Sage comes alive

LOS ANGELES — Zombies.

That’s how Sage Hill School football coach J.R. Tolver described his team in the first half Saturday afternoon. But it was a punt play which quickly died that made the Lightning come alive.

The Sage Hill players weren’t about to make this one a thriller. They recorded their first shutout since 2004, taking out Animo, 20-0, at Locke High in Los Angeles.

While the Lightning took advantage of some Aztec Eagle miscues, it was the Sage Hill defense that appeared deadly, allowing just 86 total yards on offense.

Just two games into the season, the Lightning (2-0) have already matched last year’s win total.

Animo (1-1) opened the second half going three and out. Backed up at its own 12 — aided by a Taylor Ross kickoff out of the end zone for a touchback and a Sam Simon sack for an eight-yard loss — the Aztec Eagles attempted to punt. But the punter bobbled the snap and when he got a hold of it, his knee hit the ground, killing the play at the Animo three-yard line.

Two plays later, Dusty Orrantia bowled in from a yard out and the Lightning had enough points and momentum for the win.

“We have a new [punter] and his knee hit the ground,” said Animo Coach Jamar Hamilton. “I can’t yell at the kid. But that one play changed the whole game. We gave them that short of the field.”

The error proved to be just what the Lightning needed. It was like a smelling salt. Sage Hill took one whiff and was ready to deliver a knockout.

“We went into the second half, and I said we’re going to find out what type of team we have right now,” said Tolver, a first-year coach who is also an athletic director at the private school in Newport Coast. “It was 0-0 and we were sleep walking through the first half. That helped wake us up.”

Sage Hill’s defense stopped Animo after Orrantia’s touchdown. Then the Lightning drove 60 yards, which included a roughing-the-passer-penalty, to go up 14-0. Taylor Ross punched it from a yard out and then kicked his second PAT.

It appeared Ross fumbled the ball just as he broke the plane. An Animo assistant coach kept shouting, “Fumble!” The referees warned him to keep quiet. Some Animo players celebrated after the play thinking the Lightning had fumbled the ball to the Aztec Eagles.

It all seemed to take the life out of Animo, which didn’t helped itself by having two players ejected during the game.

An Animo player was removed on the drive after Ross’ touchdown. On the very next play after the ejection, Sage Hill’s Connor Gaughan put the Aztec Eagles away with an interception he returned 17 yards for a touchdown.

“That was huge to get the interception return,” said Tolver, who sensed something foul from his team even before the game. “Coming out we had a weird vibe to it. We had a bad practice [Friday], a bad walk-through practice. And coming out [Saturday] we were sleep walking. We were zombies. The guys have to learn you can’t turn it on and off. You always got to focus up, and you got to be ready to go once the whistle is blown and we weren’t. Fortunately we didn’t have to learn the hard way with a loss.”

Sage Hill 20, Animo 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Sage Hill 0-0-14-6--20

Animo 0-0-0-0--0

THIRD QUARTER

SH – Orrantia 1 run (Ross kick), 9:47.

SH – Ross 1 run (Ross kick), :32.

FOURTH QUARTER

SH – Gaughan 17 interception return (kick failed), 11:26.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

SH – Orrantia, 16-69, 1 TD; Ross, 13-49, 1 TD; Petty, 2-20; Mycorn, 4-16; Kim, 1-3.

Ani – Gaxiola, 5-24; West, 6-3; Jernigan, 5-15; Negrete, 1-minus-5.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

SH – Mycorn, 2-11-1, 24.

Ani – Gaxiola, 6-16-1, 46.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

SH – Petty, 1-15; Gaughan, 1-9.

Ani – West, 2-23; Rodriguez 2-17; Valenzuela, 1-3; Negrete, 1-3.