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Nado Natterings |
A weekly column by David Axelson |
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Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation
3 Oct 2007 Issue #38
Coronado
Brown
would go on to score twice during the game, totaling 64 yards rushing on 11
carries. His fellow senior co-captain and backfield running mate Ricardo
Oberwager found the end zone three times, the last of which was a 59-yard
dash around right end. On the evening, Oberwager rushed 12 times for 130
yards.
There
were several highlight reel plays turned in by the Islanders, none were more
impressive than a six-yard completed pass from quarterback Mason Mills
to sophomore receiver Kodie Englehart. Kodie should not be
confused with his older brother junior Keith Englehart, but more on that
later.
Englehart
the Younger ran a sideline pattern and made a full-out horizontal dive for the
pass, caught it, and came down in bounds on the Olympian one yard line to set up
a
“He’s
going to be a big-time player, without a question,” said Head Coach Bud
Mayfield Kodie. “It’s just a matter of ‘when’ and I think it’s going to be
soon. He also plays a pretty good defensive back and can give us some relief
for Kyle Brown at that position. It’s the middle of our season and these guys
(younger athletes) are beginning to contribute and give our other players a
little break.”
Mayfield
also likes the development shown by Mills at the all-important quarterback
position. “I was very impressed with Mason. He’s becoming more of what I am
looking for and is looking very steady. He checked off and is becoming more of
a complete quarterback. He had a good game, although it might have been a quiet
game to anyone watching.”
Mills
and the Islanders passed the ball enough to keep the Olympian Eagle defense
honest, completing four of his seven pass attempts. Mills also gained 17 net
yards rushing on three attempts.
Other
offensive contributors included sophomore running back Chris Page, who
gained 41 yards on three carries, the last of which was a five-yard touchdown
run. Curtis Perkins rumbled for 32 yards on five carries, including a
seven-yard touchdown carry. Junior Todd Kelleher showed some
speed on a 21-yard scamper late in the game. Tight end Blake Malkemus
made a nice catch and run, good for 21 yards when the game was still in doubt.
First Patrick Toomey and later Brian Karamoto spelled Mills at
quarterback in the final quarter.
The
good plays weren’t confined to the offensive unit however, as the defense
pitched a shutout. “Charlie Moore continues to play well at defensive
tackle,” Mayfield said. “John Mikesell played every down at
linebacker and (offensive) center. He did a great job for Greg Reed,
who got hurt in the Kuai game. Greg will be back this week.”
Other
defensive or special team plays of note, all in the second quarter, included a
blocked punt by Brown; a fumble recovery by Perkins, and a pass interception by
Ray San Giovanni.
The
extra point team of snapper Connor Pompa, holder Perkins and kicker
Keith (The Elder) Englehart got their routine down starting in the second
frame, when Englehart boomed the first of five consecutive conversions through
the uprights. “Every kick during practice all week was beautiful,” said
Mayfield of Englehart, who also handles the team’s punting chores. “The kicking
game lately has been exceptional.”
Friday
night the Islander host El Centro Southwest, who is coming off of a 48-7 loss
to Santana. Mayfield, recalling last season’s road
loss to
The
Islanders are now 2-2 on the season. Kickoff for the
Receiving
all 22 first place votes,
Others
receiving votes include: La Costa Canyon, Bonita Vista,
Boys Water Polo Tops Bishop’s 5-4
Paced
by what CHS Head Coach Randy Burgess called, “The best single goalie performance
by a Coronado goalie in a couple of years,” the Islanders Boys Water Polo
Team slipped by The Bishop’s School 5-4 at the Coronado Municipal Pool
Thursday. The goalie in this case is senior Co-Captain Kyle O’Brien Pokorny,
who was credited with 14 saves, several of them from point blank range. Pokorny
seemed to be reading and reacting to the Knights’ shot attempts from the outset
of the game to its conclusion.
The
high-energy contest concluded on a three-quarter length of the pool shot, which
if Pokorny would have taken the last two seconds of the game off, would have
resulted in an overtime contest between the two long-standing rivals.
As
delineated by the score, this was a defensive battle from the outset. At the
In
addition to two goals, Smith also eearned seven steals, and drew two exclusions.
Hungarian exchange student Norbi Karoly scored twice, and had two
steals. Sophomore left-hander Rex Butler also found the net for
the Islanders. Sam Cook had an outstanding game, including four steals,
while drawing two exclusions.
“We
had the two best players, one each on either end of the pool in Smith and
Pokorny,” Burgess said. “It’s what I expected competitively between the two
schools. I feel that every time we play them we will have good competition. I
was happy with our defense.”
The
following night
Among
the offensive highlights of the Scripps Ranch game were Tommy Schofer
converting on a penalty shot earned by Jake Hunzecker, and Andrew
Ireland scoring three goals and being credited with an assist. Hunzecker
added three goals from his center forward position, and
This
week the Islanders play Cathedral Catholic, a team which Burgess hailed as,
“The most improved team in the county. They have a new pool and a new attitude.
We play there Wednesday and Thursday we go to
CHS Cross Country Teams Compete in Saints
Small School Invitational
CHS
Head Cross Country Coach George Green provides an update on his team’s
activities last week. “The Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams had their
first outing as full teams rather than the grade-level formats they've been
competing in at the early season invitational meets. The Saints Small School
Invitational at Morley Field last Friday was held over the CIF championship
course and was attended by all of the Central league and Division IV
contenders.
