Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson Back to Index

20 October 2010 Issue #42

Islander Boys Water Polo Head Coach Randy Burgess characterized last week’s wins over La Jolla and St. Francis of Mountain View as, “Showing progression in the overall scheme of things,” and “We’re continuing to move in the right direction.” Specifically the results included an 8-7 win over La Jolla and a 9-8 victory over St. Francis.

The two victories brought the Islanders record in games decided by one goal to 7-1.

Coronado took a 7-4 lead into the beginning of the fourth quarter, a development that Burgess addressed. “At that point, the momentum shifted, as it does sometimes in our sport. The most impressive thing was that the kids survived without losing focus, both offensively and defensively, to pull down the win. They are starting to get a little more mature.”

Against La Jolla, Tommy Grall and Garrett Smerdon led the way with three goals each, while Patrick Geer and Van Burgess scored once each. “We had pretty good ball control,” said Coach Burgess. We only had eight turnovers, which was our lowest total of the year. Garrett Sabesky played the whole way in goal and had 11 saves and two steals. Grall drew three exclusions and was our offensive spark plug in the game.”

With the switch by University City from the Western League to the Eastern League, the Islanders were left with some holes to fill in their schedule. Hence the addition of Santa Margarita and St. Francis to the regular season schedule. The Western League now consists of Coronado, Bishop’s La Jolla and Cathedral Catholic, a rare four-team conference alliance. The Islanders finished their first trip through the Western League with a record of 2-1.

St. Francis arrived in Coronado with the reputation of being one of the best prep teams from Northern California. They played four games while they were in the San Diego area, defeating Bishop’s and Cathedral Catholic, while losing to Coronado and Carlsbad. St. Francis should be awarded some style points for playing four games in two days, but the end result for the Islanders was that they had some good competition and were rewarded with a victory.

“You want to play the quality teams,” said Burgess. “They may have looked beyond us a little bit. But win or lose, that kind of game is good for us. We played well on both ends. As opposed to the La Jolla game, we had 16 turnovers against St. Francis. They pressed and countered the heck out of us. They are very well coached, with some studs. We did a few things differently in the second half. It was the most even-keeled we have played. Our kids kept themselves in check and it was an interesting game. There were only two exclusions for each team. We also had two penalty shots called against us. It was a very even and well-played game.”

Geer scored four goals and Burgess noted, “This was Patrick’s week, at least offensively. We had six guys score, which was good to see.” Doing the math, you know from the text above that five Islanders scored one goal each and they included Garrett Eyer, Eitan Peled, Nick Wiley, Smerdon and Grall. Burgess had three assists and six steals. Throw in 14 saves and two steals from Sabesky and we now have completed a rare three ‘Garrett’ paragraph. “It was another stellar game turned in by our goalkeeper,” Burgess said of Sabesky.

Burgess also acknowledged the coaching provided to the goalies by Coach Duff Harold. “This year, as was the case last year, Duff is making a big difference. It’s like having a quarterbacks coach out there. Our goalies are playing well.”

The two victories also place Coronado above the .500 mark with an overall record of 8-7. “I’m hoping to pull a Sam Ceci (CHS head baseball coach) and win our last three games of the season (playoffs). We’re keeping things close with all of the one-goal victories. We’ve got three very quality games coming up this week.”

Wednesday Coronado hosts Bishop’s at 5 pm. Friday the Islanders host Santa Margarita Catholic and at press time, it appeared that the game time may be changed to 4 pm for the varsity game to accommodate a request from the visitors. Saturday Coronado hosts Long Beach Wilson at 5 pm, with all three contests this week being played at the BBMAC.

CHS Girls Volleyball Posts Strong Week

It was a good week to be part of the Islander Girls Volleyball Team, unless you include the 12 hours elapsed time Saturday (7 am to 7 pm) they spend competing in the Hilltop Classic, during which the Islanders played six matches. More on that a little later.

The week started with a 25-9, 24-26, 20-25, 25-20, and 15-10 victory Tuesday over Mira Mesa at home. That was followed by a 25-18, 23-25, 26-24 and 25-19 home win over Morse on Thursday.

