Sports
Spring Football Preview: Sage Hill Has Huge Cleats to Fill
With the graduation of Taylor Ross, who ran and kicked himself into the school's record book, the Lightning will look to several players to step up and compete for Academy League title in 2011.
Sage Hill is facing a major rebuilding project this spring as it prepares for the 2011 football season, but it involved replacing only one person. Unfortunately for the Lightning, the one person is Taylor Ross, the all-everything running back and kicker who will spend this fall as a preferred walk-on with USC's football team.
Named the Academy League's offensive MVP, Ross was a first-team All-CIF Southern Section East Valley Division selection, a first-team All-State pick by MaxPreps and a second-team All-State Small Schools selection by Cal-High Sports. He finished second in Orange County with 216 points and 26 touchdowns, both school records.
How successfully Sage Hill can make up for Ross' school-record 1,869 rushing yards will largely determine how far the Lightning (8-3, 2-1 in league in 2010) will go in the Academy League, where they finished runner-up to St. Margaret’s. Sage Hill, which lost to St. Margaret's 10-6 last fall, has yet to beat the Tartans since it fielded its first varsity team in 2002. The previous closest score was 42-21 in 2006.
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Sage Hill advanced to the first round of the CIF Southern Section East Valley Division playoffs but lost to Twentynine Palms, 45-27.
Two players competing for the starting quarterback job, left open with the graduation of Randall Mycorn, are Taylor Petty, last season's leading receiver with nine touchdowns, and Connor Ascher, who led the team with five interceptions in 2010. The two could possibly share signal-calling duties.
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“It’ll depend on how our summer comes together,” said Sage Hill's third-year coach, Gregory “J.R.” Tolver, who spent four seasons (2003-06) with three different NFL teams as a wide receiver. “You’ve got to be flexible. These kids will be in there 100 plays per game.”
Petty could be Ascher's top target on one play, then throw passes himself on the next. Either way, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior will be a key figure on offense.
“We’ll come out with a chip on our shoulder,” Petty said. “We’ve put a different name on Sage Hill the past two years. We’ve had a winning tradition. We’ll come out and play tough every game. Wherever the team needs me, I’ll play. We have a lot of returners, we know what’s expected of us."
Eric Cheng, who, at 5 feet 8 and 140 pounds, is the likely candidate to replace Ross in the Lightning's backfield, is the team's leading returning rusher. "I'm more of a shifty back," he said, describing his running style. "Taylor's raw strength helped him bulldoze people."
Said Tolver: “Eric’s our main guy.... We’re putting these kids in a position where they can generate something special.”
Linebacker David Finner is the leading returning tackler from last season at more than 100 stops.
“We need to figure out what’s happening along our defensive line,” Finner said. “I feel our linebackers and secondary are solid. Our main weakness was handling bigger backs in the playoffs.”
A young but talented offensive line is led by sophomores Jack Bick (tackle) and Lucas Ellison (center), who wore a brace on his left knee during spring practices, though his coaches say he’ll be ready this summer. Ellison started every game last season as a freshman, and both were named to the all-league teams.
Former NFL defensive lineman Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, who, like Tolver, played at San Diego State, is coaching Sage Hill's line, and he will have his hands full with the young charges.
“We’re looking for senior leadership,” Tolver said of the entire team. “I don’t know exactly how we’ll do it, but we’ll find someone.”
Sage Hill's 2011 Varsity Football Schedule
Friday, Sept. 2 vs. Fairmont Prep, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 10 at Tri-City Christian, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 16 at Mojave, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 23 -- bye week
Saturday, Oct. 1 vs. La Jolla The Bishop's, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 7 at Pasadena Poly, 4 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 14 vs. Firebaugh, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Crean Lutheran South, 7 p.m.*
Friday, Oct. 28 vs. Animo Leadership (homecoming), 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 4 at St. Margaret's, 7 p.m.*
Friday, Nov. 11 vs. Brethren Christian (Senior Night), 7 p.m.*
* Indicates an Academy League game
