Nado Natterings Back to Islandersports
A weekly column by David Axelson

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

5 Nov 2008 Issue No. 42

Coronado’s Football squad went on the road Halloween night to Kearny High School, and the result was a 43-10 ‘Treat’ fest by the Islanders over the Komets, who were presumably left with the ‘Trick’. Coronado unleashed their vaunted air attack on the road and scored the first 23 points of the contest on their way to a 29-3 halftime lead.

“The second play of the game we threw a bomb and never looked back,” said Islander Head Coach Bud Mayfield. “Kodie Englehart scored the first touchdown on a 49-yard pass from Mason Mills. On the conversion we had a bad snap and Kodie, who was the holder, used his speed and got to the corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion. That’s something we practice every day.”

The aerial show continued as Mills found Keith Englehart for a 55-yard strike, followed by an eight-yard scoring toss from Mills to Blake Malkemus. Billy Garigen caught a 20-yard TD strike from Mills in the fourth quarter.

Coronado touchdowns, numbered one, two, three and five were via the passing game, but the Islanders scored a special teams touchdown on a Keith Englehart 87-yard kickoff return. And the defense got on the board when John Mikesell intercepted a Komet pass and scored on a six-yard return. “John’s touchdown was really exciting,” Mayfield said of his Co-Captain’s effort. “The whole sideline was excited and he certainly deserved to celebrate. We were all happy for him.” By all accounts, he is accorded kudos for a pretty nifty end zone celebration.

On the defensive side of the ball, Keith Englehart intercepted three Komet passes, while Mikesell was credited with one solo tackle and nine assisted tackles. Englehart, who had a huge night, could have had a Halloween Monster Night, according to Mayfield. “Keith dropped an interception in the end zone. He could have had five interceptions plus the kick return. But, he had a really great night. When he scored on the kickoff return, for the last 20 yards he was escorted by his brother.”

For the statistically minded, Mills was 14-20 passing, good for 375 yards and the aforementioned four touchdowns tosses. Malkemus caught seven balls for 156 yards; Kodie Englehart caught two passes for 78 yards and Garigen had three catches for 38 yards. Mills has now accounted for over 1,900 yards and 26 touchdowns this season, while throwing only three interceptions.

Mayfield is pleased with the progress that Mills, the team’s other senior Co-Captain has made over the past several weeks, as the CIF Playoffs are on the horizon. “He’s actually starting to peak a little. Not so much with the yards and the touchdowns, but throwing exceptional skill passes. We had our backs to the goal line at one point and we got down the field in three plays. He put the ball right where it was supposed to go. Mason gets a lot of notoriety because of the position he plays, but all of those throws are caught by somebody. We had a great catch from Garigen, dragging a toe inbounds as he scored. Billy doesn’t have as many catches as some of the other receivers, but when he does, it’s almost always important.”

An significant re-addition to the active roster was senior lineman Tyler Suggett, who sustained a sprained right knee earlier in the year. The importance of Suggett’s return is not lost on Mayfield. “He’s rounding into shape and should help us in the stretch run. On our offensive line, we have a lot of sophomores and backups playing. Tyler did a good job on defense as well.”

The CIF Division IV Playoff seeding race had an interesting week, with La Jolla and Santa Fe Christian losing and Mission Bay returning to the victory column. Mayfield opined that Coronado’s convincing victory and the other losses by members of Division IV might jump the Islanders back into hosting a home playoff game as one of the top four seeds in the eight-team playoff field.

This week Coronado’s Varsity squad will play at Clairemont Saturday at 2 pm. Thursday afternoon and evening there will be a home doubleheader featuring the CHS Freshmen against Clairemont at 3 pm and the JV playing for the first time at night ever, starting their game at 5:30 pm, also against Clairemont.

Saturday’s Varsity game will pit Coronado’s passing game against the running game of the Clairemont Chieftains. “Clairemont has a good running back and their line is big,” said Mayfield, previewing his team’s next-to-last regular season game. “This is somebody again who will try to pound us and run the ball.”

Boys Water Polo Finishes in Third Place in Unofficial State Tournament

One of these days, there will be a CIF State Playoff in the sport of Water Polo, but until then, the Finis Memorial Cup Invitational held annually in San Jose will have to suffice. The 16-team affair is considered by most coaches to crown the state champion, with the honor in 2008 going to Newport Harbor, the top-ranked team in Orange County.

