It’s finally football time in Coronado as the Islanders take to Niedermeyer Field Friday evening at 7:30 pm to tangle with Francis Parker. In a scheduling oddity, the game will mark the season inaugural tilt for Coronado, while it is the third game of the campaign for the Lancers.

Parker is riding a two-game winning streak after a 54-12 win over a team from Ketchikan, Alaska and a 10-7 victory over Vincent Memorial last week.

The only Islander game experience to date was a three-way scrimmage involving Rancho Buena Vista, Southwest High School and Valley Center last weekend. Islander Head Coach Bud Mayfield came out of the contest feeling good about his team. "We had to stand up to bigger and more powerful schools. We had to either physically attack or be intimidated and we did very well. That’s a good sign. If a football team won’t hit, there’s not much you can do with them. We not only held our own, we did well."

Asked if the two-game head start by Parker would be a factor, Mayfield replied in the negative. "It’s not a factor since we essentially had three games in the scrimmage and saw three different schemes, both offensively and defensively. That helps us catch up. We played two Division I teams and a very good Division II team. The scrimmages turned into a really good thing."

Parker features a throwing quarterback in senior Matt Morrison, who threw for 17 touchdowns and 1047 yards in 2003. Parker also had a 100-yard rusher in the Vincent Memorial game in Gino Gordon, who carried the ball 15 times for 107 yards.

Coronado will counter with its stable of running backs in Nick Shepherd, Kelcey Fisher and Ryan Cummins and a run-first option quarterback in David Loving. "The backs all ran very hard and very well for their first effort," Mayfield said.

Due to the fact that there are only six seniors on the 2004 Islander roster, the team is getting a mixed reaction from the local media at the outset of the season. "The San Diego Union Tribune" listed 80 players who were ‘Top College Prospects,’ and none of them wear the forest green, black and white of Coronado High School.

On the other hand, CalHiSports listed the Islanders 13^th in the state’s Division IV poll, with Coronado’s strong 9-2 finish in 2003 likely a contributing factor to that ranking.

The Islanders are young, but they have been working hard. Look for an aggressive, but young defense to play hard. It figures to be a good game.

"We are so balanced that there are 8-9 kids that can start on any given day," says CHS Water Polo Head Coach Randy Burgess. "In terms of the bulk of the playing time, 85 per cent of our experienced players have graduated. It will be a team this year without a superstar. We are inexperienced across the board."

For most teams that preceding paragraph would be summarized by the dreaded ‘r’ word, which in sports circles is ‘rebuilding,’ as in, the talent cupboard is bare. But in Coronado, the water polo teams tend to reload rather than rebuild.

According to Burgess, Seniors Drew Ratcliffe and Dallas Chase comprise a lot of the Islanders experience. "They are the two most experienced kids we have returning. Drew has really come on. In our conditioning week and during the first week of school, he has showed some impressive things. Dallas is one of the best athletes on the team. He has been very strong in his swimming and he can do some wonderful things with the ball."

Devin Farrell is the team captain this year, an important role. "He was a coaches’ selection," Burgess explained of the junior driver. "The decision was based on how the kids respond to a teammate and he has shown the most promise in that regard. Other kids will be providing leadership in the pool and in training. The goalies have to be the defensive captains and the forwards are the captains on the offensive end of the pool. Devin is the best kid out there for leadership and the teammates respect that selection. He has also shown some great vision in the pool passing the ball."

Another top junior player is Sean Castillo, who Burgess describes as a "very, very strong player." Burgess supplied thumb nail sketches on several of the other juniors, including: "Jesse Farquhar will be an important part of our offense as he works in at center forward; Preston Lujan, is new to the program and a transfer from Ramona, where he was a CIF finalist in the spring freestyle; Daniel Pedrotty, had a strong summer; Steven Sullivan has shown a lot of improvement this year; Scott Simmeral is coming off of a fractured arm and should be ready to play within a few days; Juan Carlos de la Fuente, has been a strong contributor to the program over the course of the year; and John Landon has worked hard on his physical strength and swimming and will be looking to get some valuable playing time this season."

Senior Dylan Carr gets the nod in goal for Coronado, with junior Patrick Queisser sure to see playing time. Burgess likes what he sees from the duo. "Our goalies work so impressively hard to make each other better. They are teammates in the truest sense, working with each other."

Underclassmen who should contribute include sophomore Eric Clapper, who according to Burgess, "worked as hard as anyone in the off season. One question mark is freshman Jacob Smith," continued Burgess. "He will be given a shot at playing on the varsity. He was in Hungary and then in Athens, but knowing what I know about him, I think he is competitive enough to challenge for a starting sport." Jacob is the younger brother of Olympian, Pepperdine senior, and former Islander Jesse Smith (CHS, ’01), hence the Athens reference.

