Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson Back to Index

10 November 2010 Issue #45

Other than the first nine and the last three minutes of their Central League game Friday night against San Diego High School, the Coronado Islanders (7-2 overall) dominated the Cavers on their way to a 41-32 victory in front of a capacity Homecoming crowed. The win also made the Islanders 5-0 in the Central League, with Coronado holding a one game lead over Kearny with one league game to play.

Things looked grim early as Coronado trailed 14-0 at the 2:52 mark of the first quarter. San Diego used their team speed to good advantage and constructed two long scoring drives in the early stages of the game.

In their second possession however, Coronado got back in the game in a hurry, a comeback which began with a 28-yard kickoff return by Jeff Bona, followed immediately by 28-yard run by Andrew Toomey, a one-yard gain by Toomey and a 41-yard touchdown pass from Austin Denson to Jordan Jacobs.

Jacobs was also featured on the next Islander scoring play.  A Caver fumble bounced wide from the point of attack and Jacobs scooped up the ball and sprinted 72 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 14-14.

The feel good moment vaporized shortly thereafter when the Cavers scored on their first play from scrimmage on an 80-yard touchdown catch and run. San Diego missed the extra point, which became a strategic factor later in the game. Coronado countered with a drive that went as far as the San Diego 27-yard line before it ran out of gas.

Then the turning point of the game arrived. With fourth down and one yard to go on their own 35-yard line and with momentum solidly on their side, the Cavers went for the first down on a rushing attempt, which was stuffed by the Islander defense at the line of scrimmage. Considering the game situation, it was a horrible decision by the Caver coaching staff. Especially in light of the fact that Coronado scored two plays later on  runs of 14 and 21 yards by Toomey. The Islanders held a 21-20 advantage going into halftime, a lead they would not relinquish.

The second half opened well as Bona returned the second half kickoff 23 yards and followed that effort with three runs totaling 25 yards to get the Islanders to midfield. Six plays later Denson found Jacobs for a seven-yard touchdown toss, the third touchdown for the senior co-captain on the evening.

Coronado’s defense pinned the Cavers into their end of the field on San Diego’s next possession and a fumble on a Caver punt attempt put the Islanders on the San Diego 16-yard line. Coronado had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Toomey, which pushed the score to 31-20.

The Islanders opened the fourth quarter with two runs by Bona for a total of 25 yards, followed shortly by a Toomey gallop of 40 yards for a touchdown, which of course was followed by a Toomey extra point. The next Islander possession ended in another Toomey field goal and with 3:17 left in the game, the Islanders led 41-20.

As it turned out, this was no time to get complacent. Another 80-yard touchdown pass play by San Diego was followed by Coronado trying unsuccessfully to run out the clock. An Islander punt was returned by the Cavers 75 yards and suddenly the score was 41-32. San Diego tried a two-point conversion and failed, leaving the margin at nine points in favor of Coronado. The Islanders then ran the final 1:09 off the clock to earn the hard-fought victory.

Toomey had an outstanding night, accounting for 23 points on two touchdown runs, five extra points and two field goals. The senior two-way player also rushed 14 times for 151 yards and then had six solo tackles, one assisted tackle and an intercepted pass from his linebacker slot on defense.

Other statistical highlights included Bona’s four kickoff returns which totaled 88 yards, plus his 16 carries from scrimmage for 94 net yards. Denson was 8-19 passing for 144 net yards and two touchdowns. Jacobs was on the receiving end of five passes totaling 83 yards and two touchdowns.

Another play of note was turned in by junior defensive back Billy Ryan, who saved a touchdown on a 63-yard Caver pass play. Ryan covered a huge amount of real estate and ran down the Caver receiver on the Islanders 26-yard line. On the next play Toomey intercepted an errant San Diego pass to end the scoring threat.

Another nice play was turned in by senior Co-Captain Austin Copp, who corralled a Caver on-side kick attempt with 1:04 left in the game. Copp also was credited with three solo tackles, four assisted tackles and a blocked extra point. Junior linebacker Bobby Brandenburg had another fine outing with five solo tackles and five assisted tackles.

Kearny has one Central League game remaining, a home game with Morse and their only league loss is to Coronado. One school of thought is that since Coronado has already defeated their only remaining league challenger head-to-head, Coronado has clinched the title. Knowing Head Coach Bud Mayfield, he would prefer an undefeated league season to eliminate any claims Kearny might have regarding a co-championship.

