Nado Natterings

by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer

The Islander Sports Foundation

 

2 Oct 2006 Issue #40

 

Golfer Lee Trevino once said of links legend Jack Nicklaus that ‘The big dog walks late.’ Roughly translated from the original jockese, the phrase means, “Big players make big plays when it counts.”

 

And so it was Friday night at the newly revamped Niedermeyer Field at Coronado High School, as the Islanders found themselves in a gridiron slugfest with their long-time rivals from Mar Vista High School. With a scant three minutes remaining in the physical, hard-hitting contest, and the scored knotted at 7-all, Coronado junior linebacker Curtis Perkins stripped a Mariner running back from the ball deep in Mar Vista territory. The ball took a fortuitous bounce for the Islanders, landing in the welcoming arms of junior defensive back Kyle Brown, who raced non-stop to the end zone for what proved to be the game-winning score.

 

“The fumble was forced by Curtis and picked up by Kyle,” said Islander Head Coach Bud Mayfield. “There was a crowd that hit him, but Curtis got credit for that. We made a play. We didn’t get lucky and there’s a difference.”

 

Now behind 13-7 after the Islander conversion attempt failed, and with only a little more than two minutes to play, the Mariners were forced to put the ball into the air to get back in the game. On the receiving end of the pass at the 38 yard line was Coronado’s Ricardo Oberwager, who scampered untouched into the Mar Vista end zone for an important insurance touchdown. The game ended with the Islanders winning their fifth consecutive game against the Mariners, this time by the score of 19-7.

 

Friday was the 48^th time the South Bay rivalry game has been played, a tradition which dates back to 1951. Coronado now holds the series lead 27-21.

 

The victory allowed Coronado to retain possession of the Adrian Taufaasau Memorial Trophy, named in honor of the Islander quarterback who died 10 years ago from a game-related injury. The Taufaasau Clan, led by matriarch Ivy Taufaasau turned out in force for the contest, watching the game from their usual venue in the 7^th Street end zone. Three Taufaasau brothers Adrian, Patrick and Jeff all played football at CHS.

 

Mayfield is glad to have the trophy, which resides semi-permanently in his coaching office at the high school, around for another year. “I’m absolutely glad to keep it. I’m used to having it there. I don’t recall either team winning five games in a row (in the series) for a long time.”

Mar Vista, which fielded a physically imposing group of linemen on either side of the ball, was committed defensively to stopping Islander tailback Oberwager, who had scampered for a total of 354 yards from scrimmage and scored eight touchdowns in the last two Islander games combined. “That was the best game Mar Vista played,” said Mayfield of the 2006 Mariners. “On film they didn’t show that well. There were certainly up for us and they came to play. They were stacked in there to stop Ricky.”

 

The Mariner’s defensive ploy worked, at least in part, as Oberwager gained 40 net yards rushing in 16 attempts during the game. However, quarterback Stephen Conrad showed he is capable of working some magic on the ground, gaining 101 yards, also on a total of 16 carries. Ray San Giovanni added 33 yards in 5 attempts and Brown had one carry for 14 yards.

 

The Islanders threw the ball enough to keep Mar Vista’s defense guessing. In fact the first Coronado score came on their second offensive play from scrimmage, a 17-yard touchdown pass from Conrad to J.J. Pontes, a ball that seemed to be in the air forever.

 

Mar Vista scored with three minutes remaining in the first half, converting on a scoring opportunity after the snap on an Islander punt attempt went awry. The Mariners scored on a four-yard run to even the score.

 

The succeeding 20 minutes of game time featured a hard-hitting, battle-for-field-position contest. “We didn’t play particularly well for a big game,” Mayfield said. “But we played awfully hard. We preach about finishing everything we do and they finished the game. The last five minutes, we took the game away from them. They started to press a little after the fumble recovery and they were out of timeouts.”

 

According to Mayfield, senior lineman and Co-Captain Ben Thorne played a significant role in the victory. “Ben had a great game on both sides of the ball. He had nine tackles on defense and played well on the offensive line. When Mar Vista intercepted a pass, lineman Tim Leary came from the left tackle, all the way across the field and made the tackle. That was a terrific effort and the kid of effort we got from most of the kids.”

Conrad and Thorne were named the Blackshirt Award winners for the week. The Islanders are now 3-1 on the season.

