For the first time in three weeks, the Coronado High School Football Team had a competitive game. In this particular instance it was a home affair against Central League foe Clairemont and the Islanders prevailed 34-20. But the game was closer than that as the Chieftains got on the scoreboard first in the contest, at one point in the game ran off 13 unanswered points and tied the game with 1:13 remaining in the third quarter at 20-20.
However, Clairemont didn’t have an answer for Islander quarterback Kodie Englehart, who danced, darted and dashed through the Chieftains defense for 246 yards on 23 carries. Those carries included touchdown runs of 59, 41 and 22 yards. It was Kodie right, Kodie left, followed closely by Kodie up the middle.
The senior signal caller’s exploits pushed him over the 1,000 yard rushing mark, with one regular season game and at least one playoff game on the horizon. For the season, Englehart has rushed 116 times for 1,123 yards and 14 touchdowns. Allow me to do the math. That is an average of 9.68 yards gained every time Englehart carries the ball.
More importantly the victory runs Coronado’s overall record to 5-4 and marks the first time this year the Islanders have poked their collective heads over the .500 mark. Coronado is 4-1 in Central League play.
The aforementioned first scoring play of the game was a 61-yard pass play that beat the Islander pass coverage with a deep throw. Coronado countered almost immediately with the first of Englehart’s touchdown runs. The only upset Friday night was place kicker Andrew Toomey’s missed extra point after the first Islander score. That ended Toomey’s streak that covered at least six straight games and 28 attempts. No big deal, Toomey converted on the next four straight to start a new skein.
The Islander defense didn’t yield much of anything to Clairemont on the Chieftains next possession and Englehart ran for his second touchdown on the fourth play of the following offensive series for Coronado. The teams traded possessions and as the first half was drawing to a close, Englehart completed a 37-yard pass to Jordan Jacobs. Then Englehart then ran for his third touchdown, this one from 22 yards.
To their credit, Clairemont ran a very effective two-minute drill, running 10 plays in 1:45. The drive ended in a 29-yard field goal, which seemed inconsequential at the time.
Having won the coin toss at the beginning of the evening’s festivities, Coronado deferred and received the kickoff to open the second half. An Islander fumble ended that drive and Clairemont kept the ball for more than four minutes and earned another field goal. The Chieftains intercepted a Coronado pass and then scored a touchdown on the drive that ensued. Suddenly the score was knotted at 20-all, but for a very short time.
Clairemont made the mistake of kicking the ball in the general direction of Coronado’s starting tailback Chris Page, who promptly took the kickoff 90 yards to the Chieftain’s end zone. Page’s electrifying run allowed the Islanders to regain the momentum they had just lost.
“Page had his best game of his senior year,” said Coronado Head Coach Bud Mayfield. “The kick return was the turning point of the game. That just deflated Clairemont. We had some nice blocks thrown for him on the play, and Page found the crease, accelerated and made a nice play for himself. For him to come on when we needed him was great timing.” For his role in the victory, Page earned game MVP honors from the Islander coaching staff.
Later in the fourth quarter, Clairemont pushed the ball to the Coronado 27-yard line. However a tackle for loss by Toomey from his linebacker slot was a big play by the Islander defense.  Fine efforts were turned in by Englehart (who is also the team’s starting safety on defense) and Bryan Beverly on the next play, when they blanketed a Clairemont receiver and turned the play into an incomplete pass.
The Islanders took possession on downs and mounted a 10-play scoring drive of their own to put the game out of reach. Page and Englehart were the workhorses on the drive, toting the pigskin five times each. Page punched the ball into the end zone from the three-yard line with 3:40 remaining and for all intents and purposes the game was over.
Often running backs receive the notoriety, but the Islander offensive line came to play as well. They consistently opened holes for Englehart. In addition Page gained 82 yards on nine attempts and Coronado had 405 yards of total offense on the evening.
Mayfield elaborated on the line’s fine work. “The kids just played well. The backs followed the blocks and the rushing game was very strong. We haven’t had the same five guys playing the same positions all year long, due to injuries and other reasons. The scheme Clairemont constructed for us gave us some things. Hopefully we’re starting to gel.”
Another positive element was the Islander’s strong push late in the game, which pleased Mayfield. “We finished the game, which was an issue with me earlier in the season. We drove the ball at the end for six straight minutes and scored. I was very happy with that. We played to the last play and we’re doing that just in time.”
All of this sets up what should be a really good football game Friday at Morse High School, which features the unfortunate starting time of 2:30 pm. Morse enters the final regular season game with an overall record of 6-3 and a 4-1 mark in the Central League. Coronado is 5-4 and also 4-1 in league. Both teams lost their only conference contest to Madison.
“Morse is a good football team,” said Mayfield of the Division II school. “They are slightly favored, with the advantage of playing at home and during the day time. But we have to win on the road. If we can finish 6-4, we look good for the playoffs.”
The CIF San Diego Section office will release the football playoff seedings Saturday morning, with 12 teams going into the Division IV playoffs, up from eight last year. “We have a great chance for a home game,” Mayfield said. “We would have to be a middle seed, somewhere in the six to eight range, I think.”