With the playoffs coming in the immediate future, Mayfield thinks the Islanders will be seeded somewhere in the 5-6-7 range in CIF Division IV. “With Valley Center and Madison in Division IV we’ll usually wind up down there in the middle range and we should host a first round playoff game,” Mayfield said. If Mayfield’s prediction holds true, the Islanders will host a home game Friday, Nov. 19th.

North County Times Prep Football Poll

A total of 21 sportswriters and sportscasters vote weekly in the “North County Times” Prep Football Poll, including Your Natterer. Here are this week’s poll results: No. 1. Eastlake; No. 2. Helix; No. 3. Torrey Pines; No. 4. (Tie) Valley Center and Oceanside; No. 6. Vista; No. 7. Steele Canyon; No. 8. Mission Hills; No. 9 Rancho Bernardo; No. 10. Mount Miguel.

Others receiving votes included (in descending order) La Costa Canyon, Madison, Olympian, and Cathedral Catholic.

CHS Boys Water Polo Playoff Run Starts Saturday

Last week the Islander Boys Water Polo Team completed their regular season with a pair of 10-8 results, which included a home win over La Jolla and a road loss to Foothill of Santa Ana.

Wednesday’s game against La Jolla served as a fundraiser for the Lance Armstrong  Live Strong Foundation, an event of particular relevance to La Jolla Head Coach Tom Atwell, who along with his wife, are both cancer survivors.

According to CHS Head Coach Randy Burgess, the event raised over $800 for the foundation.

A total of six seating sections at BBMAC were full of students and fans from both schools, an unusually large regular season water polo turnout. The animated crowd was into the well-played contest. Burgess noted that the two schools will repeat the event in 2011 at La Jolla.

Watching the game action, one came away with the thought that if the teams played for five hours instead of just one, the scoring margin would still be no more than a couple of goals either way. In fact the teams have played each other three times in 2010 with the Coronado winning two of the three games by an aggregate score of 27-25.

Coronado jumped to a 2-0 lead and later to a 5-3 lead and the Vikings rallied to tie both times. The scores were 2-2 at the end of the first quarter, 5-5 at the half, 8-8 at the end of three quarters, with Coronado scoring twice in the final frame for the 10-8 victory.

Patrick Geer was the leading scorer for Coronado with three goals, followed by Tommy Grall and Van Burgess (son of head coach Randy Burgess) with two tallies each. Burgess the Younger also played a strong role in orchestrating the Islander offensive attack with three assists. Single goals were scored by Garrett Eyer, Garrett Smerdon and Nick Wiley. Goalie Garrett Sabesky (again accomplishing the trifecta, the triple-Garrett paragraph) was credited with 13 saves, an assist and two steals. The game wasn’t finally decided until Wiley scored on a Burgess assist with 15 seconds remaining in the contest.

Friday the team boogied up the coast to play Foothill of Santa Ana. Their two-goal loss was certainly an improvement on their 13-6 defeat to the same Foothill squad in the Cal State/Finis Invitational held the week before. “We had identical first quarters in both games,” Burgess remarked. “We were down 4-0 in both San Jose and Santa Ana. We rallied to trail 5-4 at the half. A lot of that was guys just figuring out some things we have been working on. We made some very good adjustments. Paul Reynolds of Foothill is one of the best two or three players in the country and he scored more than half of their goals. The purpose of the trip is to work out some bugs. I don’t think we have plateaued as a team and we’re getting better and better.”

Burgess continued and discussed the upcoming CIF Playoffs. “If we play at our best level, we certainly could win the last three games of the season. If we lose, hopefully it’s because the other team out played us. The season starts Saturday. It’s nice to have a full week to prepare for that. We’re right in the flow as we head into the playoffs.”

As the No. 3 seed, Coronado (13-12) has a bye in Wednesday’s Division III First Round. Bishop’s is the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Cathedral Catholic.

The Islanders will play the winner of the First Round game featuring Santa Fe Christian vs. Mission Bay in the CIF Quarter-Finals Saturday at 11 am. The game will be played at the Coggan Family Pool on the campus of La Jolla High School.

Three Coronado Water Polo Athletes Lead Mesa College to PCAC Title

A trio of Coronado residents Josh Grall, Michael Aguilar and Brennan Casey helped pace Mesa College to the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference title over arch-rival Grossmont College last weekend. Mesa defeated Grossmont 17-16. Mesa’s victory ended a string of nine straight conference titles won by Grossmont.

In the title game, Casey had two goals, two assists and one steal; Aguilar had two goals, one assist and one steal; while Grall had three goals, two assists and two steals.

