Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

26 Sept 2007 Issue #37

(Act I of this week’s column originates at the Hall of Justice in Downtown San Diego, as the editorial offices of ‘Nado Natterings’ goes on the road to start the week. Jury duty calls and the net result is this week’s column may be a little more disjointed than usual. Before the judicial system beckoned, Your Natterer loaded on up on notes from the in-season fall sport coaches and various other items. )

Boys Water Polo Finishes Third in America’s Finest City Tournament

Prior to this weekend, The Boys Water Polo Team had played one lone game, which was a 9-8 victory over highly-regarded Newport Harbor. Starting last Friday the game pace became more frenetic for the Islanders as they launched into their own event, the 32-team America’s Finest City, Kap Seven Invitational.

In addition to the field expanding from 16 to 32 teams in recent years, the quality of programs participating in the event has improved dramatically. In the 2007 field were last year’s event titlist Agoura of Thousand Oaks, who would finish second this year and several teams who represent prep water polo powers from San Diego County, Orange County and Oregon.

CHS Head Coach Randy Burgess, who also serves as the tournament director for the event which is played at four locations throughout San Diego, was pleased with the progress of a couple of the teams farther down the event seeding list. “Eastlake entered the Invitational as the 29^th seed and they moved up to No. 22. Cathedral Catholic, which now has their own on-campus aquatics facility, is doing very well. They’re going to be a force.”

A new addition to the Islander squad this season is exchange student Norbi Karoly, who hails from Cegled, Hungary. Karoly is sufficiently skilled to be named to the America’s Finest City All-Tournament Team along with senior Coronado teammate Jacob Smith.

As there are no high school sports in Europe, athletes work with club teams in or near their home town. The clubs normally field teams in several sports, including soccer, water polo and basketball. Karoly played for the BVSC Club, commuting to practices via bus or train. “He has had three years of high school and this is his last year,” said Burgess of Karoly. “In Europe they are very serious about their sports.”

Karoly, who is in the shorter side of 5-feet, 10 inches tall, is already a team favorite. “His biggest asset is his smile,” Burgess said. “He’s a great kid and in the pool, he’s like the Energizer Bunny. He brings a lot of energy and passion to the sport. He has really good vision and he understands the game. English is not his primary language, but he is improving. The guys correct him and we have a lot of fun. He’s a smart kid with strengths in science and mathematics. He does a lot of things well and the kids enjoy him.”

Water polo, similar in strategy to basketball, is a team game and in the America’s Finest City event Burgess received contributions from several of his athletes. “Smith and Karoly were part of the All-Tournament Team, but Sean Cook and Kyle Pokorny could have made it also. Those four guys played real well. We are a lot deeper than we were last year.”

True to the concept of team depth, other contributors included Tommy Schofer and Rex Butler, “who did a great job platooning in and out of the lineup,” according to Burgess. “Sam Working came in and played well and Jake Hunzecker went in as a center and did a nice job. Alex Johnson is playing very well and was consistent throughout the tournament. He is slowly, but solidly getting where we need him. I was also very happy with the time that Justin Parsons put in. Jacob Smith was the most balanced player in the tournament.

Coronado ripped through their first opponent, Western High School by the score of 19-4. “It was a nice game in terms of having an opportunity to play everyone,” Burgess said. “We had 10 different players score. In our next game against El Modena we had fewer contributors, but Working had three goals and an assist. One of the highlights was that Smith had four steals.”

Then it was on to Saturday morning, where the Islanders got to combat both the team from Ventura High School and the elements as well. The first half was played in a driving rain, which was probably more of an inconvenience for the fans than the players. Coronado turned a tight game in the early going into a one-sided victory, prevailing 11-3.

Burgess was pleased with his club’s offense. “We were really on with our transition. Our goalie Kyle Pokorny had two assists, which is a good marker for our transition offense. Six of our 11 goals came from transition. Kyle’s passing, for this early in the season, is pretty good. He also had 11 saves.”

In the semi-final game played at 3 pm, Coronado ran into Mater Dei of Orange County, who would go on to be the 2007 America’s Finest City Tournament champion. Despite holding a narrow 3-2 lead at halftime, the Islanders fell to Mater Dei 9-8. “We made some mistakes offensively and it cost us dearly,” continued Burgess. “They had three or four transition goals off of us and we had nine turnovers in the game. We made some bad decisions. The highlight of the game was supplied by Tommy Schofer, who had three really nice assists. We could have beaten Mater Dei, but we converted only two of our six man-ups.”

The third place game featured two familiar opponents, La Jolla and Coronado. Since the two teams share membership in the Western League and are both in CIF San Diego Section Division II, they may see each other as many as three more times this year, a fact apparently not lost on the Islanders and certainly not Coach Burgess. “It was an odd game and there was no flow to the game. We won 15-12 by outlasting them. It was a tale of two tired teams. It was an entertaining game, but not a technically sound game. It was a good experience for us. Karoly, Smith and Cook scored four goals each, with Parsons and Pokorny sharing time in goal.”

