Going into Friday night’s game against top-seeded Vista High School, the Coronado Islanders football team knew they would be tasked with an uphill battle in their quest to advance to the CIF semifinals.

While the Cougars only put together a 3-7 regular season, they’re still a program that traditionally plays CIF DI opponents and is a team much larger than the Islanders in sheer size.

Despite a valiant effort from Coronado and some head-scratching calls from the officials, the Islanders would fall just short against Vista by the final of 14-11.

“I love the effort that this team showed on the road. It was a season of a lot of ups and downs, and while the season didn’t end the way we had hoped, I think our program is heading in the right direction,” said Islanders Coach Kurt Hines.

When looking at Friday night’s game, given the importance of the game itself and who the Islanders were playing, it’s fair to say it was Coronado’s best defensive performance of the season.

Coronado would tally seven tackles for loss as a team and manage to rack up four sacks in the loss, with senior Sean Geary leading the way with a team-high two sacks on the night.

Along with a solid pass rush, the Coronado’s defense created four turnovers in the win: two forced and recovered fumbles and two interceptions. One was from Cable Fledderjohn, who made a leaping grab on a screen attempt, and the other was from Landon Sutherland.

Sutherland’s pick would be especially consequential, as his INT would help set up the Islanders’ lone touchdown on the night.

Following Sutherland’s interception, Coronado rolled down the field, with QB RJ Sanchez capping off the scoring drive by connecting with WR Michael Bannon on a 33-yard TD pass that, at the time, made it a 14-11 game late in the fourth quarter.

“Defensively, we had a stellar night,” noted Hines. “Really just proud of our guys for stepping up and giving us a chance to stay in and win that game. I think that performance can serve as fuel heading into the offseason to remind us that when we show up like that, we can play really, really well.”

Where the Islanders hurt themselves against Vista, though, would be in their red zone offense. The Islanders would have four red zone trips and two goal-to-go situations on Friday night. They would come away with only three points in those four combined trips. Had they converted one of those red zone trips, they would likely be preparing to play in the CIF semifinals.

Friday night’s game also could’ve ended differently had the Islanders not been hurt by a number of questionable calls by the officiating crew. These included a controversial non-called safety on Vista and a called-back Islanders interception that would have set them up inside the Vista 15-yard line.

“Those calls and non-calls are frustrating,” said Hines. “The calls are not the reason we lost the game, but they certainly didn’t help. There are always going to be mistakes that happen, but again, it’s unfortunate when calls that are that blatant are missed.”

It was undoubtedly a frustrating end to the Islanders’ 2024 season. However, the program took a step in the right direction, finishing 6-6 overall. The hope and belief around the program is that they can use some of the momentum they found at the end of the year and ride it into a good offseason and an even stronger 2025.