Coronado High School’s Boys Water Polo Team is coming off of an important week in their race for the Western League crown and the CIF Division II title.

In what could be the first of three meetings between the rivals this season, the Islanders hosted The Bishop’s School last Wednesday and fell to the Knights by the score of 11-9. The final result was largely determined in the second quarter as Bishop’s outscored Coronado by the margin of five goals to two, with the other three quarters essentially played to a draw.

Coronado’s senior center forward Jesse Farquhar, who had been suffering from the lingering effects of tendonitis in his right knee, scored four goals to lead the Islanders attack. The balance of the scoring came on single goals from Eric Clapper, Jacob Smith, Sean Castillo, Devin Farrell and Preston Lujan.

"Jesse had a very nice game," said Head Coach Randy Burgess. "I thought the most consistent player we have had since our tournament has been Eric Clapper. He had a goal and a couple of assists in the Bishop’s game and has been filling in for Jesse when he couldn’t play. Jesse is getting healthy and giving us more depth."

As is the case with most Bishop’s vs. Coronado water polo contests, the game was played at a high level, with playoff intensity. The seating area on the Bay side of the Coronado Municipal Pool was completely filled to standing room only capacity with parents, while students lined the opposite side of the pool.

In water polo, there is always another game to play and this one was a 7 pm Friday night tilt as Coronado hosted La Jolla. The Islanders proceeded to win each quarter and defeated the Vikings 13-8. The victory placed the Islanders overall record at 6-3, and a 2-1 mark in the Western League.

"Castillo really keyed the win versus La Jolla," Burgess said. "In addition to scoring three goals, he had two assists, five steals and drew three exclusions. He had a good game." John Landon and Lujan also scored three goals each, with Farrell adding two tallies. Single goals were scored by Smith and Farquhar. "Farquhar and Smith still aren’t 100 percent," Burgess added. "Jacob played his best game of the season against La Jolla."

The attendance at the Friday evening game also pleased Burgess. "One of the enjoyable components was that we had fans there. People who live in Coronado could drive down or walk to the game. It was neat to have a lot of kids come down and watch their friends play. It was nice to have that again."

Burgess provided an overview of both the past week and the season ahead. "I think the significance of both league games was that six players scored in the Bishop’s game and six players scored in the La Jolla game, although they weren’t necessarily the same six each time. That shows some (offensive) balance. We could have and should have given Bishop’s a better game. We made a lot of mistakes, but we’ll play them again.

Overall, we’re heading in the right direction. We have seen the (Coronado’s) development from the scrimmages, through our tournament, to now. The tournaments are huge and are just another huge step toward getting more game experience."

This week the Islanders host University City Wednesday at 3 pm and then travel to the S&R Cup Invitational Tournament in Irvine for games Friday and Saturday, against several of the best teams in California.

Led by fullback Zach Pavel, who rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 15 attempts, Francis Parker defeated visiting Coronado 25-12 Friday evening. The game marked the first time that Parker had defeated Coronado on the gridiron. The Islanders are now 2-2 on the season.

Turnovers were an important element this contest, as Coronado lost three fumbles and had one pass intercepted. But the offensive series that became the game’s turning point started with 1:43 remaining in the first half. The Islanders were first and goal at the Parker nine-yard line and couldn’t score in the next four plays. The last two attempts to penetrate the goal line came from the 2-yard line and then the 2-foot line.

At the time, the Islanders were trailing the Lancers 15-0 and a touchdown would have allowed Coronado to establish some momentum heading into the second half of play. Parker scored first in the third quarter to make the score 22-0. Islander quarterback David Loving completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Gersonde for Coronado’s first score. Tailback Mike Baker-Denson scored on a one-yard run for the other Islander touchdown. Both attempts by the Islanders for a two-point conversion failed.

The missed scoring opportunity at the end of the half concerned Head Coach Bud Mayfield. "We had a missed assignment. We were supposed to get a down block we didn’t get. It’s inexcusable, but it happened. They (the Parker defensive line) got penetration and stopped us. I don’t remember us getting stopped very often at the goal line itself. It was a hard hitting game."

