|
Nado Natterings |
A
weekly column by David Axelson |
|
15 September 2010 Issue #37
Canada’s football invasion of Coronado, Round I, occurred Friday night and the Islander Football Team emerged with a 25-13 victory over Harry Ainlay High School from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There were several fine performances turned in by Coronado players, which helped counterbalance the fact that seven Islander starters missed the game due to injury.
Most Coronado players compete on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball and nobody did that better Friday night than Austin Denson. The junior defensive back was credited with a pass interception and a fumble recovery. Offensively he played most of the game at quarterback, rushing eight times for 72 yards including a touchdown. Passing the ball Denson was 8-15 for 173 yards and two touchdowns. On special teams he was the punter and place kicker.
We’ll dispense with the, “he also sold popcorn at halftime” reference, but Denson would likely have pulled that off as well.
Linebacker Ryan Halvorson earned three solo tackles and seven assisted tackles, which complimented his evening at tight end, where he caught a 15-yard touchdown pass. For their efforts, Head Coach Bud Mayfield named Halvorson and Denson as the Islander Black Shirts (Game MVPs) for the week.
Tailback Jeff Bona returned to the form he flashed in the Francis Parker pre-season game, rushing 20 times for 135 yards and one touchdown. Jordan Jacobs also had a fine two-way effort, catching seven passes for 162 yards and a touchdown on offense, while also earning six solo tackles, two assisted tackles and one sack on defense.
The Ainlay High School Titans were well-prepared for the game, despite the rules differences between Canadian and American football. In Canada, 12 players are on the field, multiple running backs can be in motion at the same time, and you have three chances to make a first down in Canada as opposed to four in the U.S. Ainlay would likely wind up in the middle of the Central League standings, but the commute would be tough. Don’t forget to tip your waitress. I’ll be here all week.
As an aside, Canada Football Invasion Round II comes October 15 when Bishop Carroll High School makes a return trip to Coronado. Maybe the Islanders will qualify for the Grey Cup in November, which will be played in Edmonton.
Mayfield discussed the game and his scheduling philosophy. “I thought they had some size and they were similar to a Canadian team we played from Medicine Hat in 2006. When I book these games, I’m not looking for a walkover. It was good that it was a competitive game. Plus, we found some kids who will get a chance to play. They were nice people to deal with.”
Mayfield mentioned three sophomores including Halvorson, lineman Landry Urbanowicz and Mason Copp as players who contributed to the victory and by their efforts have earned additional playing time in the future.
Coronado, now 1-1 on the season, has their most important game of the young season to date next Friday when the Islanders host Santa Fe Christian for a 7:30 pm kickoff. The Eagles defeated Mater Dei 38-7 in Week One of the season, and are coming off of a 49-10 loss to Helix.
“We’re the underdog,” said Mayfield of the Division IV rivalry, with the game result likely to be a factor in determining playoff seeding positioning. “They are solid and really tough on defense. Last year our offense could barely score against them.” Mayfield expects some of the injured Islander players to start making their way back into the lineup this week and hopes the team will be at full strength when Coronado hosts Crawford for the beginning of the Central League season October 1.
North County Times Sportswriters/Sportscasters Football Poll
This week’s poll from 21 sportswriters, sportswriters and CIF representatives as compiled by John Maffei of the “North County Times” is: 1. Vista; 2. Helix; 3. Eastlake; 4. La Costa Canyon; 5. Oceanside; No. 5 (Tie) Steele Canyon; 7. Torrey Pines; 8. Valley Center; 9. Ramona and No. 10 Mira Mesa.
CHS Girls Golf Off to 3-0 Start
Paced by freshman Kara Barker, the CHS Girls Golf Team defeated Christian 252-304 last week on the Islanders home course of Coronado Municipal. Barker shot a tidy 41 to earn match medalist honors and was joined by sophomore Erin Dupree and her round of 45 atop the leader board. “Erin was really happy with her round,” said Head Coach Hanna Cohan.
Cohan has taken the team on a tour of South San Diego golf locations to give them looks at other courses and conditions. Last week the team went to Pro Kids Golf, which is an 18-hole course in Colina Park, made up of all par three holes. “A lot of the girls shot in the low 30’s for nine holes and boosted their confidence.”
This week the team will work out Monday at Sail Ho in Liberty Station, ahead of their tri-match with Scripps Ranch and La Jolla at Coronado Muni on Tuesday.