Burgess took the long view of the tournament results. “Now we get to go back to the white board and start working on a lot of areas. I’m very happy with where we are. We have a couple of outstanding players and the support crew is getting some valuable experience. This is a quality group of athletes I get to work with here. We will be a fun team to watch and there will be a lot of close games throughout the year.”

One of which may be just over the horizon, Thursday to be exact, when the Islanders host arch-rival The Bishop’s School at 3 pm at the Coronado Recreation Center. Saturday evening at 7 pm the Islanders continue their Western League play when they host Scripps Ranch.

Islander Football Loses Close Battle to Mission Bay 20-14

(Act II of this week’s column creation commences at the Starbucks at American Plaza during jury duty lunch break, as Your Natterer’s laptop computer unsuccessfully attempts to soak up a little Wifi, while its owner sucks down a little caffeine.)

Friday evening’s home opener for the CHS Football Team figured to be a tough one, as the Mission Bay Buccaneers had been rated in the Top 10 teams in the San Diego Section during the first couple of weeks of the 2007 season. However, last week’s Bucs 30-14 loss to Bonita Vista, knocked them out of the Top 10 of both of the area’s major polls conducted by “The North County Times” and “The San Diego Union-Tribune.”

The previous week found Coronado on the short end of a 56-36 contest played at El Capitan. So both teams were motivated to get back into the win column.

Coronado got off to the quicker start, as Kyle Brown intercepted a Buc pass attempt and the Islanders were in business on the Mission Bay 26-yard line. Highlights of the scoring drive were a 13-yard gain by tailback Ricardo Oberwager and a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mason Mills to tight end Blake Malkemus.

Mission Bay countered with an 11-play touchdown drive that carried over into the start of the second quarter and evened the score at 7-7.

The teams exchanged possessions and with 5:55 left in the first half, the Islanders started another scoring drive that covered 86 yards in 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Keith Englehart, who had recovered a fumble on the game’s third play from scrimmage, was on the receiving end of a 67-yard pass completion from Mills, which placed Coronado deep into Bucs territory. Three plays later, Mills found Oberwager for a 23-yard touchdown pass. Coronado took a 14-6 lead, into the half and seemingly had the momentum to earn the victory.

One of the deciding factors in the game was that the Islanders couldn’t establish their running game against the Mission Bay defensive line. For the game, Coronado rushed 21 times for a total of 42 yards. “They were too stout on defense for us to run on,” said Coronado Head Coach Bud Mayfield of the Mission Bay line.

As a result, the Islanders had to resort to throwing the ball more often than normal, attempting 29 passes, which accounted for 171 yards and the club’s two touchdowns.

After Oberwager took the second half’s opening kickoff 35 yards to the Coronado 40-yard line, the Islanders were three and out. Two plays later, Mission Bay quarterback Evan Taylor converted on an 81-yard pass play to Dillon Baxter, with the latter benefitting from an obvious, except to the officials, offensive pass interference move to get open.

Coronado stymied a Buccaneer two-point conversion attempt and continued to hold a 14-12 lead at the end of the third quarter. With 9:20 remaining in the game, Mission Bay scored on a quarterback sneak and resulting two-point conversion for a 20-14 lead, which would become the final score.

Defensively the Islanders were led by senior defensive lineman Charlie Moore, who contributed six solo tackles and six assisted tackles to the Coronado cause. “Defensively we contained them except for two big plays,” Mayfield said. “We were right there, but we didn’t make the play. You can’t sit on 14 points against a good team. The game should have been ours. The effort was terrific and we should have been rewarded with a win. Two weeks in a row we played hard the whole game and came up empty. We’ve always been a team of execution, but Friday night when we didn’t execute, that was that.”

In addition to converting both of his extra points from holds supplied by Curtis Perkins, Englehart also had a fine game punting the ball. In four attempts, Englehart got off kicks of 37, 36, 38 and 31 yards, for an average kick of 35.5 yards from scrimmage, which is an excellent prep average.

Next week the Islanders travel to Olympian High School, which is a newer school located in Chula Vista. Simple directions include taking I-805 South to the Olympic Parkway exit, three miles turn right on la Media, left on Birch, and right on Magdalena and go one mile. The address is 1925 Magdalena Avenue.

“They have about 800 kids,” said Mayfield of the second-year school. “They haven’t had a senior class yet. This is their first year on the varsity level. They are improving and they run the Winged T formation, same as Mission Bay. They are 2-1 after losing 26-20 to San Ysidro last week. Gill Warren is their head coach and he coached against Gene Green (CHS Head Football Coach 1966-74). They have three very experienced coaches. Warren was brought out of retirement to start their program.”

North County Times Prep Football Poll Results

Here is this week’s San Diego County Sportswriters and Sportscasters Top 10 Prep Football Teams as compiled by John Maffei of “The North County Times”: No. 1 Carlsbad, No. 2 Poway, No. 3 Oceanside, No. 4 Mira Mesa, No. 5 Mission Hills, No. 6 Helix, No. 7 Eastlake, No. 8 Vista, No. 9 Cathedral Catholic, and No. 10 Chula Vista. Others receiving votes (in descending vote order) Mission Bay, Ramona, San Pasqual, El Camino, Otay Ranch, Rancho Buena Vista, Scripps Ranch, El Capitan, Valley Center, Santa Fe Christian and Christian.