What makes this result interesting is that Coronado and Newport Harbor have split their two games this season. The Memorial Cup has the best eight teams from Northern California playing the best eight teams from Southern California in the first round. Coronado was the No. 3 seed from SoCal, meaning they had the sixth overall seed entering the event.

The Islanders trip to Northern California started with a non-tournament tune-up game Thursday evening as they defeated Soquel High School 10-7. Adam Ratcliffe and Alex Johnson scored three goals each, with Paul Pedrotty scoring twice. Lex Aponte and Rex Butler scored once each.

Friday it was on to Day One of the Memorial Cup and the Islanders faced Clovis West. “We had a good lead and held on not to lose,” said Coronado Head Coach Randy Burgess. “We tried to get a lot of bodies in the water early.” Coronado won 11-7 with three goals coming from Pedrotty, Butler and Andrew Ireland scored twice, while Ratcliffe, Tommy Schofer, Johnson and Dylan Peterson scored once each.

Completing their efforts on Friday, Coronado came face-to-face with Sacred Heart, which was thought to be the favorite by the water polo cognoscenti. “They were seeded No. 2 from the NorCal side,” Burgess said. “The feeling was that we wouldn’t advance. We played very well and had a very strong team effort. Justin Parsons had 18 saves, three steals and an assist. We went up 3-1, but then it was 5-5 at the half. We won 9-8.” Butler exploded for four goals, Pedrotty had three scores and Johnson added two more.

Day Two of elite tournaments of this type finds the sledding pretty tough and Coronado faced Miramonte in the semi-finals, a team that had was undefeated at that point, for the entire season. Burgess discussed the game. “We played a little bit tired. We didn’t play our best game and lost 7-5. We had a tired group of guys. In the morning we drove to Stanford to see them play UC Irvine. We got to see (Islander alumni)Jacob Smith play and Eric Clapper. A year ago Smith was with us.”

Then it was into the third place game against Corona Del Mar, a club that Burgess described as, “A great team in my opinion. We beat them 11-10. Schofer scored three goals, with Johnson, Butler and Pedrotty scoring twice each.” “We had a lot of kids show some things,” Burgess said of his team’s efforts. “We had five games in two and a half days. Third place is a very respectable finish for that tournament. We had a lot of rain over the weekend and it was really wet.”

Coronado has two game remaining on their regular season schedule “Our game at Cathedral Wednesday won’t be easy,” said Burgess. “They are playing very well, too. We’re going a little up and down on that roller coaster right now.” The Islanders conclude their regular season Friday when they play Foothill High School in Irvine.

Islander Cross Country Teams Defeat Lincoln

Coronado’s Head Cross Country Coach George Green checks in with a report on his team’s efforts. “Last week was a training period for both the Boys and Girls cross country teams.

On Wednesday we used our dual meet with Lincoln as a workout while winning both the boys' and girls' races by the score 15-50. The dual meet with Crawford this Wednesday will be treated much the same way.

The final meet for our entire squads will be the Central League Finals next Wednesday. After that we go into the CIF finals on the Nov. 22^nd with just the Varsity teams featuring our top seven runners.”

CHS Girls Volleyball Wins Two Eastern League Tilts

The Islander Girls Volleyball Team started their playoff push last week with a home victory over Morse Tuesday, followed by a home victory over Mission Bay. Both contests were Eastern League games.

Coronado got the better of Morse in three straight games, by the scores of 25-20, 25-18 and 25-23. That’s the volleyball equivalent of what the Los Angeles Dodgers did to the Chicago Cubs in the National League playoffs this season.

“We played very well,” said Head Coach Christina Lahr. “And we worked hard. The team had fun from the beginning of the first game and worked well together. The big push throughout the whole game was stopping Morse from going on runs. It was a good match.” Maddie Boomer led the way offensively for the Islanders with nine kills.

Thursday Coronado hosted Mission Bay in a match that turned out to be a 25-13, 21-25, 25-13, 20-25, and 15-7 thriller and a victory for the Islanders. Lahr described the match. “We played incredibly well in the first, third and fifth games. We didn’t play poorly in the second and fourth games, but were phenomenal in games one, three and five. We played our best volleyball in a long time. We worked hard and were putting our serves in the court. Kori Fitzgerald had a great match, leading us in digs with 15 and kills with 18. She only made two passing errors and she was our standout.”

