Seven games in five days constitute a busy schedule, even by the standards of the Coronado High School Boys Water Polo Team. Mix in travel time, and competition involving the best prep water polo teams in the country at the TruWest California State Invitational in San Jose, and you have the makings of a rough week.

The Islanders aquatic odyssey commenced last Tuesday with a game at the La Jolla Jewish Community Center against University City. The Islanders prevailed 13-9 with Jesse Farquhar scoring five goals; Devin Farrell, Jacob Smith and John Landon scoring twice each; with single goals coming from Sean Castillo and Preston Lujan. Patrick Queisser was credited with 10 saves in goal.

The following day at the Coronado Municipal Pool, Cathedral Catholic proved to be a mere speed bump in the week’s festivities as Coronado dominated the Dons 19-1. As a veteran water polo observer, take it from Your Natterer that the game wasn’t even that close. The normally attentive and knowledgeable home fans spent most of the brilliantly sunny afternoon lost in conversation with their neighbors.

Daniel Pedrotty scored five goals; Smith added four more; with Scott Simeral contributing three scores. Two goals each were scored by Landon and Castillo, with single goals credited to Farrell, Eric Clapper, and Steven Sullivan. Rebounds are a concept normally confined to basketball, but the Islanders were shooting so often at the Don’s goal, that the occasional misfires caromed to mid-pool. Sullivan, who also had an assist and a steal, added two rebounds to his stats line. Kyle Pokorny and Queisser shared time in goal.

The team stopped off in San Francisco Thursday to take on Islander Alumnus Dave Myers (CHS ’91) and his Burlingame High School squad. Coronado had the better of the play, emerging with an 18-6 victory. Castillo posted five goals and five steals to lead the Islanders effort.

The TruWest California State Invitational, more commonly called the NorCal Tournament, features 16 of the best prep water polo teams in the state of California, which pretty much means the best interscholastic squads in the country. This confab is seeded so that in the first round, each game features a team from Southern California competing against a team from Northern California. Coronado was the No. 5 seed in the Southern California bracket and faced the No. 4 Northern California seed Clovis West in the first round game.

Not deterred by the lower seed, the Islanders defeated Clovis West 9-5. Farquhar and Farrell scored three goals each; Landon scored twice; and Lujan once. "Jacob Smith had a nice defensive game," said Head Coach Randy Burgess. "He had four steals and Patrick Queisser had eight saves."

Then it got serious in the Friday evening session, with Coronado facing Long Beach Wilson in the second round. Six days prior, the Islanders had traveled to Belmont Plaza in Long Beach and lost to Wilson 12-8. This time the result was much the same, with Wilson prevailing 13-7. The good news perhaps, was that Long Beach Wilson was the eventual NorCal champion, defeating Foothill of Tustin in the finals.

Saturday morning, the Islanders battled Bellarmine Prep and Coronado came away with a 12-11 victory. "That was a shootout," said Burgess. "It was important playing the host team in their tournament, in their pool. The Bellarmine game was fan-friendly, exciting and fun to watch." Castillo scored four times; Farquhar had three goals; Farrell and Lujan contributed two each; and Clapper added one goal. In the tournament finale for Coronado, they lost to El Toro 13-8, finishing in sixth place overall, above their seeded slot of 10^th.

Burgess re-capped the tournament experience. "The first game against Clovis West was the crucial game. It was probably our best game of the tournament. Then we had a letdown versus Wilson. The kids just ran out of gas against El Toro. Between games Saturday we went to see UCLA and Stanford play water polo. It was good for the kids to experience the college atmosphere. There were a lot of college coaches there. So, we’ll see what happens. We have three kids (seniors) who have the opportunity to play Division I water polo next year."

This week the Islanders play at Bishop’s Tuesday, and then host Scripps Ranch Friday night. "I’m looking forward to the nighttime atmosphere," said Burgess. "It will be our own version of homecoming." The varsity game will be played at Coronado Muni at 6 pm. Saturday at 2 pm the Islanders host Foothill of Tustin, the NorCal runners-up. Then it’s off to the CIF playoffs.

The reason you play the game, instead of just holding a meeting to compare won-loss records, was illustrated Friday night as the host Coronado Islanders (5-2, 2-0 in the Central League entering the game) defeated the Kearny Komets (1-6, 0-2) by the score 41-19.

At halftime of Coronado’s homecoming game, the score was 17-13 in favor of the Islanders. Coronado scored the last 17 points of the game to help provide the final margin. In short, it was a competitive game, despite the final 22-point spread.

"It was a more exciting first half than I thought it would be," said Head Coach Bud Mayfield. "Kearny brought their ‘A’ game just for us. I think that our homecoming is so extraordinary, that they get pumped up for us. They stand across the field and see the decorations and they get pumped up too."

In last week’s column, Mayfield opined that Komet quarterback Robert Underwood was one of the best athletes in the Central League, and the senior signal-caller didn’t disappoint. "He kept them in the game," Mayfield said. "We shut down their running back, but it was Underwood that kept them in the game."

Coronado contributed its’ own set of heroes to the contest, with sophomore tailback Ricardo Oberwager scoring three times and rushing for 144 yards on 14 carries. Oberwager scored on runs of 2 and 25 yards and on a 70-yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Loving. Oberwager added seven tackles on defense. Loving, who rushed 10 times for 82 yards and threw for an additional 108 yards, added seven more tackles and a sack. It should come as no surprise that the pair were named the Black Shirt winners (Team MVPs) for the game.