Scores from the Morse contest don’t reflect how close the match was. The Islanders trailed Morse 9-7 in the first game before Ally Wilson served for five consecutive points, culminating in an ace, to push Coronado out to a 13-9 lead. A couple of plays later, Ivey Schmitt had a kill to earn an Islander sideout, and she added two additional points on her own serve. Delaney Luna’s kill shot earned another Coronado point and Mariah Stacy later served for two tallies. Christina Peppard had a couple of nice serves that yielded points. The Islanders and the Tigers then proceeded to trade points until Coronado clinched the first game 25-18.

In Game Two Coronado had to play from behind in the score throughout, at one point trailing 16-9. They got as close as trailing 22-20 before alternating points with Morse and the Tigers held on to win 25-23.

In Game Three, the Islanders got some of their swagger back, but let Morse ease out to a 24-20 lead. Schmitt had a kill shot to earn the sideout and then served for five consecutive points, including three aces and a rare back row kill shot, to help Coronado gain the 26-24 victory.

Game Four found Coronado and Morse tied 5-5 when Alanna Pompa served for a couple of points for a 7-5 Islander lead. Wilson had a kill shot which set Coronado on a 6-1 run that helped regain momentum for Coronado. With Coronado leading 13-11, a Morse service error was followed by an ace from Stacy, a kill from Peppard, and then two more aces from Stacy. Coronado took the lead 18-11 and held on for the win. Libero Cory De Marco completed the victory with an ace that struck the top of the net, lingered on top of the net for a while, and then fell on the Morse side of the net for an ace and the Coronado victory.  

According to Islander Head Coach Leilani Ahmu both Schmitt and Wilson had 10 kills each against Morse.

Saturday it was off to the 20-team Hilltop Classic, with the Islanders playing in a pool that included a very strong St. Ignatius team from San Francisco, Helix, Sweetwater and Coronado. “We played some of our best volleyball of the season over the weekend,” said Ahmu. “St. Ignatius ran a double-quick offense and they are on a par with Torrey Pines or La Jolla Country Day. We lost in two games, but the girls played really well. We could have taken one game.”

After finishing pool play in third place Saturday morning, the team traveled to Otay Ranch High School to compete in the Silver Bracket. There they defeated Olympian in two games, which were closely followed by a win over Mater Dei. Coronado played Helix in the Silver Bracket Championships and lost a close match 15-25, 25-9 and 11-15.

Ahmu noted the fine play of Shiloe Parsons and Megan Wing in the tournament. “Cory De Marco played phenomenally well at libero,” said Ahmu. “She played the best I have ever seen her play. Ivy Schmitt played well also.” Other contributors included Lauren Bower, Ryann Faul, and Maude Hoffmann.

“I have to rely on the entire team to win games,” said Ahmu of her squad. “It has to be a team effort. When we play with teams that are at our level or below, we struggle. When we play higher caliber teams, we tend to step up.”

Ahmu thinks a CIF Division IV playoff berth is likely for Coronado, particularly as the Islanders held their own with St. Ignatius and Helix. “We should make the playoffs, but I think we have to beat (fellow Eastern League member) Mission Bay to get there. We can count our tournament wins for results, which should help.”

The Islanders (9-6 overall, 5-3 in league) start the week on the road with a 4:30 pm game at OLP on Tuesday, followed by a home game Thursday with Mission Bay at 3:30 pm.

Islander Cross Country Squads Run By Christian High

Islander Head Cross Country Coach George Green supplies a commentary on his teams’ adventures from last week, which included successful outings for both squads. “The Boys' Cross Country Team had their first real test last Tuesday when they went-up against last year's league champs, Christian High School, who returned with their team pretty much intact from last season.

However we've stepped up our game since last year and it appeared the only way for them to beat us was for their top three runners to place 1-2-3, which in cross country dual meets is a lock. This didn't happen, however, as the Islander's Aryan Shay easily cruised to a 16:38 win over the City's three-mile cross country course followed by Ryan Keeney in 17:18 to nail-down the top two spots.

The Patriots top two, both of whom were stalking Keeney throughout the race, were next followed by Will Funk and Drew Findley in fifth and sixth place. Christian's next two placed in seventh and eighth followed by Nicholas Beall and Christian's fifth runner to round-out the scoring, with Coronado winning by the score of 23-32.

This week's pushers (there are seven runners on a cross country team) were Jack Gold and Paul Rodriguez followed by Jason Vance, an ailing Nate Wilson, Michael Cerdinio, Weston Breay, Josh Blore, Grainger Lanneau, Kingston De Laurentis, Chad Faul and Greg Coumes.