Burgess likes what he sees of the team at this point in the season. "We had a good conditioning week and their attitudes are great. I don’t have a high level of expectation (for the team). We’re shooting for the playoffs. As a coach my goal is to be competitive with La Jolla, Bishops and Scripps Ranch and to finish high in the Western League. We want to get into the playoffs seeded as high as we can. I’m very impressed with the team. I think they will be kids who are fun to coach."

This week the Islanders varsity will have scrimmages against Capistrano Valley and Carlsbad before they have their regular season opener Wed. Sept. 15 against University City at the La Jolla Jewish Community Center at 3 pm.

CHS Head Track Coach George Green previews The Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams. "Although it’s a little early to predict how this year’s cross country teams will fare as a group, last Friday at the West Hills High School Wolf Pack Invitational, two members of the CHS Boys Team served notice that they will be in the mix for individual honors.

Senior Jake Ruzevick and freshman Ben Enowitz won half of the boys races in convincing fashion, with Enowitz winning the 1.6-mile freshman race by 9 seconds in 8 minutes, 21 seconds, and Ruzevick claiming the 2.1-mile senior race by 10 seconds in 10 minutes 51 seconds. Because this race was so early in the season, these were the only two athletes Coronado entered in the competition. Over the summer break, Ruzevick ran over 75 miles per week and Enowitz ran up to 40 miles per week.

After a week of training, the boys squad is shaping up with veterans Brad Munns and Reid McLean, along with senior transfer Drew Lewis, among the front-runners. Munns made the All-League and All-CIF Cross Country teams last year, but missed most of the track season due to an ankle injury sustained during the basketball season. McLean was last year’s San Diego section CIF 300-meter hurdles champion and he placed seventh in the National Junior Olympic Decathlon Championship last summer. Lewis is no stranger to cross country, having run for Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach. As the season progresses, we’ll get a better idea of who will move up to the varsity level. Except for the four seniors mentioned, it’s a young squad of approximately 20 runners, many of them freshmen.

The Girls Cross Country Team lost five solid runners to graduation, but there are many new faces and a few returning seniors. Back from last year’s team are Ashley Walsh, Karolin Ivarsson, Marissa Nagler, Katie Gomrick and Sara Player. Danielle Cabana joins that group from track, along with half-a-dozen freshmen from last year’s Coronado Middle School team.

As with the Boys, it’ll take a couple of weeks to sort out the varsity. Based on previous seasons, Walsh, Ivarsson and Nagler should be the front runners. Cabana has been training for a marathon, so she had a good training base and should do well in her first season of cross country.

In CMS action, Sallie Privett celebrated her 13^th birthday by placing second in her new competition age group (13-17 years of age) in the San Diego Track Club 4-mile run in Balboa Park Saturday."

Head Coach Robbin Adair leads The CHS Girls Tennis Team into battle again this year and he has four returning letter winners leading the charge for the Islanders. "We have four players back who lettered, in Elizabeth Hopkins, Justine Gordon, Allie Gordon and Alicia Ruiz," said Adair. "We’re quite a bit deeper than we were last year."

Senior Czarina Puffelis, who played for two seasons at Our Lady of Peace, will play No. 1 singles. Allie Gordon will tackle the No. 2 singles slot, while junior Hayley Kitzmiller will play No. 3 singles.

Last year’s Team MVP Hopkins will pair with Justine Gordon at No. 1 doubles, with Nicole Aponte/Maggie Lewis competing at No. 2 doubles and Alicia Ruiz and Christina Paad comprising the No. 3 doubles squad.

Other team members include sophomores Loren Metzger and Emma Kitzmiller, as well as freshman Lorena Hernandez. Lorena is notable as the fourth member of the tennis playing Hernandez family that has competed for Adair at Coronado, including Alana (CHS ’99), Leandro (CHS ‘01 ), and Allan (CHS ‘05).

The Islanders won 15 of 19 sets against Mira Mesa in a scrimmage last week, then played and lost to a very tough San Dieguito squad 12-6 in their first game of the regular season. This week the Islanders play Wednesday at Granite Hills High School at 3:15 pm.

Depth is important in interscholastic Girls Golf, as six girls play in each match and the best five scores are used to determine the team’s score in competition. The good news is that Head Coach Kari Weidner has her best two players returning from last year in senior Monica Ascolani and sophomore Alexi Sanchez, who alternated for the honor of owning the best Islander scoring average in 2003.

Also back from last year’s team that posted a 9-8 record are senior Isabelle Sanchez (no relation to Alexi), sophomore Lexi Donovan, and junior Sara Stillman. Incoming freshmen Lorena Ascolani (Monica’s sister), and JoJo Robyn round out the squad.

"At this point I think we will be stronger than last year," said Weidner. "The two incoming freshmen will bring more depth to the team. USDHS will be pretty strong again in the Western League."

The Islanders play Our Lady of Peace Wednesday at Coronado Municipal Golf Course at 3 pm.