Friday evening the Coronado Islander Football Team hosted their counterparts from Scripps Ranch and then proceeded to dismantle the Falcons by the score of 33-3. In reality, the game was even more lopsided than that score would indicate.

The Islanders were led by a quartet of ‘Black Shirt’ nominees, Islander speak for the Game MVPs, who are granted the right to wear the designated garb during the week’s practices.

Repeating the honor from the Point Loma game, was fullback and middle linebacker Nick Shepherd, who scored on a 65-yard touchdown run and rushed for a total of 85 yards. Head Coach Bud Mayfield, who saw the 2004 edition of the Islanders run their record to 3-1, said of his senior co-captain, "Nick continues to play super football on both sides of the ball. He is really our spark. He went sideline to sideline at linebacker, and he had that great run (on offense). He’s playing like you expect a senior to play, after going through the program for four years. He’s one of our captains and he leads by example."

Another senior co-captain Jed Considine had an outstanding game defensively, spending more time in the Falcon backfield than some of their own running backs. Considine was credited with 11 tackles, 2 ½ sacks, a recovered fumble, and applied constant defensive pressure against the Falcons, including many plays that will not show up on the stat sheet. Considine will share ‘Lineman of the Week’ honors with fellow senior Jack Scott, who also played well on both sides of the ball.

The fourth ‘Black Shirt’ was awarded by Mayfield to junior tailback and linebacker Kelcey Fisher, who gained 190 yards on the ground and scored three touchdowns, with 121 of those yards coming on just 11 carries in the first half. "That’s one of the things about tailbacks J.T. Rogan and Marvin Dingle (numbers one and two respectively in single season rushing yardage for CHS) that people don’t understand, is that they play both ways, every down. What Kelcey did is a real accomplishment. When we have to put the game away in the fourth quarter, the kids have to respond."

Mayfield also noted the efforts turned in by Kyle McArthur, quarterback David Loving, and the Islander defensive secondary. "We had a strong game from Kyle at offensive guard and defensive end. They (Scripps Ranch) are a passing team and our whole secondary did a good job of shutting them down. Loving handles the ball well and is starting to come on. I still think he will be a difference maker for us. He’s improving every week. And our junior center Ryland Gill, who is in his first year on the varsity, is playing well. The whole offensive line is starting to gel."

Although last week’s game against Division II Scripps Ranch (1,676 enrollment in the 10^th through 12 grades, compared to Coronado’s 728) resulted in a relatively easy win, this week’s opponent Division III University of San Diego High School (1,095 enrollment) presents a far different challenge to Mayfield and the coaching staff. "Clearly they are the best team on our schedule and they are the highest rated team (No. 7 in San Diego County in the latest San Diego Union-Tribune poll) we have ever played at Coronado. We’ve fared pretty well with USDHS over the years and we won’t back down. They run the double wing offense, have two fine running backs, their quarterback has a very good arm and they are a terrific football team."

Coronado will host the Dons Friday at 7:30 pm at Niedermeyer Field, with the Junior Varsity game scheduled for 4:30 pm.

On a related football note, the CHS Football Booster Club is providing cable coverage of Islander football games through the balance of the season. The Scripps Ranch game was announced by the tandem of Your Natterer and Tim Naple and will be broadcast Saturday, Oct. 9 at 10 am and Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 pm. The Anson Family and Cisterra Partners sponsored the cablecast of the game on Time-Warner Channel 19.

Co-Captains and outside hitters Deidre Kelly and Jamie Klages will each miss most of the rest of the volleyball season, according to Head Coach Phil Trotter. "Deidre stretched the ligaments around her clavicle and will be out the rest of the year. Right now her left shoulder is sitting 3 inches lower than her right. Jamie sprained her left foot and will be out at least 3 weeks and maybe longer. We’re hoping to get her back by the end of the year."

"Losing both players is physically and emotionally painful," Trotter added. "Both of the girls are playing well and they bring so much more to the team than just their play on the court. We’re going to miss them. But it is also an opportunity for us to overcome and I’m looking forward to the challenge."

On the court the Islanders defeated Serra 25-16, 25-21, 25-16 and then defeated USDHS 25-19, 25-10, 24-26, 25-18. The net result (no pun intended) was that the Islanders remained perfect in Eastern League play and improved their overall record to 11-2. "Jacy Norton always plays well for us," Trotter said of his 6-foot, 4-inch junior middle blocker. "Emmy Pickett is a sophomore who played very well against USDHS and she will get better. She just needs playing time. Ashley Copp will play the other outside hitter position and she is a great passer. So defensively, we do very well when she is in there. Emily Howe will get more playing time, and along with Kelly Phelps, Megan Mushovic has been playing well. This is a great opportunity for our other kids to step up. So if the kids play with confidence and desire, we’ll do well."