The CHS Girls Cross Country Team cruised to a perfect score of 15-50 which involves putting all seven of your varsity finishers in front of the first runner of the other team. Sadie Gimber and Nicole Davies tied for first with a time of 20:42 over the same three-mile course run by the boys. Annie Lovering and Maddie Danielson tied for third and fourth in 20:51 (hint, pattern developing) and Mollie Privett and Elise Umansky tied for fifth and sixth in 21:02. Our seventh runner was Ashley Engelman in 21:18 followed by Samantha Marks who finished eighth in 22:13 then (back to the pattern) Sierra Smith, Sydney Swanson and Taylor Ramos all in 22:50 followed by Mary Grace Braun, Sydney Bennett, Vanessa Tortolero, Martha Byrne, Lindsay Garner, Madison McBride and Yvonne Wood.”

Islander Football Defeats Bishop Carroll 48-6

A shoulder injury to Islander linebacker and Co-Captain Austin Copp may prove to be a plus for Coronado. Copp is still able to play on the offensive line without aggravating the injury, which allowed junior understudy Bobby Brandenburg to take over Copp’s linebacker slot.  

Brandenburg has responded well to the challenge, earning back-to-back Blackshirt of the Week accolades (Game MVP), an honor that Head Coach Bud Mayfield throws around like lead sewer covers. Let’s just say it’s a challenge to earn one Blackshirt award per season. Brandenburg had four solo tackles, three assisted tackles, two interceptions and one blocked punt to earn his award this week.

Also earning Blackshirt honors was senior offensive and defensive tackle Glenn Smith. Mayfield said, “Glenn played his best game of the year.” Kyle Montague, who keeps the Islanders official stats during the game, credited Smith with four solo tackles, four assisted tackles, one sack and one deflection. Dylan West had a nice outing with two solo tackles and four assisted tackles.

Two of the three current Islander linebackers will return next season, as Brandenburg is a junior and Ryan Halvorson is a sophomore. The third member of the linebacker trio is senior Andrew Toomey, who Mayfield describes as “The heart and soul of the team.”

Coronado jumped out early in the scoring on a 49-yard touchdown run by Jeff Bona. The senior running back went on to gain 156 yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns. Bona scored the first, sixth and seventh touchdowns of the game.

Quarterback Austin Denson turned in a fine outing as well, with 10 rushing attempts for 133 yards and two touchdowns. He was also 2-3 passing for 79 yards and two touchdowns. On the receiving end of Denson’s first touchdown pass was Jordan Jacobs on the 50-yard scoring effort. Halvorson while taking a break from his linebacker responsibilities plays tight end and he caught a 29-yard scoring strike from Denson.

“We played everyone,” said Mayfield of the game. “It’s a friendship game. After the game we went out with their coaches and they are good guys. They have a great attitude. They think that this (playing at Coronado) is like ‘Friday Night Lights.’ They don’t have that back home. We tried to keep the score down in the second half.”

The Central League race took a couple of unexpected turns last week as Kearny, who Coronado defeated handily last week 41-14, rebounded to upset San Diego 39-38 in overtime. Also, University City knocked off Morse 11-8. “The staff thought the Kearny game was important,” said Mayfield. “Kearny can cause trouble. We’re not afraid of any of them. I just hope we hold up physically. We have the Clairemont game and then we have a murder’s row (Morse, San Diego, and University City).”This week’s game at Clairemont is set for a 3 pm kickoff at Clairemont.

North County Times Prep Football Poll

This week’s “North County Times” Prep Football Poll, which is voted on by 21 media members from throughout San Diego County, looks like this: 1. Vista, 2. Eastlake, 3. Helix, 4. Torrey Pines, 5. Valley Center, 6. Oceanside, 7. Steele Canyon, 8. La Costa Canyon, 9. Grossmont, 10. Rancho Bernardo. Others receiving votes include (in order) St. Augustine, Mission Hills, Olympian, Mount Miguel, Ramona and Madison.

Islander Girls Golf is 1-2 for the Week

Competing against two of the tougher teams in San Diego County last week, the Islander Girls Golf Team lost to an undefeated squad from Our Lady of Peace Tuesday at River Walk. Wednesday they bested University City, shooting a 237 at Coronado Municipal. Thursday they lost to Cathedral Catholic at River Walk.