Putting ‘Pep’ Back Into CHS Football Home Games
You may have noticed more music being played during the 2009 Islander home football season, a movement born interestingly in Coach Bud Mayfield’s AP Literature class. “The band started with Jacob Lee and Joe Bruno in one of my classes. They have been trying like crazy to build the band and they probably have triple the number of members they did a couple of weeks ago. It’s great to hear them. I appreciate those two guys generating the music. It’s great that the band has been revived.”
Prior to the closing ceremonies at Cutler Field a number of years ago, Mayfield did some research and found out in the early days of CHS, the school fight song was played to the tune of “On Wisconsin.” Coincidentally, Mayfield is a Wisconsin native. “We played the song for the old timers who came to the closing ceremonies.”
Islander Boys Water Polo Ends Regular Season 18-9
Without a great deal of fanfare, the CHS Boys Water Polo Team has put together another strong season. Last week they added victories over The Bishop’s School, University City and Foothill to complete the regular season portion of their year with an overall record of 18-9.
The important match of the week was, as always, the victory over Bishop’s, which should clinch the No. 2 seed for Coronado in the upcoming CIF Division II playoffs. The seeding results will be announced after our deadlines, but a second place finish in the incredibly competitive Western League pretty much puts a lock on that slot for Coronado.
Coronado defeated Bishop’s 10-7 on the road, completing the two-game sweep of the Knights this season. Leading the way from a scoring perspective were Alex Johnson with four goals, Alexander Aponte with two tallies, and single goals from Brennan Casey, Rex Butler, Patrick Geer and Tommy Schofer. Andrew Ireland added three steals for the Islanders and Schofer contributed three assists.
“It was a pretty well played game,” said CHS Head Coach Randy Burgess. “Garrett Sabesky turned in a nice game with 14 saves and an assist. The defensive tempo of the game was set with his play. We played better defensively than we did offensively. We had a high number of turnovers. To go to Bishop’s, play well and win is a challenge. We were up 5-4 at the half and extended it to 9-6 at the end of three quarters.”
Thursday Coronado hosted University City and had 11 different players score goals en route to an 18-2 victory. Patrick Geer led the Islander onslaught with four goals.
The final regular season game was another home affair, this one Friday night when Coronado hosted Foothill of Santa Ana and won handily 15-8. Let’s just say that a lot of Islander varsity members saw playing time. As was the case in University City game, Sabesky and Braydon Hummeldorf shared time in goal. Johnson and Schofer scored three goals each and Schofer dished out four more assists.
So now it’s on to the playoffs. Burgess handicapped the seedings for Division II. “Cathedral will be No. 1 and Coronado No. 2, with Bishop’s at No. 3. That means if the seedings hold, we should see Bishop’s in the semi-finals. The next few teams will be Santana, La Jolla, University City, and then maybe Santa Fe Christian or Valhalla. Sixteen teams make the playoffs.”
The strength in boys’ water polo in San Diego is once again in the Division II bracket. Coronado will play their first playoff game Thursday, likely at home, unless the No. 15 seed is a league champion. According to CIF regulations, being a league champion trumps a higher seed, from a playoff scheduling perspective. The first round games, for the most part, are played in the pool of the higher seed. From the second round on, all of the playoff games will be played at the Coggan Family Pool at La Jolla High School.
Islander Girls Volleyball Wins Pair
Another team finishing off their regular season in fine style was the Islander Girls Volleyball Team, as they earned straight-set victories over both Mira Mesa and San Diego High School last week. The Mira Mesa game was Senior Night for Coronado and the game at San Diego was Senior Night for the Lady Cavers.
Islander Head Coach Leilani Au Hoon picks up the narrative for the Mira Mesa game. “We beat them fairly easily, by the scores of 25-16, 25-14, and 25-18. Everyone got to play and we tried as much as possible to play the seniors. We have six seniors who play a lot and one is injured.”
The six seniors include Morgan Bower, Kori Fitzgerald, Briana Giorgione, Lainey Mebust, Megan Moran and Annie Wilson. Krista Baszak started the year in a strong fashion, but has been injured of late.
The match at San Diego was an easy victory, but had other elements mixed in, according to Au Hoon. “They packed their gym for Senior Night and it was extremely loud and intense. It was an exciting atmosphere.”
When asked to name the major contributors last week, Au Hoon noted, “Kori Fitzgerald played well in both games and Annie Wilson was huge for us. Mariah Stacy set well and Megan Moran played really well. Allie Wilson stepped up when I subbed her in.”
Coronado finished the regular season with a record of 10-5, including a third place finish in the Eastern League. They are also the first fall sports team to qualify for the playoffs, drawing Calipatria in a first round match to be played Tuesday night at 7 pm in Coronado. The winner of the Coronado vs. Calipatria match will travel to No. 4 seed Francis Parker Friday night for a 5 pm match.
Islander Cross Country Preps for Central League Championships
CHS Cross Country Head Coach George Green expounds on his teams’ exploits from last week. “Since Crawford couldn't field either a full boys’ or girls' cross country team, we ran the meet more as a structured workout with boys and girls running together. 