For the season the three Coronadoans were among the statistical leaders for Mesa College. Casey led the team with 52 steals, while Aguilar had 48 and Grall 17. Grall was the team’s leading scorer with 55 goals, and Casey contributed 52. Aguilar tied for third on the team in assists with 25.

Mesa College will participate in the Southern California junior college playoffs which run Nov. 11-13. The State playoffs slated for Nov. 18-20, 2010.

Islander Cross Country Squads Ready for the Post-Season

The CHS Cross Country Teams continued their fine season last week and Head Coach George Green provides the details. “The dual meet Cross Country season came to a close last Tuesday with the girls posting yet another perfect score of 15-50 and the boys winning easily by the score of 22-37, both against Madison.

As expected, the match-up between the two top male runners in the league, the Islander's Aryan Shay and the Warhawk's Connor Torre was close, with Shay finishing with a four-second margin in 16:28 to Torre's 16:32 over the City Conference 3-mile course. Ryan Keeney and Will Funk placed third and fourth with times of 17:48 and 18:01 respectively, followed by Drew Findley (sixth in 18:32 and Jason Vance (eighth in 19:12) to round-out the scoring.

Casey Engelman and Paul Rodriguez took the next two spots followed by Carlos Montes, Jack Gold, Josh Blore, Ryan Herrmann, Weston Breay, Chris Leary, Michael Cerdinio, Chad Faul, Grainger Lanneau and Kingston De Laurentis.

In the Girls' race over the same course, Annie Lovering finished first in 19:50, followed in order, by Sadie Gimber, Meg Sweeney, Ashley Engelman, Mollie Privett, Maddy Danielson and Elise Umansky to complete the sweep. The next five places went to Sierra Smith, Sydney Swanson, Taylor Ramos, Mary Grace Braun and Martha Byrne, before the first Madison runner finished.

Then three more runners from Coronado including Lindsay Garner, Samantha Marks and Sydney Bennett were followed by Madison McBride, Yvonne Wood, Sarah Alfano, Adrienne Reyes and Melissa Wood. Both the Boys and Girls teams are undefeated going into the Central League championships this week.”

CHS Cheerleaders Recognized

An important element in the pageantry surrounding an Islander home football game is the CHS Cheerleading squad under the direction of Nicole Belong.  This year the varsity captains are Annie San Giovanni and Kelsey Thackston. Cheerleaders include: Iana Tolmosoff, Tana Radermacher, Jasmyne Miller, Taylor Nelson, Sydney Brehm, Chelsea Arthur and Claire Purvis.

Additional varsity members are: Courtney Vincent, Courtney West, Astrid Baldauf, Brittany Withouski, Kirsten Mathis, Callie Welch and Allie Lehr.

The Junior Varsity captains are Adelle Thomas and Brooke Lindee. Squad members include Kristin Lindemann, Katie Brooks, Stephanie Bona and Lauren Bartsch.

Others students participating on the JV cheer squad are: Ashley Dettmann, Taylor Nelson, Morgan Thackston, Maile Costa, Kelsey Mansueto, Brittanie Malloy and Cailtin DeNagy.

Thanks to Coach Belong and all of the cheerleaders for their efforts and best of luck to the team during their competition season.  

CHS Girls Tennis Season Ends with Loss to Bishop’s

Last week the CHS Girls Tennis Team participated in the CIF Division III Team Championships and split a pair of matches. They opened the week with a 15-3 victory over Francis Parker. The Lancers’ No. 1 singles player won all three of her sets, but the Islanders swept the rest on the way to the victory.

The Islander lineup included Jackie Hites, Elena Wang and Mary Mulvey competing in singles at the 1-3 spots respectively. The doubles lineup included Alex Rawlings/Brooke Gensler, Nikki Kruger/Brittany Kullberg and Heidi Jonson/Layla Zbinden in the 1-3 positions.

Wednesday Coronado hosted The Bishop’s School and he Islanders fell 11-7. “We were hoping to defeat Bishop’s” said Head Coach Rob LeBuhn. “But the girls got nervous and we were down 4-2 after the first round and we couldn’t recover.” The Islanders concluded their season with a record of 10-10. The vast majority of the 2010 starting lineup will return next year.

The tennis program held its post season banquet Monday evening with LeBuhn’s award winners including: Team MVP – Jackie Hites; Most Improved – Brooke Gensler; Coaches Award – Heidi Jonson; and ISF Award – Sally Harris. The Coronado Tennis Association recognized both Jonson and Zbinden with $250 scholarship awards.