The Islanders are tied for third with Serra in the seven-team Eastern League and Coronado finishes their regular season Tuesday with a home match with Our Lady of Peace. The match is  the last home contest for the seniors. The Varsity match will begin at approximately 4:30 pm.

Lahr thinks the Islanders will be seeded somewhere between No. 6 and No. 8 in the 12-team CIF Division IV Playoffs. Perennial powers Santa Fe Christian, Francis Parker, Bishop’s and La Jolla Country Day, in that order are the likely seeds in the No. 1 through No. 4 slots.

Islander Girls Golf Has Strong Week

Last week the Islander Girls Golf Team was busy, starting with a match against Francis Parker, generally considered one of the best teams in San Diego, by the score of 237-251, The match was played at Riverwalk Country Club. “We played really well,” said Islander Coach Randy Coutts. “The weather wasn’t all that good and it was really windy. Jackie Davis shot a 45, Mackenzie Coutts shot a 47 and Bridgett Nielsen shot a 5l.”

Coronado, Point Loma and La Jolla then played a three-way match to help some of their players have enough matches to qualify for CIF Playoff consideration. The Islanders played without their top three players, but beat La Jolla 278-300, while simultaneously losing to Point Loma 255-278.

Thursday the Islanders looked to avenge an earlier City Conference loss to Scripps Ranch on their home course and came away with the victory. “We were only up three strokes when the first two players finished,” Coutts said. “But the two seniors, Ashley Mendham and Hillary Gibbs, who have the personalities that make the team fun, beat the girls they were playing handily. Davis was the medalist with a 45, Coutts shot a 46 and Joy Jamison broke 50. Everybody shot well and we seem to be going in the right direction going into the league finals.”

Coutts believes that four teams including Coronado, Oceanside, San Marcos and Scripps Ranch are competing for the last two of the 16 team slots available in the CIF Playoffs. Tuesday the Islanders compete against the City Conference member schools at Balboa. Last year Davis and Coutts qualified for CIF play by scoring average.

Coronado finished the regular season with a record of 11-7, 4-4 in conference play. “The upside is that a lot of the girls are younger,” said Coutts. “We lose four seniors, but we have other girls coming up who will be pretty good and a couple of girls from the middle school program who will help. The program will get better and better.”

Islander Girls Tennis Concludes Regular Season

The Girls Tennis Team concluded their regular season with a 10-8 loss to San Dieguito last week. Mary Mulvey led the way for Coronado with three singles set victories.

Unfortunately the Islanders didn’t qualify for the CIF Playoffs Team event, but the doubles team of Spencer Berman and Jennifer Carney did receive a seed in the Western League competition which will be held starting Nov. 12.

Pop Warner Cheerleaders Have Good Results

Coronado Youth Football and Cheer President Kathleen Dunphey checked in with a report on the recent success of the organization’s youth cheerleading teams. “Over the weekend, CYFC participated in the San Diego Pop Warner cheer competition.  We had three teams including Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, and Jr. Midget.  Each of these teams spent long hours practicing and it paid off in the competition..  All three squads took a first place standing and are now eligible to move on to regional competition.  I am very proud of these girls and coaches.”

Chargers Dismiss Defensive Coordinator Cottrell

In last week’s column, Your Natterer wrote the following as one of six observations about the 2008 San Diego Chargers. “It’s probably not a good idea for Charger Defensive Coordinator Ted Cottrell to sign a long-term lease on a house at this juncture. And maybe he shouldn’t send his laundry out to an overly deliberate dry cleaner either.”

Honesty compels me to report that I thought Cottrell’s dismissal would come at season’s end, not the day after I wrote the column. The personnel change, replacing Cottrell with former star Chicago Bear linebacker Ron Rivera has generally been accepted in the local and national media as a good move. Coming at the outset of the Chargers bye week, Rivera has more time to get the Chargers defense to respond.

Kansas City comes to San Diego Sunday and if I were Chiefs Head Coach Herm Edwards, I would call a screen pass for my first play from scrimmage. You know Rivera and his revamped defensive unit is going to want to make a strong statement from the outset with an all out blitz.