hill went six plays before McCord found a slanting Burns in the middle of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown pass, completing the scoring.

Sage Hill interim Coach Tom Kirchmeyer congratulated his players on the victory but allowed them to stay humble, reminding them that they’re just .500 on the season.

Sage Hill, incidentally, will travel to Escondido for its next game on Sept. 27 against Classical Academy. The game will be played at Orange Glen High.

After that, the Lightning have just one more game — against Southlands Christian on Oct. 3 — before they open Academy League play at home against rival St. Margaret’s on Oct. 10.

“This is definitely a big win and a confidence-booster going into our next two games, and then we have St. Margaret’s the week after,” McCord said. “Hopefully we can carry the momentum into that game.”

Sage Hill 38, Escondido Charter 12

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Escondido 0 – 6 – 6 – 0 — 12

Sage Hill 14 – 10 – 14 – 0 — 38

FIRST QUARTER

SH – Wetmore 94 kickoff return (Strelow kick), 11:46.

SH – Fisher 5 pass from McCord (Strelow kick), 11:25.

SECOND QUARTER

SH – Wetmore 14 pass from McCord (Strelow kick), 7:47.

EC – Frazier 24 pass from Jones (kick failed), 3:22.

SH – Strelow 26 FG, 0:01.

THIRD QUARTER

EC – Kwangaba 14 run (run failed), 5:26.

SH – Fisher 13 pass from McCord (Strelow kick), 3:48.

SH – Burns 6 pass from McCord (Strelow kick), 1:11.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

EC – Kwangaba, 31-172, 1 TD.

SH – Corona, 7-42.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

EC – Brown, 2-11-3, 15.

SH – McCord, 19-32-0, 220, 4 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

EC – Frazier, 1-24, 1 TD.

SH – Fisher, 10-96, 2 TDs; Wetmore, 5-82, 1 TD.

Advertisement