 

Next week the Islanders have two opponents on the schedule, El Centro Southwest High School and the Imperial County officiating crew. “We’ll have to play a near-perfect game to win,” said Mayfield of Friday’s game. “They run a tight Winged T, which resembles a rugby scrum. Their line and their backs are all tight to the line of scrimmage, all bunched together. We run the ball, so we could be back on the bus (to come home) in an hour and a half.”

 

Boys Water Polo Goes 2-0 in Western League Tilts

 

One of the annual Coronado Boys Water Polo facts of life is that they don’t play well against Scripps Ranch. The Flacons don’t fill the bitter rival role held by the Bishop’s School. They’re not the up and coming rival like La Jolla. They’re good, sometimes overlooked, and the Islanders find them tough to beat.

 

So Friday Coronado ventured to the Hour Glass Pool on the campus of Miramar College and came away with an 8-4 win, which could perhaps be characterized as “The Eric, Jacob and Kyle Show.” Eric Clapper scored three goals; Jacob Smith added five tallies and committed five steals; while goalie Kyle Pokorny was credited with nine saves.

 

The score was tied 3-3 at halftime, with Coronado winning the second half 5-1, to reach the 8-4 final score.

 

The La Jolla game, played at the Coggan Family Pool, found the Islanders prevailing 9-6 over the Vikings, in a well-played, fast-paced game.

“La Jolla was very fired up for us Saturday night,” said Head Coach Randy Burgess. “I told our kids that it is hard to run on emotion for four quarters. They scored the first goal and we answered, which we did all night. We played well enough to control the game and I am happy that we played more balanced offensively than we did against Scripps Ranch.”

 

Five Islanders accounted for the scoring, with Smith leading the way with three goals, followed by Clapper, and Adam Ratcliffe with two each, and single goals from Jackson Crow-Mickle and Sean Cook. Ratcliffe and Smith had two assists each.

 

In hockey when a goalie has a particularly effective game, it is said “The goalie stood on his head.” Although not a practical comparison from a head in the water vs. head on ice perspective, Pokorny did come up big for Coronado against La Jolla with 13 saves. One of his better efforts was a diving stop of a 5-meter penalty shot with four seconds remaining in the first half, when the result of the game was still very much in doubt. The Islanders went into the intermission with a 7-4 lead and with the momentum on their side.

 

Entering the fourth quarter with a 9-5 lead, Coronado played the water polo equivalent of North Carolina’s old four corner basketball offense, working the shot clock and playing keep away from the Vikings.

 

This week the competition gets serious with the arrival Wednesday of the Bishop’s Knights at the Coronado Aquatics Center for a 3 pm game. Thursday, also at 3 pm, University City will play at Coronado. Friday the Islanders embark on their annual trek to the S&R Southern California Invitational Tournament, where they will face Clovis West at noon Friday.

 

“Clovis has a fast, strong swimming program and they are well-coached. There aren’t too many easy games for us this year. We’re a young group and a lot of the kids are getting some quality playing time. Their attitudes are great, the kids are great and they have to learn to win.”

 

Girls Golf Splits Two Matches

 

The Cathedral Catholic Girls Golf Team is among the best in San Diego County and last Monday proved that to their counterparts from Coronado, emerging from the Western League match with a 200-244 victory. Lexi Donovan’s 44 was the low round for Coronado, followed by a 46 from Alexcie Sanchez and a 49 from Jackie Davis. The match was played at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course.

 

Coronado Head Coach Hanna Cohan said the Dons proved they were good. “Our girls were a little psyched out. Lexi shot really well under pressure. She shot a 44 and a 45 last week. Her scores are really coming down.”

 

The following day, Coronado hosted West Hills and the Islanders came away with a four shot victory, 251-255. “One thing that came up again, this time against West Hills, was a scoring dispute. It was handled by the girls themselves, which I was really proud of. I trust my team 100 percent for their integrity and honesty. The other team was confused about the score.”

 

Prep golf is an individual sport played in a team setting. “We’re very committed to working as a team,” Cohan added. “I can pretty much count on what they will shoot. Monday we play Point Loma at Torrey Pines, which should be a good match. It will keep us on our toes. Wednesday we host La Jolla in Coronado.”

 

Sanchez holds the season-long team scoring lead at 42 strokes per nine holes, with Giovanna Ascolani (47.0), Mackenzie Coutts (48.7) and Donovan (48.8) following close behind.