John F. Kennedy once said, "Success has a thousand fathers and failure is an orphan." Perhaps with that in mind, Mayfield continued to praise his club. "We had a great game from Chris Arthur. He scooped up the fumble and ran it back (42 yards) for a touchdown. We did produce a heck of a lot of offense, with 319 yards rushing. That means the front five of Tim Sexton, Kyle McArthur, Ryland Gill, Ben Thorne and Dustin West had to do a great job. Add Jimmy Gersonde, at tight end. Sometimes he splits out (as a receiver), and sometimes he is inside blocking."

Running back Kelcey Fisher continues to impress with his versatility. In this contest, he rushed nine times for 68 yards; kicked field goals of 30 and 27 yards; converted on six extra points; served as a blocking fullback when he isn’t carrying the ball; and played defensive back when Kearny had the ball. Mayfield acknowledged Fisher’s importance to the team. "Kelcey is a tremendous blocker and he gives us quick acceleration on the trap and dive plays, which people don’t recognize very often. He hits through the middle and is gone. He is the lead blocker on all of Ricardo’s runs and he is a threat on the option. We essentially have two tailbacks, plus he’s a great receiver out of the backfield. His stats aren’t always the best in total yardage, but he contributes in four or five different ways."

With Madison’s 23-0 home victory over University City last Friday, the Islanders at 6-2, 3-0 in conference play, are tied with the Warhawks atop the Central League standings. This week, Coronado travels to University City for a Friday afternoon game at 2:30 pm against the Centurions. Mayfield isn’t sure what to expect from U.C. "They have kids in and out of their lineup with injuries and eligibility problems. They lost their quarterback last week due to a broken collar bone. I’m sure we will get a hard game. We’ll see what we get, when we get there."

In a scheduling oddity, all three of the Central League games will be played in the afternoon, according to Mayfield. "By dinner time we will know where everybody stands. It could be us and Madison the following week for the championship."

If anything, the Division IV CIF playoff picture is becoming more muddled with each passing week. A total of eight teams from the 11-member division will make the playoffs. "The seeding meeting should be pretty interesting," Mayfield said. "If you are the league champion, your position is very strong to play a home playoff game. That’s the first goal, anyway."

Last week the CHS Girls Golf Team split their two matches, with a loss to La Jolla at the Torrey Pines Golf Course and then followed that outing with an impressive 247-253 victory over Scripps Ranch.

Thursday’s match against the Falcons saw Alexcie Sanchez shoot a 44, followed by Sara Stillman with a 49. "Everybody was in really good spirits," said Head Coach Hanna Cohan of her squad. "The girls gad fun and we didn’t have anybody shoot 60 or above, which was a real breakthrough for our team." The team celebrated with a pizza outing, which Cohan characterized as, "a nice way to finish the regular season."

This week the Islanders compete in the City Conference Tournament at Balboa Country Club on Tuesday, with Round 2 at Riverwalk Country Club Wednesday. Six of the Islanders qualified for the City Conference event, including Sanchez, Stillman, Lexi Donovan, Brooke Bower, Ali Icenhower, and Arrielle Luna.

The Islanders completed the regular season portion of the year with an 11-4 record.

University City of the Western League came to Coronado last Monday and defeated the CHS Girls Volleyball Team in four games. That was the only match of the week for Coronado, which makes up for that concept with three home matches this week against San Diego Wednesday, Serra Thursday, and Imperial on Friday.

In an effort to find a winning combination on the floor, Head Coach Phil Trotter moved senior Megan Mushovic back to the setter position, where she has played for most of her varsity career. The lineup change was the fourth in four weeks for the versatile Mushovic, who played setter, outside hitter, libero or defensive specialist, and now setter again.

The three games this week mark the conclusion of the regular season, with the Division IV coaches’ seeding meeting scheduled for Saturday morning. Trotter expects Coronado to fall in the No. 3-5 seeding range, and is hoping for a home match. Twelve of the 17 teams in Division IV make the playoffs and Coronado has spent much of the season ranked as the third best team in San Diego County in their division.

Thomas Hopkins (CHS ’02) scored a goal with 15 seconds remaining in overtime, propelling his Stanford Cardinal water polo team to a victory over UCLA by the score of 9-8. Hopkins finished with four goals in the game as No. 4 Stanford (13-4) defeated No. 4 UCLA (15-5).

Former Islander basketball star Brett Milke (CHS ’04) is the starting quarterback for the Southwestern College Jaguars this season. Last week he passed for 137 yards and ran for two 1-yard touchdowns and helped lead his team to a 40-7 victory over Mesa College. What makes the story even more interesting is that Milke’s high school football career lasted for a total of 2 days at Coronado, where the 6-5, 200-pound Milke concentrated on basketball.

Finally, USD’s J.T. Rogan (CHS ’04) had another great day for the Torero Football team, as he rushed for 77 yards, caught three passes for a total of 68 yards and scored three touchdowns against Valparaiso last week. USD defeated the Crusaders 63-21 to push their record to 8-1 on the season. With two regular season games and the Pioneer League championship game to go, Rogan has rushed for a total of 930 yards and scored 11 touchdowns.