Cara Barker continues to lead the Islander squad and last week she shot rounds of 43, 40 and 40. Tori Davis played in two matches and shot rounds of 46 and 44. Andrea Perez shot 55, 49 in two outings and Kayla Englehart shot a 50, 51 and two matches.

But the competition Tuesday and Thursday was pretty stiff, according to Islander Head Coach Hanna Cohan. “OLP threw out a round of 48.” That means that the worst round of the six carded by the opposition was better than three of the Islander scores. “Also Joyce Kim from Cathedral shot a 30 against us at River Walk,” added Coahn. That’s what girls golf can produce.”

This week the Islanders are scrambling to make up matches lost to the weather, so that they can submit qualifying scores to the CIF before October 22nd. This week Coronado travels Monday to Torrey Pines to face Scripps Ranch; Tuesday they are in a tri-match with Morse and OLP; and Thursday is another tri-match with Point Loma and Crawford. Although a tri-match only requires that a team play nine holes of golf, it counts as two matches as the scores are compared among the three participating squads.

Girls Tennis Evens Record at 8-8

The good news is the Islanders are at the .500 mark for the season, but the tougher part of the equation is that they were 0-3 last week. The losses to La Jolla Tuesday (15-3) and Cathedral Catholic Thursday (11-5) were somewhat expected as both schools have particularly strong tennis programs. However, a 12-6 loss to Scripps Ranch in a rain make-up was the tough one.

“That was a team we hadn’t played this season,” said Head Coach Rob LeBuhn. “We have one more crack at them Tuesday. We have our last league match Thursday against OLP. A record of 9-9 would be a hell of a season and get us to .500, but I want to get to double figures in wins. The girls have done a phenomenal job compared to where the program was just four years ago. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Chargers Remain Winless and Anemic on the Road

The Natter Wife and Yours Truly boogied up to L.A. for the weekend (okay, we drove) and as a result, I watched the Chargers flame out against the lowly St. Louis Rams on DVR later Sunday afternoon. I knew the final score before I hit the play button, which eliminated some of the suspense, but none of my amazement at the 20-17 Chargers loss.

Here are my five thoughts on the game.

Thought One. I guess the whole ‘Marcus McNeil as ‘anchor of the offensive line’ concept is pretty much a moot point. The Chargers offensive line couldn’t have protected a sale table at Nordstrom’s from a small pack of peeved shoppers Sunday. Quarterback Philip Rivers isn’t going to win many sprint contests, but an offensive line giving up seven sacks? Child, please.

Thought Two. The Chargers have become Philip Rivers and the Jordanaires. This concept is named after the backup group that covered the ‘mature’ Elvis Presley on both the high and low notes in concert and recording dates late in his career. Rivers is the team’s lone star. You can make a case for including Antonio Gates on the star listing when he is healthy, but there is your complete list. The Chargers talent level has thinned out in a hurry.

Thought Three. Play No. 1 draft pick Ryan Mathews at running back. If he has a balky ankle, as has been hinted at in our large metropolitan newspaper, then rest him until he is healthy. Don’t play him for three downs, then rest him, then send him out for a play, then back to the bench again. Good running backs need to develop a rhythm and the way the Chargers are deploying Mathews is criminal. And the result is that their running game is not NFL worthy.

Thought Four. With the game on the line late in the fourth quarters, the Rams said, “We have the ball and we’re going to run over you until you can stop us.” And the Chargers couldn’t. Admittedly the Rams Steven Jackson is a talented running back, but really, the Chargers can’t stop the ground game of a team that lost to Detroit by the score of 44-6 the previous week?

Thought Five. Here is one morsel of good news to chew on if you are a Chargers fan. Things are grim right now, but the Chargers (2-4) got a break when the division-leading Kansas City Chiefs (3-2 and the only AFC West team to have already had their bye week) lost late in their game to Houston. The AFC West is arguably the softest (worst) division in the 2010 NFL, so the season isn’t over. But the easy portion of the Chargers schedule has concluded, with the New England Patriots coming to town Sunday. San Diego needs to show that they truly care about their season and making the playoffs or Rivers and the Jordanaires will be performing at a dinner club near you starting Monday, January 3, 2011.