 

CHS Girls Volleyball Splits Two Eastern League Matches

 

Young teams sometimes supply uneven efforts and that seemed to be the case last week for the CHS Girls Volleyball Team. The week started with a 25-14, 25-15, 25-22 straight set loss to Patrick Henry Tuesday afternoon, a result that didn’t play well with Head Coach Christina Lahr.

“It was as if they weren’t sure they were going to play volleyball today,” said Lahr of her team. “We weren’t receiving their serves well. That’s what Henry killed us on. They are a very tough-serving team and we couldn’t put an end to their runs of points on their serve.”

 

However, things brightened at home Thursday with the arrival of Morse High School. This contest resulted in a 25-18, 25-21, 25-11 Coronado victory. As the song says, ‘what a difference a day (in this case two days) makes.’

 

“We came out ready to play and played as a team,” Lahr related. “We worked really hard in practice Wednesday to make sure we had a more positive result Thursday. They had fun playing as a team. That, along with the victory, was a big accomplishment. Christy Mebust and Lisa Bernardy both had big games in terms of big digs and passing. Christy had 14 digs and Lisa had 11. That was a big contribution. Everything else was pretty much a tem effort. The rest of the digs were spread out throughout all of the players. Christy and Lisa were in the right place at the right time. Thursday was a great accomplishment and a great thing to see.”

 

This week the team travels to Mission Bay Tuesday, while Thursday’s home match against OLP will be re-scheduled. Friday the Islanders will host a leg of the Beach City Tournament, where they will find Horizon, Canyon Crest, Esperanza and Centennial from Las Vegas in their bracket.

 

“These are important games for all of the teams involved, for the playoff seeding. Horizon and Canyon Crest are both Division IV (CIF San Diego Section) teams, so they are important games. Depending on how we do Friday, we will play Saturday at one of four sites.”

 

Cheerleaders Add to the Football Game Atmosphere

 

A total of 27 Varsity Cheerleaders are working the sidelines during the Islander games this year, adding greatly to the festive atmosphere at the games. Under the direction of Coaches Keith Lewis and Burt Johnson, the cheerleaders include: Andrea Arendsee, Jillian Carroll, Monica Chapa, Jackie Cumming, Caroline Ganyard, Bridget Garbers, Christen Grant, Blaire Jennings, Ashley Lazareno, Jessica Lewis, Ashleigh Lloyd, Kelly McCray, Kaitlyn Mehrwerth, Harley Reid, Lexi Scott, Nicole Tesh, Rebecca Wiggins, Rosetta Wilson, and Allie Wright.

 

Senior cheerleaders include: Amber Bjorstrom, Ashley Dowell, Danielle Eckert, John Fitelson, Iman Frederick, Ashley Jankiewicz, Katrina Maggio, and Krista Villalobos.

 

Congratulations to all of the cheerleading team members.

 

CHS Track Installation Photos

 

Combining an obvious interest in track and his ability as a website builder, CHS Head Track and Field Coach George Green has built a page around the new track installation at Coronado High School. If you are interested in the process, check out Green’s photos at http://crowncity.com/newtrack. More photos and captions will be added later this week.

 

This Friday the CHS Cross Country Team, also under Green’s direction, will compete in the St. Augustine Small Schools Invitational. The meet will feature the Islanders’ main Central League and CIF Division IV foes.

 

Girls Tennis Update

 

CHS Girls Tennis Coach Robbin Adair provides a peek at this week’s action with his club. “Tuesday Sept. 26 we hosted Scripps Ranch and got beat 17-1. Allie Gordon/Hannah Schneider beat their second doubles team and lost 4-6, 3-6 in their other two sets. Natalie Brooks/Loren Metzger and Simmi Deo/Cori Morse were swept in doubles play.

 

In singles there were lots of great matches, but no wins. Spencer Berman lost a heart breaker at 5-7 after leading for most of the set against their No. 2. She also lost 3-6 and 4-6 in the other two. Jen Carney/Amanda Purvis both got swept, although they both played well. Purvis had primarily played doubles over the last couple of years, but is competing so hard that I needed to give her a chance to play some singles.

 

Thursday we got beat by La Jolla 16-2. Gordon and the doubles team of Berman/Schneider got our only two wins. La Jolla is loaded again, but we managed to play them very tough. There were lots of close points, but most of them went to La Jolla. The match began at 2:55 pm and we didn’t clear the courts until 6:10 pm. It was a long drawn-out battle.

 

This week we travel to Cathedral Catholic Tuesday, to San Dieguito Academy Wednesday and host OLP here on Thursday.”