We
held our top runner, Ben Enowitz, out of the boys’ varsity race as a
precautionary measure because of a sore foot, but the rest of the varsity squad
ran. Against Central league schools we placed
third behind a very strong Clairemont team and
Against
Christian, however, it'd be very close. Among Division IV, teams La Jolla
Country Day is very strong this year, with the Islanders, Christian, Bishop's,
and Mt. Empire all fighting it out for the runner-up spot that will advance to
the State meet in Fresno. In the divisional matchup, David Grimes placed
13th with a time of
In
the Boys JV race Gabe Salvatierra placed 20th in 20:38 followed by Jordan
Vance (25th in 20:50), Danny Luiken, Micah Fischer, Byran Beverly, Jack
Nolan, Chase Mashburn and Alex Fish.
The girls won easily against both league and division teams, finishing over
20 points in front of our closest league rival, Christian, by the score of 36
to 58. Following in close order were The Bishop's School with 63
points, Francis Parker (71),
As
was the case with the boys’ race, all of the divisions were run at the same
time with the results factored out by computer. Sallie Privett placed
second behind OLP's Sammie Silva with a time of
Girls Volleyball Tops Serra
Monday
of last week,
“We
played well, but we are still missing the drive or desire to really play well,”
summarized Head Coach Christina Lahr of her club’s outing. “We made very
few mistakes, because we didn’t take many chances.”
The
contest contained some drama, as freshman Shelby Couture was
inadvertently kicked in the head while diving for a ball. After later being
checked out by CHS Trainer Connie Martinez, Couture was declared to be
ready to resume play. “
Lahr
noted the contributions of Brianna Baszak who had eight digs and Kelsey
Fitzgerald’s nine kills, to the Islander victor.
With
only one match last week, Lahr and the coaching staff had to get creative with
practice time, so the Varsity and JV squads scrimmaged against each other. “The
Varsity was just nuts and the JV was scared to death,” said Lahr of the
intrasquad match. “I want the team to have more fun and play better volleyball.”
Tuesday
of this week, the team will play their first home match of the season, a
consequence of the fire in the CHS gym over the summer. The match will be
played on the auxiliary court, which can best be accessed through the
Thursday
the three teams travel to Patrick Henry for a match, with the starting times
opposite those cited above. Friday and Saturday the Varsity will compete in the
Monte Vista Tournament, with Friday’s matches to be played at either
On
a related note, Lahr said that the La Salsa Restaurant fundraiser held last
week went well. “I would like to thank everyone for their support of the girls’
volleyball program. The event was a huge success.”
CHS Sailing Team News
Jon Rogers, head
coach of the CHS Sailing Team provides a quick update on his team. The
CHSST was represented by Alex Wood, Tom Ben-Kiki, Ryan Sullivan and
Philip Lozier at the
By
finishing fourth overall, Lozier qualified for the Single-handed National
Championship to be hosted by Seattle Yacht Club October 27-28. CHSST will have
its first of six double-handed regattas on October 13-14 in
Girls Tennis Competes Well in Three Matches
Year
in and year out,
In
the first of their three matches played last week, the CHS Girls Tennis Team
ran into
Wednesday
the Islanders played Granite Hills and fell 11-7. In this match, the singles
players accounted for all of the
LeBuhn
noted the continued improvement shown by Ana Estrada, Macarena McCadden,
Morgan Jones and Tiffany Bernard. “We’re moving everyone around
right now,” said LeBuhn of the doubles pairings he is fielding. “After the
first round of Western League matches are completed, we will go to more of a
set team. Everybody is getting a chance to play and that gives me an opportunity
to see who mixes well with whom. Everybody is playing very well.”
This
week
CHS Girls Golf Tees it Up Against Cathedral
Catholic
As
the Girls Tennis Team has to climb the competitive mountain annually against
CHS
Co-Head Coach Randy Coutts acknowledged the quality of the Cathedral
lineup. “Overall they are a team without a weak spot. They have incoming
freshmen who are in the Junior Golf program. They all shot in the 40’s.”
But
Monday
the team plays Point Loma, in what Coutts predicted would be a close match. “Andrea
Davis, who is our third player right now, will be back
Monday, returning from an injured wrist. She has been real good around the
greens and continues to putt well.”
Padres Heartbreaking Loss
This
week’s column was written on either side of the San Diego Padres heartbreaking
9-8 extra inning loss to the Colorado Rockies Monday evening in their playoff
tiebreaker game. Having worked in professional sports for a dozen years, I know
from experience that a loss of that magnitude will take a couple of weeks for
the owners, front office and players to fully recover from that reversal.
My
guess is that the result would have been different if Milton Bradley and
Mike Cameron had not been sidelined with late-season injuries. Although
Cameron made a cameo appearance in the latter innings of Monday’s game, he
wasn’t able to contribute with a badly injured thumb. Cameron, a fine defensive
outfielder, would have likely caught several of the extra base hits that led to
The
Padres had a great run in 2007, posting a fine record with a roster that
frankly was a little thin on the talent side. Rookie manager Bud Black
did an excellent job running the team on the field and along with pitcher Jake
Peavy, should be in the running for post season honors.