Islander Junior Varsity Head Coach Rob Moore recognized his award winners and they were: MVP – Kacie McBarron; Co-Most Improved – Emma Schwartz and Mary Holman; Coaches Award – Marie Balfour and Team Captain Natalie Grazian.

The JV squad compiled a perfect 11-0 record, which included defeating Cathedral Catholic twice, an accomplishment Coronado had never before achieved. The final match of the year was a 10-8 win over Scripps Ranch, which included a tie-breaker in the final set for the margin of victory.

LeBuhn, a long-time tennis pro in the Coronado area has accepted a full-time position as head pro at the Four Seasons Resort Manele Bay in Lanai City, Hawaii. LeBuhn has helped advance both the CHS Girls Tennis program and the CMS Co-Ed Tennis program over the past several years. Congratulations to Rob on his new position.

Barker Concludes Girls Golf Season with a Round of 79

The last standing Islander in Girls Golf competition this season was freshman Cara Barker, who qualified for the CIF Individual play last week. During her first round at Woods Valley Monday, she shot a 91, but as Head Coach Hanna Cohan noted, the good news was that she made the cut to play in Day II.

With a day off between rounds, Barker settled into the playoff concept and fired a 79 at the Admiral Baker North Course Wednesday. She didn’t advance beyond that point, but the experience of qualifying for the CIFs as a freshman will undoubtedly pay future dividends.

“Cara had the satisfaction that she beat some of her top opponents,” Cohan said. “She was pleased with her comeback on the second day. She has a big game and her goal is to play in college. That’s what keeps her dedicated, motivated and pursuing excellence.”

Monday the Golf program also held their banquet. It probably comes as no surprise that Barker was named Team MVP; Kayla Englehart won both the Coach’s Choice and ISF Awards; Team Co-Captains were Liza Logan and Natalie Bailey.

Winter Sports Tryout Dates

We’re at the time of the year when the Fall sports are concluding and the Winter sports tryouts are at hand. To participate in a sport at CHS, regardless of the level, the prospective student-athlete must have a current doctor’s physical. You can visit www.islandersportsfoundation.com for additional information.

Tryout dates and times for Winter sports include: Varsity Boys Basketball – Saturday, Nov. 13 from 12 noon to 2:30 pm at the CHS Gym; Girls Basketball – Saturday, Nov. 13 from 9 am to 11:30 am; Boys Soccer – Monday, Nov. 16 from 5-7 pm at Niedermeyer Field; Girls soccer Monday, Nov. 15 from 3-5 pm at Cutler Field; and Girls Water Polo – Wed. Nov. 17 immediately after school at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Complex.

San Diego Chargers Sneak by Texans 29-23

As the game clock ticked down to read all zeroes Sunday afternoon, my immediate reaction was “I can’t believe the Chargers won that game.” The Chargers special teams unit is now trying new and creative ways to get their punter Mike Scifres hurt, mainly through continually missing blocking assignments.

Counter-balancing the special team ineptitude is the Chargers No. 1 ranked offense in the NFL which goes nicely with the league’s No. 1 ranked defense. But the real reason San Diego has improved their record to 4-5 and limped back into the AFC West title chase is quarterback Philip Rivers. Now in his seventh season in the NFL, Rivers has joined Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots as quarterbacks who truly make their teammates better.

Rivers enjoined the Texans in battle Sunday without All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates and his four best receivers. Rivers made castoff tight end Randy McMichael and an unknown receiver named Seyi Ajirotutu look like Hall of Famers Kellen Winslow and Lance Alworth respectively. Rivers threw for 295 yards, four touchdowns and posted a 137.2 passer rating against the Texans.

With a bye week this Sunday, the Chargers rolled the dice, gambled and won on the injury front. They opted to keep Gates, Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee on the bench to earn another week of rest. The Charger’s injury list is too long to recount here, but those are the offensive highlights. Place kicker Nate Kaeding should return in two weeks as well.

The Chargers received a tremendous boost to their playoff chances when the Oakland Raiders defeated the division-leading Kansas City Chiefs in overtime. With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Chiefs’ lead over San Diego now stands at only one and one-half games.  

As an aside, the next time you read that Quentin Jammer is one of the elite cornerbacks in the NFL, ask for a video copy of the early portion of the Chargers vs. Texans game.

The Chargers host the Denver Broncos Monday, Nov. 22nd at 5:30 pm in their next game. Hopefully the rest will aid the team and not cool Rivers’ amazing hot streak.