CHS Volleyball Loses Twice in Eastern League Play

The USS Girls Volleyball hit a rocky shoal last week, losing a road match at Mission Bay they collectively thought they could have won, before losing in three tough games to Our Lady of Peace. “It was one of those games that going in we expected to do well,” said Head Coach Christina Lahr of her team’s loss at Mission Bay. “And we did not perform. It was a very disappointing loss.”

Perhaps what is frustrating Lahr more than anything is the promise the Islanders showed in a victory over Horizon earlier in the year, has only resurfaced in brief flashes for Coronado since. One of those moments, according to Lahr, occurred in the first two games of the OLP match. “The first two games were phenomenal. We had comments from the OLP coach and their parents that we had improved ten-fold from last year. Both of the first two games were 25-19. We were leading in both games and I was frustrated that we couldn’t finish or put the games away. I thought we had a shot at the match.”

Then OLP unleashed a senior player with an aggressive jump serve, who ran off 10 straight points. “That was something we worked on. We thought we could pass their jump serves. OLP was determined not to lose that match. When she went back there to serve, it took us out of our element. We have to be mentally stronger when we face a tough server or when we aren’t playing well. We self-destructed in the third game.”

Lahr continues to coach the concept of team volleyball to her club. “We know how good we can be and we have a lot of individual talent. We’re working now to come together as a team when a couple of members aren’t playing well. They have to be fired up and it’s not something the coaches can do. We’re working on becoming consistent from the first point of the match until the last. We have incredible potential and talent. We just need to learn to rely on each other.”

Monday the Islanders traveled to Serra for a 3 pm game, their only match of the week.

Volleyball Fundraiser at LaSalsa Restaurant in Coronado

Wednesday, Sept. 26 from 4-9 pm, the CHS Girls Volleyball program is holding a fundraising event in conjunction with La Salsa Restaurant in Coronado, located at 1360 Orange Avenue. If you either dine in or take your food out of the restaurant, 20 percent of all proceeds for the evening will be donated to the CHS Girls Volleyball program. Gift certificates are also available. Flyers can be obtained from Merrie Mebust, the president of the CHS Girls Volleyball Booster Club.

Girls Tennis Plays Well in Loss to OLP

(Act III commences with your scribe’s return to Natterings World Headquarters in Coronado, after being thanked and excused by the San Diego District Attorney in my assigned case. Deprived of my opportunity to serve the judicial system, we’ll forge ahead and complete this week’s column instead.)

Last week the Coronado Girls Tennis Team had but one contest, an 11-7 loss to Our Lady of Peace, which was called “a very good match,” by Head Coach Rob LeBuhn.”Our singles players Spencer Berman, Jennifer Carney and Natalie Brooks all played very, very well. Spencer and Jennifer were undefeated and Natalie won one set to account for our seven set wins. Their coach was in a little bit of shock.”

The Islander doubles squads competed well, but weren’t able to make an impact on the scoreboard. “Our doubles teams of Katie Culora/Marian McCadden, Andrea Sassenrath/Grace Lancaster, and Simi Deo/Ana Estrada are all learning how to play doubles and doubles strategy,” said LeBuhn. Most of them have been playing singles up until now. The kids are active, moving their feet and looking to make plays. They are making doubles a team sport. They know they have a partner they can rely on. They’ll get it down. They are working very, very hard. I’ll say that.”

A major improvement has already been made, particularly by the singles players, as they work hard to improve their conditioning. “The hard work is paying off,” LeBuhn said. “Jennifer and Spencer have improved their games through conditioning. It has helped their footwork on the courts and they are covering more territory on the court. They don’t give up on points as they did in the past. There is a whole different attitude with these kids right now.”

Wednesday Coronado travels to Granite Hills for a non-league match, which starts at 3 pm.

Schedules for This Week

Although they didn’t have any results to report this past week, The Girls Golf Team and The Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams have competitions slated for the coming week. Monday the Girls Golf Team takes on Cathedral Catholic at Coronado Municipal. The Cross Country squads compete in the Saints Small School Invitational Friday at Morley Field, with a 3 pm starting time.

Chargers Hit Rough Patch

It’s time for Your Natterer to spill some of the publisher’s ink talking about the San Diego Chargers. Finding fresh commentary to add to the carnage already found on the pages of “The San Diego Union-Tribune” will be difficult.

Michael Wilbon, co-host ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” made several good points on Monday’s show. First, the Chargers dismissing their head coach, plus losing the offensive and defensive coordinators to head coaching jobs with other teams, reflects a huge change in the direction of the team. Second, it’s possible the Chargers aren’t as good as they thought they were. Third, The Chargers have enough player talent on the team to win 10 games regardless of the coaching, thereby winning enough to squeeze into the playoff picture. And fourth, the AFC West looks very beatable this year.

So the jury is still out (thematic reference) on the Chargers, but it may take a while for the locals to hit their stride this season.