Malibu Sharks have Roadrunners on the run
By Paul Spiegel/Special to The Malibu Times
The Malibu High School football team once again took the field as heavy underdogs in their Friday contest against the much larger and more experienced Roadrunners of Rosamond.
This was the fourth consecutive week that L.A. Daily News writers picked opponents to beat the Sharks by a wide margin, but the Sharks once more stepped up with unexpected determination to play the high desert team to a tie and move their season record to 2-1-1.
Coming into the game, Malibu was ranked 10th in the area Small School division. College scouts from as far away as Florida were in the stands to watch the suddenly notable Sharks team.
With many players suddenly in unfamiliar positions due to a devastating season-ending knee injury to running back and linebacker Lars Edman in the previous game, the Sharks matched the Roadrunners touchdown for touchdown. The Malibu team refused to back down after hits were delivered by Rosamond players who are as much as 100 pounds heavier than their Malibu counterparts.
After Rosamond’s Jermain Manning ran for a 23-yard touchdown on the Roadrunners’ opening drive, both teams were scoreless for the remainder of the first quarter. Malibu’s Tomasso Trento later stripped the ball from Manning, and the Sharks muscled their way to the end zone at the beginning of the second quarter to tie the game 7-7.
The Roadrunners and Sharks continued to trade scores throughout the game with Rosamond scoring and Malibu answering with touchdowns of their own.
With the clock running down in the fourth quarter and the game tied 21-21, the game looked out of Malibu’s reach as the Roadrunners drove the ball downfield. On what looked like a touchdown run by Rosamond’s Ricardo Azua, Gary Daly of the Sharks delivered a devastating hit that jarred the ball loose. The Sharks recovered the football on the 1-yard line with just over two minutes left in the game and were able to run out the clock to hold onto the tie.
The Sharks’ next opponent will be Chadwick Academy, with the Junior Varsity playing on Oct. 17 at 3 p.m. and the Varsity on Saturday at 3 p.m. Both games will be played on Malibu High’s home field.