Islander Girls Tennis has Busy, Competitive Week
CHS Girls Tennis Head Coach Rob LeBuhn described the last seven days as, “A very long, match filled week.” The Islanders first venture was a 10-8 loss to San Dieguito, which in reality is a very good result. Coronado’s doubles teams, which included Alex Rawlings/Katie Salinda, Mary Mulvey/Brooke Gensler and Nikki Krueger/Brittany Kullberg won eight of their nine sets among them.
Then it was on to La Jolla Country Day, and another 10-8 close loss. This time Jackie Hites won two of her three singles matches, while Elena Wang and Priscila Gomez won one set each. The doubles team of Heidi Jonson/Rawlings won two sets, with Salinda/Mulvey and Krueger/Kullberg emerging triumphant in one set each.
The week ended on an uptick as Coronado dominated High Tech High 14-4 with Hites and Wang winning twice and Gomez once. The doubles teams, in a variety of pairings, which changed as the match progressed, won all of their sets.
“The competitiveness of the team is night and day compared to last year,” said LeBuhn of his squad. “Both of our losses came down to the final round of matches. The team is becoming more competitive and understanding how to compete at a high school level event. Our four doubles teams are very solid and are pretty much the same in terms of talent. There won’t be many schools which will walk over us.”
This week Mira Mesa comes to Coronado for a Monday match, followed by Hilltop Tuesday and The Grauer School on Thursday. All three matches are at home. The Islanders are now 2-3 on the season.
CHS Boys Water Polo Starts Regular Season Action Saturday
Historically the CHS Boys Water Polo programs have had more compact playing seasons than most other Islander teams. Seemingly they start their regular season later and start their playoffs earlier than other sports. In between however, it’s non-stop action.
That is true again this season as Coronado had tune-ups at Santa Margarita on Wednesday and then hosted Servite from Anaheim and Esperanza from Anaheim Hills in a three-sided, workout Saturday. The Islander regular season starts Saturday at Newport Harbor.
“Servite and Esperanza are both very good and were good for us to work against,” said Islander Head Coach Randy Burgess. “I think in terms of giving players experience and looking at different combinations of kids, it was very positive. The coaches got to look at the athletes, which is hard to do when you are beating up on each other in practice.”
The scrimmages allowed for several players to establish themselves, including sophomores John Hill and Nick Wiley. “They are very green,” Burgess said, meaning inexperienced as opposed to environmentally friendly. “They are both going to help us. I was very impressed with their level of play, especially with no experience at the varsity level. They will contribute this year and we’re going to need them.”
A couple of upperclassmen impressed the coaching staff as well, including junior Tommy Grall and senior Garrett Smerdon. “Tommy is starting to get bigger and stronger and he solidified a role on the team. He is a utility player and was very, very consistent, which is nice to see. Smerdon is a senior and made the team. He has put in a lot of effort over the past few weeks.”
A very young team, the Islanders team strength is found in goal with Braydon Hummeldorf and Garrett Sabesky, who in a positive sense are pushing each other for the starting spot. “It’s great to see,” said Burgess of the senior net minders. “They are working hard every day with each other. They played very well in both scrimmage situations.”
Other than in goal, Burgess isn’t sure what to expect from his team. “We’re going through some interesting lineups and we’re trying to find the right guys at the right time. The good news is that from top to bottom, we have a good group of kids. They are young and learning. We’ve got to get to the right learning curve before the playoffs.”
The Saturday road outing against Newport Harbor will be a tough one, as the team is ranked third in the state, according to Burgess. “They are a very strong team and we’ll be challenged early in the season, which is great. Every game is an opportunity for the team and for each player to prove themselves.”
CHS Girls Volleyball Ready for Regular Season
Coming off of a successful pre-season, where the Coronado Girls Volleyball Team defeated the San Diego Jewish Academy and Holtville, the Islanders are ready to swing into action this week with two Eastern League games. Tuesday they travel to Morse for a 3:30 pm game and Thursday they host their rivals from the Academy of Our Lady of Peace, also at 3:30 pm.
Head Coach Leilani Ahmu, formerly Leilani Au Hoon, returns four seniors to her squad. They include setters Mariah Stacy and Alanna Pompa, outside hitter Christina Peppard and middle blocker Delaney Luna. “I run a 6-2 offense, “Ahmu said. “So both Alanna and Mariah basically start. Christina and Delany start as well.”
