San Diego Prep Review : Turner Gets to Playoffs, but Can’t Play

But the Dons are having to do without Turner during the San Diego Section playoffs.

Four weeks ago, Turner shattered her jaw in a 3-2 loss to La Jolla. She won’t be able to play competitively until next season.

As a freshman, Turner was voted second-team All-League when USDHS finished second to La Jolla. This season the teams are co-champions. La Jolla, which has been the 2-A champion since 1982, will be the league’s top seeded team for the playoffs. USDHS won its first playoff game on Saturday, defeating San Marcos, 3-0.

Early this season, USDHS (9-2 in league, 16-5 overall) handed La Jolla (10-1, 15-5) its first league loss in four years. Turner was injured in the teams’ second matchup.

“We were playing La Jolla and everyone was really psyched,” Turner said. “I was in the front row and dove for the ball. As I dove, I swung my arms behind my head and landed on my chin.

“I didn’t know what happened. I got back up to play and I didn’t understand what was happening, why everyone was coming over to me. Then I looked down and I saw the blood dripping.”

Turner couldn’t eat solid food for five days after the accident, surviving on a liquid protein diet.

She hoped to return for the playoffs, planning to wear a hockey helmet to protect her jaw. But her doctor, Ronald Roncione, said Turner should not play until the jaw is completely healed.

So, Turner will have to watch during the playoffs. She has been replaced by sophomore Jenni Murrill, who had 10 kills Thursday against La Jolla.

“It’s tough to just sit there,” Turner said. “But the team is doing so great that it’s a reward just to watch, because I never get to see (USDHS) play.”

Turner said she will try to think twice before diving for a dig next season.

“If the ball is as far off as the other one, I shouldn’t go for it,” she said. “It’s hard to think about it because it really is instinct.”

Change for the Worse: Kearny High School’s hopes for a football playoff berth ended before the Komets took the field last Friday. Coach Tom Barnett learned that one of his players, a non-starter, had changed one of the grades on a six-week progress report earlier in the year.

The grade change made the player ineligible for Kearny’s games against Mission Bay and University City--two games the Komets had won.

With the loss of those games, Kearny lost its chance for an at-large berth. Kearny ended the season 2-8, losing to University of San Diego, 23-8. University City ended up with the at-large berth.

“I was thinking, ‘What I was going to tell the football team,’ ” Barnett said. “That was the hardest part of it. I’ve learned to take the good with the bad over the years, but the hard part was telling the players.”

Barnett said his players were angry and upset after hearing the news.

“I don’t think they performed up to their par (against University of San Diego),” Barnett said. “I think they said, ‘Hey, what’s the use?’ University has a fine football team and they beat us. I can’t say whether they would have beaten us if the kids didn’t know.”

Barnett refused to identify the player, who was suspended from school for three days through Wednesday. Barnett also declined to elaborate on the reasons for the suspension.

Record Kicks: Morse kicker German Puentes kicked a 56-yard field goal Friday in the Tigers’ 23-6 victory over Mira Mesa. The kick broke the county record of 53 yards set by Hilltop’s Brian Wagner in 1979.

“He’s kicked them in practice (including a 62-yard kick),” said John Shacklett, Morse coach. “It was just a matter of time.”

“I said to myself, ‘You have to do it,’ ” Puentes said. “I knew I had it when I first kicked it; you can feel it when you have a good kick. I was just waiting for the ref to put his hands up.

“I practice those kicks 15 times a day.”

Earlier in the day, University City kicker Ron White kicked a 54-yard field goal in a 30-7 victory over Clairemont.