The top girls ran the first two miles at race pace then backed-off until the last couple of hundred yards and kicked in.  Islander Sallie Privett almost caught the first Crawford boy, Mohamed Ali, while finishing the three-mile City Conference course in 19:18 to Ali's 19:17.  The next two runners across the line were Adie Davies in 19:22 and Meg Sweeney in 19:44. The second Crawford boy finished fifth followed by Sadie Gimber in sixth. For the rest of the girls Ashley Engleman placed 10th overall followed by Maddy Danielson (11th), Yvonne Wood, Melissa Wood, Lindsay Garner, Anna Coumes and Sarah Alfano.
The varsity runners on the boys' team were either home sick and didn't run, or did a workout over the Balboa Hills on their own, leaving the JV boys to supply the five finishers needed for scoring. Nicholas Beall was the first Islander boy across the line finishing seventh overall, followed in order by Lucas Hemp, Jason Vance, Weston Breay, Luke McCue and Grainger Lanneau.  Because Crawford didn't have the required five finishers for either their boys' or girls' teams, Coronado won both contests by the default score of 15-50.
 This Thursday we'll compete in the Central League Finals at Morley Field, with races starting at 3pm. November 21 the CIF Finals will at Morley Field over the CIF Championship course. The girls' team is expected to dominate their division at that event and will move on to the State Meet in Fresno November 28th.
CHS Girls Golf Team Participates in City Conference Championships
Girls Golf at the prep level usually consists of competition in nine-hole bursts. So, the annual City Conference Tournament which was played last week at Cottonwood Country Club pushes the participants a bit out of their comfort zone with an 18-hole format.
The change apparently didn’t faze the Islanders Jackie Davis, who shot an 81 to finish in fourth place. Her strong play also earned Davis entry into the CIF Championships which will be played Tuesday at Warner Springs.
“Everyone who played equaled or bettered their overall season average,” said Head Coach Hanna Cohan. “It was great that they played that well in an 18-hole tournament.”
Sunday the program held their annual awards banquet. The award winners included: Islander Sports Foundation Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship – Leity Buil-McCarty; Most Improved – Erin Dupree; and Most Valuable Player – Jackie Davis.
Coronado Girls Tennis Concludes Season
According to Islander Girls Tennis Head Coach Rob LeBuhn, Coronado entered five singles players and five doubles teams in the recent Western League Championships. Although several good performances were turned in by Coronado, only Jackie Hites won a match, a first round singles affair by the score of 6-4, 6-4 over a player representing OLP.
Brittany Kullberg notched a nice effort in losing in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to a competitor from Cathedral Catholic. Monica Holman and Sarah Moore played well in a three set loss to University City by the score of 6-1, 4-6 and 6-3.
“Layla Zbinden, Heidi Jonson and Mary Mulvey all played tough first round opponents,” said LeBuhn. “But they came out on the wrong end of the score.”
Lozier Takes Fifth in High School Laser Nationals
CHS Sailing Team Captain Philip Lozier placed fifth in the U.S. High School Laser National Championships held in Corpus Christi, Texas last weekend. The top 20 sailors in the U.S., who had qualified in their respective districts, raced 18 times over two days. This marked the third time Lozier had qualified for the event. Lozier is the current Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) champion.
A Personal Note
I recently left my ‘other job’ as executive director of the Islander Sports Foundation after eight years with the organization, to pursue other interests. I would like to thank the countless volunteers, parents, athletes and booster club presidents who made the job enjoyable. Hopefully the causes of Coronado Middle School sports and Coronado High School sports were advanced over the past several years.
Chargers Update
With all of the talk last week coming from New York Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin regarding the importance of the Giants vs. Chargers game in the Meadowlands, I fully expected New York to kick San Diego all over the field Sunday afternoon. So much for the vaunted East Coast media hype.
Fueled by a gutty come-from-behind, 80-yard drive with less than two minutes remaining in the game, San Diego seemingly emerged from the playoff scrap heap with a 21-20 victory. The win made the Chargers 5-3 and with some breaks the locals might be back in the AFC West Division race with Denver.
The passing game carried San Diego and a new starring tandem featuring quarterback Philip Rivers and wide receiver Vincent Jackson seems to have been thrust upon us. However, with the emergence of Rivers to Jackson arrives simultaneously with disappearance of the Charger ground game. Against New York, the Chargers rushed 15 times for a net total of 34 yards. That’s 2.3 yards per carry.
When the playoffs come, the snow flurries arrive, and the wind blows even short passes off their path, really good teams can rely on their running game. Simply stated, the Chargers don’t have one.
The last time we checked in with the Chargers, they couldn’t stop the run on defense and couldn’t run the ball on offense. They seemingly have corrected the first part of the equation, but the second and equally important part is still in the NFL version of witness protection program.
Formerly my feeling was that the Chargers were at best a 6-10 team. Not it appears they are closer to an 8-8 squad, but one still in need of some additional luck. Last year 8-8 was good enough to make the playoffs. They may not be that lucky this season.