Despite the seemingly one-sided tilt to the scoreboard, the Islanders did some things well, leaving Mayfield hope for the future. "When you look at the game film, we continue to be almost a very good team. We were playing a good team. Their fullback wreaked havoc and we couldn’t stop him. When we had the opportunity to respond on offense, we got tired. We hadn’t had a turnover in three games and we had four in one game."

Mayfield continued his thoughts on the contest. "We played hard right until the end. That’s what a coach looks for. We can correct the other mistakes and we’re confident we can get it worked out. Our passing game did some good things. There were times when we absolutely controlled the ball going down field, then misfired or fumbled the ball. We gave as good as we got. Both sides were very motivated. That certainly is the best Parker team in many, many years. We must give them some credit."

Loving was 8-15 passing for 85 yards. The Islander running back corps of Kelcy Fisher, Ricardo Oberwager, Baker-Denson and Loving rushed for a combined 172 net yards. Fisher had three kick-off returns for a total of 54 yards.

Mayfield highlighted the individual play of some of his squad. "Kyle McArthur at defensive end continues to impress. Kelcy Fisher ran very hard and he played his best game on defense, as far as being physical. Kyle Fischer moved in at the beginning of the school year and he’s getting his feet wet at tight end. He’s a center in basketball (6’6") and he’s a target. Receivers Jimmy Gersonde and Justin Gaither will be on the field at the same time for us in the future.

This week the Islanders face a challenge of a different sort, as they travel to Calgary, Canada to face Bishop Carroll High School. The game will be governed by Canadian football rules, which include 12 players per team, a much longer and wider playing field, multiple offensive men in motion and the ever-popular ‘rouge,’ where one point is awarded for a ball that cannot be returned from the end zone. Also, teams have only three downs to gain 10 yards to retain possession, instead of four in American football.

"It will be a confusing game for us," Mayfield added. "This will be a little bit of old time football, where we can freelance. This is a great international experience for our kids. I put the trip in the middle of the season as kind of a break. We’ll really enjoy ourselves and then come back and work hard for the Central League season. We still believe we will be in that hunt (for the league title)."

The American tradition of exchanging game films between the teams was denied by Bishop Carroll, but in a non-confrontational way. "We’ve become friends with them," said Mayfield. "They refused to exchange films. They said ‘look at your own playbook and you’ll know what we do.’ They’ve borrowed much of our material. They really treat us well and we’re really friendly (with their staff)."

CHS Head Cross Country Coach George Green checks in with an update on his two teams. "The Islander Cross Country Teams got their first look at league and divisional competition Friday at the Saints Small School Invitational, held at Morley Field. Divisions III, IV and V ran together, with the results scored by division after the race.

The Boys Division IV results couldn’t have been much closer, with the Islanders winning by a single point over Bishop’s by the score of 50-51 (lower score wins). Mt. Empire was in third with 77 points, followed by Christian (93), Francis Parker (98), Preuss Academy, Horizon, Guajome Park, Canyon Crest, and Army-Navy. Three of our four Central League opponents, Christian, Madison, and Clairemont (the latter two schools in Division III) proved to not be contenders. The only Central League school not at this meet was perennial powerhouse Crawford.

Ben Enowitz led the Islander pack, finishing seventh overall with a time of 17:27 over the hilly 3.1-mile CIF and Footlocker National Championship course. He was followed by Michael Davies (15^th in 18:16), Andrew Falkiewicz (31^st, 19:00 minutes), David Grimes (32^nd in 19:05) and Jack Harms (36^th, 19:24). In the JV race, Cotter Stacy placed 14^th in 20:37, followed by Ben Green, Jonny Poe and Ross Palmer.