This week the Islanders travel to Patrick Henry, which currently occupies second place in the Eastern League standings, for an early-week game. "We’re going to have to play well as a team in order to beat them short-handed," Trotter said. Coronado then hosts Mission Bay Thursday to complete their schedule for the week.

The rivalry between both the boys and girls water polo programs, representing Coronado High School and The Bishop’s School is probably the most intense of any currently in the Islander athletic department.

So the Boys Water Polo Team losing at Bishop’s by the score of 6-5 last week likely wasn’t the highlight of the week for anyone wearing green and white, but the junior-dominated Islanders served notice to the Knights that they will be there or there-abouts come CIF tournament time. And if that game wasn’t enough, the two teams face each other again this Wednesday evening at La Jolla High School at 8 pm.

The Islanders five goals against Bishop’s were scored by five different players, Sean Castillo, Preston Lujan, Drew Ratcliffe, John Landon and Eric Clapper. In addition, five different players assisted on the five goals.

Rebounding from the Bishop’s loss, the Islanders played La Jolla Friday evening at 8 pm and dominated the home team 13-6. Clapper found the back of the net four times and added four steals; Lujan scored three goals and added an assist, Ratcliffe had two goals and an assist; Castillo and Jacob Smith each had one goal and two assists; while Dallas Chase and Jesse Farquhar had a goal each.

When you don’t have a home pool, it makes for some interesting scheduling, and so 12 hours after leaving the La Jolla pool, the varsity was playing at 8 am Saturday at the Bud Kearns Pool at Balboa Park. This time the opponent was USDHS and the Islanders emerged with a 12-3 victory. The win ran the Islanders overall record to 7-2.

Farquhar led the scoring with three tallies, with Mario Batiz and Daniel Pedrotty contributing to the scoring column, along with the usual Islander suspects. Head Coach Randy Burgess also received fine play from his goalie tandem of senior Dylan Carr and junior Patrick Queisser in various combinations throughout the three games played last week.

When asked who his primary contributors were in the past week’s busy schedule, Burgess replied, "John Landon is starting to play real consistently. Eric Clapper had his best game in his young high school career versus La Jolla and has been playing hard. Preston Lujan is starting to really get involved with us offensively. Those three guys, a sophomore (Clapper) and two juniors, really had a good week."

In addition to the Bishop’s contest Wednesday evening, the Islanders then travel to play in the prestigious SoCal Invitational, which will be held at Irvine High School. Coronado drew Corona del Mar in the first round at 1 pm Friday and will either face Davis or Newport Harbor in the next round of play.

Thomas Hopkins (CHS ’02), who plays water polo for Stanford, was recognized in the ‘Faces in the Crowd’ section of Sports Illustrated’s October 4, 2004 edition, for his contributions to the Cardinal team. The notation read, "Hopkins, a junior driver at Stanford, opened the season by scoring four goals in a 16-4 win over Santa Clara, then scored a career-high eight goals in a 17-7 victory over BYU-Hawaii. He leads the 7-1 Cardinal in goals for the season with 23."

Hopkins earned 13 athletic letters during his CHS career, with four letters each in water polo, soccer and tennis and one in swimming his senior year. He also won an NCAA title at Stanford in water polo.

The Girls Golf Team, under the direction of Head Coach Kari Weidner earned two Western League victories last week as they defeated Point Loma Monday by the score of 228-306 and followed that effort with a victory over Scripps Ranch Tuesday by the score of 246-265.

The team was paced against Point Loma in a match played at Balboa Park, by a round of 40 shot by Alexcie Sanchez, a 44 from Lorena Ascolani and a 45 from her sister Monica Ascolani. Sanchez again shot a team-leading 40 against Scripps Ranch at Double Tree Country Club. The two victories improved the Islanders record to 5-1 overall.

Two early-week contests this week vs. Kearney Monday and Crawford Tuesday will be followed by a match Thursday vs. USDHS. All three matches will be played at the Coronado Municipal Course. "We need to bring out the big guns against USDHS," said Weidner. "They are our big competitors in the league. We face USDHS again at their course at the end of the season. Our team has a lot of potential. I hope everything comes through on Thursday."

