Friday, March 29, 2024

Islanders Roll Komets, Improve to 4-1 Record

Coronado Islanders Elias Valdivia #22 (left) looks for running room as he takes the ball up field for a 30 yard kick off return in the fourth quarter of the Islanders home opener against Santana High School of Friday, August 20, 2021 in Coronado. The Islanders lost in overtime 10-7. (Photo by Joan C. Fahrenthold)

I may be starting to sound like a broken record at this point, but the Islanders continue to impress week after week and they did so yet again with a 78-0 drumming of the Kearny Komets. 

No that isn’t a typo or misprint, the Islanders hung up 78 points last Friday night. From the first snap, it was one of those games that just appeared to be a mismatch on paper and on the field. 

Kearny started the game with the ball on their own 22 and proceeded to lose 12-yards on the next three plays thanks to three tackles for loss by Asa Valdivia, Finley Alexander, and JT Nelson. 

The Komets punter then punted a ball that would only go about 12 yards and immediately set up Coronado in the red zone of their first drive, where it would then take the Islanders just four plays to punch in their opening TD thanks to a QB sneak by Hudson Herber.

The ease with which the Islander offense moved the ball on their first drive, would continue for the entirety of the night, as the Islanders would only punt one time on Friday night. 

Following the opening TD, the Islanders would quickly force another three and out thanks to a pair of pass breakups by Donny Couts and Elias Valdivia.

The ensuing Islander drive would only take two plays and 33 seconds to go 44 yards in large part to a 36-yard TD run by Zane Delcore that would extend the Islanders’ lead to 14-0, just four minutes into the contest.

And the scoring would not stop there. Over the final eight minutes of the half, the Islanders would score four more times thanks to a pair for 40+ touchdown runs by Delcore and a pair of pick-6s by Elias Valdivia and Graham Bower, creating a 41-0 Islander lead at the end of the first and putting the game way out of reach just one quarter into the game.

Things would only get more lopsided in the second quarter thanks to yet another pick-6, this one by Sean Kelley. A 54-yard TD pass from Herber to Couts, and a 27 yard TD run by Steven Davis to make it a 63-0 game at the half.

For the final half of Friday’s game, the Islanders clearly, and rightfully so, took their feet off the accelerator, as they only ran option, counter, and drive plays to run the clock and keep the ball out of the air.

Coronado’s play-calling still yielded success as the offense ate up the clock and dominated time of possession and pushed across yet another TD after a nice read-option run by Bower for a 27-yard scamper and score.

Coronado would score one final time in the fourth quarter thanks to Elias Valdivia’s second pick-6 of the night, capping off the Islanders 78-0 victory over the Komets.

In such a laugher of a win, it would be hard to imagine that some could find errors or ways that a team needs to improve. But for Islander head coach Kurt Hines, there were plenty of things his team still needs to improve upon. “I think in the trenches our first steps and push on the line could have been better and our blocks on the outside in our stock blocks could have been improved as well,” said Hines.

So at midseason, your Coronado Islanders boast an impressive 4-1 record, with a point differential of +117. The offense is averaging just about 36 points per game, while the defense is holding opponents to a minuscule 12.6 points per game.   

With their success, the Islanders have also shot up in their Divisional ranking as Coronado now finds themselves as the No. 5 ranked team in Div. IV and inside the top 35 ranked teams in San Diego county,  according to Maxpreps.com 

With the Islanders City League Schedule just around the corner, it should be a thrilling stretch run for these Islanders.  

 



Clark Fahrenthold
Clark Fahrenthold
Clark is a recent graduate from Sonoma State University where he received his BA in Communications and a minor in History. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf, tennis, and running. Have news to share? Send tips, story ideas or letters to the editor to: [email protected]

More Local News