Football season is upon us, proven by the fact that the Coronado High School varsity squad plays a CIF-sanctioned exhibition game Friday night against Mt. Miguel at Mesa College. Kick-off is slated for 5:30 pm. The game counts as a scrimmage, but is a full-length contest played with officials.

Head Coach Bud Mayfield returns for his 19^th season at the helm of the Islander football program, a county-wide tenure only exceeded by Coach Ed Burke of Torrey Pines High School. "We’ll know a whole lot more after Friday night," said Mayfield of his junior-laden squad. "It will be an up tempo game for us. It will show our kids the level they have to play at this year. We’ll set the standard (with tough early opponents) early and it will pay off in the long run. The kids will reach for it."

Veteran leadership is in short supply on this year’s squad, although the three returning seniors who contributed last year are poised for fine seasons. They include offensive guard and defensive tackle Ben Thorne, tight end and defensive end J.J. Pontes, and fullback and linebacker Eddie Gomez. Other returning seniors who will contribute include offensive guard Scott Shepherd, and linebacker Mitch Moran.

The junior class is well represented by tailback and defensive back Ricardo Oberwager. Mayfield likes what he has seen from Oberwager during Heck Week. "He looks very experienced and ready to go. He ran for 500 yards as a sophomore (on the varsity level) and he has had a great camp so far. He absorbed a lot last year."

Junior Charlie Moore saw considerable playing time last year and will help anchor the Islander line play on both offense and defense.

Leading the three-man quarterback competition at this point is junior Stephen Conrad, who holds a slight edge over sophomores Jonathan Archie and Mason Mills entering Hell Week. Archie was the frosh/soph team starter last year at quarterback and Bell is a transfer from Christian High School. "Conrad led the freshman team and then the JV team," said Mayfield. "He’s at the head of the quarterback derby. A lot will depend on Friday night."

Archie, who is 6-2 and weighs 205 and is a star in the weight room, will find a place on the field to play, according to Mayfield. "He’s a darn good athlete who is going to play some defensive end and some tight end. We try to get all of our best kids out there."

Aside from those mentioned above, time played during past varsity games is hard to find among the Islanders. "The rest of the help will come from last year’s JV’s," Mayfield explained. "They have no varsity experience and it’s going to take some time for them to grow at the varsity level. That’s one reason why the non-conference schedule is tough, so they can acclimate themselves as quickly as possible at this level. It’s a great group of kids to coach and they’re working very hard. We’re very optimistic."

Back in the day, Hell Week kicked off football practice for the year. This year ‘Heck Week’ began the season’s preparations and included nine practices, which Mayfield characterized as "all great." From Aug. 21-24 the team will be housed at NAS North Island for official ‘Hell Week,’ which will lead to the Mount Miguel pre-season tilt.

Mayfield heads the varsity coaching staff, which includes Mike Pompa, Ed Shanholtz and Keith Sippy. Pompa has 30years of football coaching experience, including two stints as head coach of the Southwestern College team. Shanholtz has 25 years of coaching at the high school level. Sippy is a relative newcomer to the program and is entering his seventh season with the Islanders. Pompa and Sippy share the offensive and defensive line coaching responsibilities, while Shanholtz is in charge of the running backs, defensive backs and serves as defensive coordinator.

Working with the Frosh/Soph and JV teams are Tony Isabella, Quinn Renfro and Mark Davis. Sippy and Shanholtz also call the plays and formations during the JV games. The personable Connie Martinez returns as the team’s trainer.

The Islanders Central League opponents this year include Kearny, Clairemont, Crawford, Madison and University City. Mayfield believes that the Warhawks from Madison High School is the team Coronado will have to reckon with. "They’re still the champions until they are beaten. It has been Madison and us for the past 5 years, splitting the title. That will be a great game." Circle Friday, Nov. 3 on your calendar for that contest. This year Homecoming will be played Thursday, Nov. 9 against University City. The somewhat unusual Thursday date is due to the observance of the Veterans Day holiday.

The non-conference schedule is Sept. 1 at West Hills; Sept. 15 at Serra; Sept. 22 at home vs. Medicine Hat High School from Calgary, Alberta; Sept. 29 at home vs. Mar Vista; and Oct. 5 at El Cajon Southwest.

It’s never too early for a coach to be concerned about future opponents and Mayfield has already started to focus on the Medicine Hat game. "They are bringing 51 kids to the game and they were in the playoffs last year. This is a different team than we have been playing (in Canada). We played at Bishop Carroll High School last year and they weren’t allowed to travel to the U.S. this year."