Sometimes the final score does not reflect the effort expended (see CHS football game story) and that is proving to be the case with the CHS Girls Tennis Team this season, but in a positive way. The Islanders lost to Our Lady of Peace 14-4 last week, but according to Head Coach Robbin Adair, the team continues to improve. "I thought we played very well, but we’re not winning the close matches. We had nine matches where we lost 5-7 or 6-7, but we lost them all. We also lost to USDHS 15-3, but we had four or five very close sets."

Friday Coronado bested El Capitan 12-6 to give them a win to show for their collective efforts. "The really neat thing about the week was that Justine Gordon and Elizabeth Hopkins (sister of Thomas, in note above) are rapidly turning into a really good doubles team. They took 16 of the 18 sets they played for the week. Their two losses were in a 6-7 tiebreaker to OLP and a 4-6 set from USDHS, which was the third best team in our league a year ago. Justine and Elizabeth are really coming to life and really starting to play well."

Adair also commended the efforts of several of his other players. "I was pleased with the play of Nicole Aponte, Maggie Lewis and Allie Gordon. They just play the ball and hit it back. It doesn’t matter who they play. They had some wins against really tough competition. Friday two other kids absolutely took off. Lorena Hernandez and Alicia Ruiz swept against El Capitan and they have played really well."

Realistically a league title isn’t in the works as several of the best teams in all of San Diego County are in the Western League with Coronado this season. Virtually the entire league, including La Jolla, Scripps Ranch, OLP, USDHS and the Islanders will be highly seeded in either Division I or II CIF play. Regardless of the outcome, the effort remains.

George Green, CHS Head Track and Field Coach, supplies the Cross Country report. "Senior Jake Ruzevick, freshman Ben Enowitz and senior Brad Munns placed 1-2-5 among Division IV runners at the Saints Small School Invitational last Friday to lead the cross country team to a second-place finish.

Freshmen Michael Davies and Jose Tijerina finished 24^th and 26^th respectively for a total of 58 points, only three behind the 55 scored by pre-race favorite La Jolla Country Day. Bishop’s was third with 96 points, followed by Mountain Empire (98), Christian (121), Francis Parker (121) and Army-Navy (128).

Drew Lewis finished in the sixth place tie-breaking spot. Freshman Josh Fink ran in the JV race but his time was only 10 seconds behind that of Tijerina. This bodes will for next year as four out of our top six runners on a pretty good team are freshmen with a couple of good runners coming up from middle school.

Also running in the JV race to gain strength for track and basketball was San Diego’s top 300-meter hurdler and national caliber decathlete senior Reid McLean. By time, McLean’s finish puts him in the top seven varsity runners.

Because the race was run against all schools and the results were scored by division, we were able to compare our strengths against Division III Harbor League rivals Clairemont and Madison. Based on this race they should pose no threat to the Islanders for the league title. The only Harbor League school we haven’t seen run yet is last year’s champion Crawford.

The race was held over the CIF and National Championship (Footlocker) 3.1-mile course at Morley Field. Against all schools, Ruzevick placed fourth in 16:55, Enowitz 10^th in 17:43 and Munns 15^th in 17:56. Overall we placed fourth out of over 20 teams in the combined divisions with St. Augustine and San Dieguito taking the top two spots.

In the Girls JV race over 2.75 miles, juniors Marissa Nagler and Karolin Ivarsson placed second and fourth respectively with times of 20:17 and 20:45, followed by freshmen Hope Alexander, (fifth in 21:00) and Anneke Nelson (seventh in 21:10). "

We have Coronado Youth Football Junior Midget news supplied by CYF Coach Ken Maskevich. "The Junior Midget team played a tough game and prevailed against a good Otay Ranch opponent by the score of 22-12, moving their record to 3-1. Mason Mills threw touchdown passes to Patrick Toomey and Billy Garigen, one of which was set up by Bobby Mansueto’s 43-yard run. Keith Englehart joined in the scoring with a 60-yard touchdown run. The defense was led by Tanner Hochstetler, Jack Nolan, Colin Clark and Alex Bookout."

Other Coronado Youth Football scores included: The CYF Pee Wees (2-2) lost to Mira Mesa 13-8; the Coronado Junior Pee Wees (2-2) lost to Balboa 34-0; and the Coronado Mitey Mites (0-4) lost to Eastlake 22-0.