Malibu High football player Eddie Godoy’s trek to offseason trainings with his teammates took up a lot of time and distance.
Each time Godoy traveled from his home in Van Nuys to Malibu during the summer to prepare for the Sharks’ 2018 season, he would have to ride four different buses for four hours total. The 18-year-old senior said thoughts of football success galloped through his head during the 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. journey.
“Making the playoffs would mean a lot to me,” said Godoy, whose parents drive him to school now. “That, and a winning season. We’ve got a winning season.”
Sharks head coach Terry Shorten said the commute Godoy made during the offseason showed unbelievable commitment.
“He is just a good kid and a respectful young man,” Shorten said. “He loves football.”
Godoy, an offensive and defensive tackle, and the Sharks are 6-3 heading into the team’s regular season finale on Friday against a Citrus Coast foe, the Fillmore Flashes. If Malibu wins the 7:30 p.m. away contest, a coin flip could determine whether the team will head to the CIF Southern Section Division 13 playoffs.
Shorten said making the playoffs is a goal Malibu’s roster of 20-something players had heading into the season. The journey to this point has included wins, lots of points scored and some big hits, but also a lot of fatigue and Sharks with bumps, bruises and injuries. Because of the small number of players on the team, the same players who start for the Sharks on offense also start on defense. When the ball changes possession during a game, opposing teams substitute their offensive players for their defensive players or vice versa—the Sharks on the field stay put.
Godoy, a team captain and one of the players who never leaves the gridiron, said in the moments when the opposition is changing personnel, he and his teammates motivate each other.
“We just pick each other up,” he said. “We are all tired, but we have to play for each other. I just tell them to always be ready and to make plays. That is how we win.”
Shorten, a coach for numerous seasons, said he has never seen a high school team keep all the same players on the field for offense and defense for entire games. The team and its coaches have a chip on their shoulders due to the 11 playing on both sides of the ball.
“We have an ‘us-versus-them’ mentality,” Shorten said. “We are going to go into the game with the kids we have, and we are very proud of every single one of them. We are going to take our best shot at these teams that roll in with 40 or 50 kids.”
Godoy added, “We will fight, and we will finish all four quarters.”
The Sharks have been successful. Malibu beat Mark Keppel, Viewpoint, Beverly Hills and McAuliffe before losing its first Citrus Coast game of the season to Hueneme. Malibu then beat league foes Santa Clara and Carpinteria before losing to Santa Paula, the Citrus Coast’s lone unbeaten squad, and Nordoff, the second-place team in the league.
The conference’s top three teams make the CIF playoffs. Malibu, with a 2-3 league record, is vying for the third spot. If the Sharks beat Fillmore, they will have an equal conference record with the Flashes. If Hueneme beats Santa Clara, the Oxnard-based school would also be 3-3 in the Citrus Coast standings.
Shorten said since the third-place squads would have victories over each other, officials would do a coin toss to determine who will go to the playoffs.
The coach said his team has played its best ball in the Citrus Coast. Malibu beat Santa Clara and Carpinteria, two teams that defeated them in 2017, and nearly beat Sant Paula. Shorten said the almost-win was a tough battle.
In the Oct. 12 Santa Paula loss, Sharks senior Eric Truschke, a wide receiver and cornerback, intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. The score was knotted at seven with only a few minutes left in the fourth quarter before Santa Paula scored the winning touchdown.
Malibu was downed by Nordoff, 35-0, a week later.
Shorten said a few players have been banged up the last few weeks, including senior wide receiver and free safety Louie Thrall whose season has ended due to a knee injury. In response, the Sharks quit hitting during practice and the coaches switched some players around to positions they might not be familiar with.
Shorten said Malibu has stayed focused throughout.
“We have been grinding each week,” he said.
The grind has included senior Max Gordon stepping in for Thrall at free safety and exceling, junior Daniel Rafeedie being a ballhawk at linebacker, senior quarterback Tee Barnes performing like the best signal caller in the Citrus League, junior running back Dane Kapler running for over a dozen touchdowns and close to 1,000 yards, and the offensive line making a bevy of points Malibu has scored this season possible.
Shorten said the Sharks’ success has been a team effort.
“It’s football by committee right now,” he said. “We are just a band of Sharks battling every week to get a win.”
Godoy said the team is a close-knit group.
“We are always together,” he said. “We aren’t like other teams.”
Godey’s coach said he will be proud of the team no matter how the season ends.
“I’m not surprised this team has done as well as it has,” Shorten said. “I really have a lot of confidence. This is a group kids that have played together for two, three, four years now. Talent-wise against any team we match up pretty well.”