Previously it appeared that Coronado would play Crawford High School on the new San Diego Cable 4 Thursday Night Football Game of the Week package. Unfortunately the San Diego Unified School District does not permit football games to be played on school nights. "We were really disappointed," Mayfield said of the decision. "The CIF chose mostly powerhouse schools. We were one of the only little schools on the schedule. With our stadium and with the field, it would have been a great thing for the kids. A lot of people don’t get to see Coronado play."

Last week the Islanders received some positive publicity from Rod Luck and KUSI Channel 9, as their cameras covered a morning practice at Tidelands Park. Luck asked somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 questions over two televised segments, which Mayfield dealt with well.

So, haul out the sweatshirts, T-shirts and Coronado forest green hats out from the back of your closet, because football is upon us.

Saturday the CHS Varsity Boys Water Polo Team will participate in the Inaugural Coach Draz Boys Water Polo Classic. Coronado faces Vista at 1:30 pm, with the game being one of a series of contests at La Jolla High School’s Coggan Pool.

Also included on the program is The Bishop’s School vs. Carlsbad at 2:40 pm, immediately after the Islanders and Panthers game.

CHS rising junior Pike Harris recently spent part of his summer vacation sailing in Europe, participating in the U.K. National Championships in Weymouth, England. Harris competes in the 29er boat class, which is a slightly smaller version of the 49er boat sailed in Olympic competition.

Competing in the Silver Division of the light air regatta, Harris and his crew Cooper Dressler from Francis Parker High School finished 25^th out of 40 boats.

"It was his first time abroad," said Scott Harris, Pike’s proud father. "They were there for 17 days total. They are hoping to go to the World Championships in Argentina this January. It was an invaluable life experience."

Harris also passed along the news that 15-year-old Hans Henken, who is an incoming freshman transferring to Coronado High School from San Clemente, sailed in the Gold Division of the same competition and finished 23^rd out of 25 boats. "He was the youngest kid there," said Harris of Henken. "He sailed with Judge Ryan. Hans will be on the CHS Sailing Team next year."

Harris the Elder, who also helps administer the CHS Sailing program, said that Jon Rogers will be the team’s new coach this season and that the club is looking for new sailors to join the team. Rogers also serves as one of the junior sailing directors at the Coronado Yacht Club. "We’re looking for boys and girls to join. We’ll have some type of recruitment day coming up at the high school," Harris said.

The Natter Wife and yours truly aimed the Natter car due north Sunday and as luck would have it, found ourselves at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club shortly thereafter. Over lunch at the Pat O’Brien Grill, I instructed her on the finer points of reading "The Daily Racing Form" and tried to bring her up to date on the Sport of Kings.

Care to guess who cashed a ticket in every race and who didn’t? How about a guess on who didn’t refer to a handicapper’s report during the entire day and still won?

Proving there is balance in nature, she won as much as I lost, but if that long shot nag in the third race had just made up a little more distance on the outside down the stretch– well maybe next time.

I’m still trying to figure out how Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, who finished fifth in the $1 million Pacific Classic, isn’t at least the third best horse in any race he enters. Even money favorite Lava Man enabled me to cash my first (and only) winning ticket on the day in the featured race.

Anyway, a good time was had by all and it was truly a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Try to get to Del Mar before the 2006 meet closes Sept. 6.

The Coronado community has responded very favorably to the construction of the new playing fields at Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School, as well as the new track at CHS. Here is an update on the planned final couple of weeks for the fields.

The CMS field will be completed Wed. Aug. 23. The infusion of the field’s infill of rubber pellets and sand are all that remain at that location to complete the installation.

The CHS field is essentially done and work on the track was scheduled to begin Tuesday. The rubberized base mat of the track will be laid Aug. 23-25. The rubberized top coat will be applied Aug. 28-30. The following day is a clean-up and drying day. The track will be striped Sept. 1 and 2.

In addition to the above, there are fences left to install on the Sixth Street end of the field.

The net result will be one of the finest athletic complexes in the county.

It didn’t take long for the pre-season perfection of San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers to vanish last Friday evening on the road versus the Chicago Bears. On the team’s first offensive series, Rivers had a pass intercepted by the defending NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. In subsequent series, Rivers showed that his size and athleticism will be important elements in the club’s offensive success this year. Rivers completed nine of 14 passes for 75 yards.

The Chargers yielded touchdowns on offense, on defense and on special teams, a scoring trifecta that Chargers Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer probably didn’t find amusing.

One of the positive elements of the Chargers special teams is punter Mike Scifres, who is one of the best situational kickers in the NFL, meaning he can boom a punt when necessary, or aim for the coffin corner to bury a team in their end of the field. If anything, Scifres is in danger of out-kicking his punt coverage team with some of the blasts from his right foot.