The Girls placed third in the Division IV race, led by Karolin Ivarsson, who finished ninth over the 2.75-mile course in a time of 20:40. Sheila Braun was the second Islander finisher in 17^th, followed by Anneka Nelson (18^th), Allison Cabana (20^th), Sarah Player (22^nd), and Brigid Twomey (32^nd).

We are missing a couple of key girls because of injury recovery and a college trip, so our relative strength against Central League competition is still a little fuzzy. Madison appears to be the team to beat in our league. When Marissa Nagler and Sammie Runyon are factored in to the results of the meet, it appears that our dual meet with Madison will decide the Central League championship."

Since our friends at "The San Diego Union-Tribune" are a little on the lean side in providing USD Torero Football information, "Nado Natterings" will pick up the slack for our Coronado constituents. Former Islander J.T. Rogan (CHS ’04), USD’s starting tailback has helped lead his team to a 4-1 record with victories over Azusa Pacific, Southern Oregon, Yale and Menlo College. Their lone loss came at Princeton.

For the season, Rogan has 85 carries and has gained 380 yards, an average of 4.47 yards per attempt. He also has 17 pass receptions for 100 yards, an average of 5.88 yards per catch. Rogan has scored two touchdowns this year, with the first coming on a 2-yard pass reception and the second a 38-yard touchdown scamper Saturday against Menlo.

USD’s head coach is Coronado resident and former San Diego Charger Quarterback Jim Harbaugh. It’s always good to see local products do well.

CHS Head Girls Tennis Coach Robbin Adair brings us a court update. "We had two league matches this week, losing to University City 14-4 Tuesday and to Scripps Ranch 15-3 Thursday. Overall we now stand at 6-4.

Leading the way this week were the freshman doubles team of Spencer Berman and Jen Carney. They took one set against Uni City and then managed to take two from Scripps Ranch. They had two other very close sets, but weren’t able to pull them out.

In the Uni City match, the other three points were won by Allie Gordon and Nicole Aponte in singles, both of whom won one set, and Amanda Purvis and Hannah Schneider who won a set in doubles. Against Scripps Ranch, the other point was one by Allie Gordon in singles.

At the mid point of the season, Carney leads our scoring at 3-0 in singles and 13-7 in doubles for a total of 16-7 or 70 per cent. Berman is a close second at 3-0 in singles and 15-8 in doubles for a total of 18-8 or 69 per cent.

This next week is a busy one as we will play Our Lady of Peace in a rare Monday league match, travel to El Capitan for a non-league encounter Wednesday. Then we finish the first round of Western League play hosting the tough La Jolla Vikings Thursday."

Last week brought Coronado a loss in their match against Eastern League counterpart Our Lady of Peace in four games, 22-25, 26-24, 25-19, and 25-19. "We lost to OLP, but we played really well," said Head Coach Phil Trotter. "That’s going to cost us, but not at the expense of getting better as a team."

The Islanders played without their primary offensive threat Kelly Phelps, who was out of town on a recruiting trip. But, other members of the squad stepped up according to Trotter. "Lauren Fancy played opposite and played really well. Lauren, Karli Massie and Sara Noceto, all three are juniors, got a lot of playing time and really contributed."

Coronado will be busy this coming week, with a Monday road match at Serra, another road tilt at Horizon Thursday, and then the Beach City Tournament Friday and Saturday. "We’ll play Friday in Coronado," Trotter said. "Games will run from 3 to 8 pm Friday. We’ll likely play in La Jolla on Saturday. We’re the second seed in our pool."

In their one match from last week, the Islanders fell from the ranks of the undefeated in a 202-267 loss to Cathedral Catholic in Western League play. Senior Alexcie Sanchez led the Islanders with a round of 41. The Dons countered with none of their scores that counted (six players compete, while the five best scores are used to compute the team score) over 45.

"That match is showing me what’s possible," said Head Coach Hanna Cohan. "That is providing that the players are interested and willing to work. It was an eye-opener."

This week the Girls have Western League matches Monday against Point Loma at Balboa Country Club and Wednesday vs. La Jolla at Coronado Municipal.