Juniors include Ally Wilson, Cory De Marco, Ryann Faul and Lauren Bower. Sophomores include Megan Wing, Maude Hoffman, and Shiloe Parsons. Freshman Ivey Schmitt is a starting middle blocker. De Marco is the team’s libero and takes over for Luna in the back row. Bower starts opposite Stacy. The program graduated seven seniors from last year’s squad.
Patrick Henry, OLP and Coronado figure to comprise the upper division of the Eastern League, in some order. Cathedral Catholic, La Jolla Country Day and Francis Parker were mentioned by Ahmu as the main competition in Division IV come playoff time.
Better Late to the Party, Than Never
The Natter Wife gets perturbed when I quote myself from previous columns. However, since last week I admitted to a couple of errors, this week we’ll review a column note that proved to be prescient from my August 4, 2010 column.
“As an aside, the major newspaper in town tends to portray Charger contract issues as A.J. Smith vs. the player and the player agent in question. A general manager doesn’t undertake this type of high stakes public gamble without first checking with and receiving support from his owner. The easy thing would be for Smith to reach into the ample pocketbook of owner Dean Spanos and start throwing money at his three holdouts. See Smith work. Watch Spanos smile.”
The concept was apparently slow reaching Mission Valley and the U-T which had the following headline on a Kevin Acee column from September 10, 2010, “Spanos Gives Smith Support on Dealings with Holdouts.” Spanos was quoted in the column as saying, “I was part of all the process,” Spanos said. “I know exactly what our position was and why we made the decisions we made. I fully support our general manager on it.”
It will be interesting to re-calibrate the level of support Smith has from his ownership Tuesday morning, after Monday night’s season opener in Kansas City.
Pop Warner Wrap-Up
The Coronado Pop Warner Peewee team ran their unbeaten record to three consecutive games as they beat the previously unbeaten Alpine Mountaineers 14-0 in a hard hitting game. Juan Letayf, Zach Payne, and Sullivan Alexander all had fine games on the defensive side of the ball. Gregg Gonzalez fell on a fumble in the end zone for the second Islander score to ice the game.
San Diego Sharkfest Swim Coming Sept. 19th
For those of you who fancy yourselves as rough water swimmers, this Sunday there is a great event for you. The Enviro-Sport Sharkfest Swim series, which started with the Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim in 1993, will inaugurate a San Diego-Coronado Sharkfest this week.
The event is limited to 500 participants and is designed for experienced open-water swimmers. As a rule of thumb, you should be able to swim one mile in a pool comfortably under 40 minutes.
The Sharkfest swim is a one-mile event and will start at the 5th Avenue Landing behind the San Diego Convention Center and finish at Tidelands Park Beach. Check-in runs from 7 to 8:30 am, with the swim itself starting at 9 am. Participants must bring a photo ID to the check-in area.
The swim has been timed to take place during “slack” tide. Entry fees are $75 for adults 18 and up, with Juniors (17 and under) costing $40 and Active Military $45. The entry fee includes a one-way water taxi ride from Coronado to the race start in the morning or from the race finish to San Diego after the race.
Also volunteers, which may include high school athletes are needed from 7:30 to 11 am. Please contact Kelly Dudley at kellydawne@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering. For more information on the event, go to sharkfestswim.com.
San Diego Youth Rugby Looking for a Few Good Wallabies
Approaching their sixth year in existence, the San Diego Wallabies Youth Rugby Club has had over 100 Coronado kids, aged 6 to 14 play for the program. Athletes have come to the Club from Village Elementary, Coronado Middle, Sacred Heart, Christ Church Day School and Silver Strand Elementary.
Rugby includes the elements of running, passing, kicking and defending every part of the field, and is for kids of all shapes, sizes and skill levels. In the history of the program, there has never been a case of an athlete missing a game due to injury. Rugby will be an Olympic sport in 2016.
The San Diego Wallabies have four age groups, including Under 8, Under 10, Under 12 and Under 14. The age level with the most player openings currently is the U14 division. The schedule begins with practice in December and the season is designed to run between football and baseball.
Registration will be held Sunday, October 17 at 4 pm at Sunset Park. If you register early, you qualify for a free kids T-shirt. For more information, contact Steve Scotchmer at sscotchm@me.com or go to the San Diego Wallabies website at sdwallabies.com.