The City of Malibu’s flag football version of the Super Bowl could be a foreshadowing of things to come in February. Behind a strong defense and a slick one-two punch on offense, the Point Dume Green team won the 4th/5th grade championship defeating Juan Cabrillo, 32-0, last Wednesday at Bluffs Park. The big win capped off an undefeated 9-0 season for the Dumers.
“Today was the best game of the whole season,” Green coach Indy Moore said. “The defense was awesome. Just a total team effort. One to nine everyone played great in the most important game of the year.”
Quarterback Preston Cook connected with wide receiver Sam Marshall for three touchdowns, sparking comparisons to a couple of guys currently plying their trade in the big leagues.
“He looks like Wes Welker and I am Peyton Manning,” Cook said.
“I wouldn’t say that because I don’t like to brag,” Marshall responded back when hearing about the similarities.
But on this day, Marshall had room to boast after catching six passes, including three in which he found the end zone.
“Sam Marshall stood out today and went berserk on plays he did himself. He created his own plays and went back against the grain to score,” Moore said. “Preston was on fire dropping dimes and putting the ball where he needed to put it.”
On the first play of the game, Point Dume Green struck when Cook hit a wide-open Marshall along the sideline for a touchdown that covered the length of the field. Moore was so happy that he ran behind his team from end to end, screaming, “That’s how you do it!”
The two teams traded possessions until Point Dume Green made it 12-0 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half. Cailen Shah stepped in at quarterback and found Marshall on a crossing pattern across the middle of the field, as Marshall raced up the left sideline untouched for the touchdown.
The second half began where the first half left off with Point Dume Green on the attack again. Cook hit Shah in stride who eluded defenders and sprinted to pay dirt. Cook’s two-point conversion run made it 20-0.
“I actually ran the wrong play but ended up scoring a touchdown. So that was excellent,” Shah said.
Juan Cabrillo began to expose the PDG defense with back-to-back 10-yard runs from quarterback Nathaniel Molder and an eight-yard run by Hunter Bercu. But they stalled on downs when Cook swiped one of his game-high six flags on the afternoon.
The magical Cook-to-Marshall combination went to work again with a 20-yard pass off a wheel route and then a bomb for a 30-yard touchdown.
“Indy (Moore) always says that when you run the route right good things happen. So I guess I did,” said Marshall. “Today was so much fun. I’ve never had a game like this in all my other leagues. I’m excited because we are undefeated champions. You can’t beat that.”
After Juan Cabrillo threatened again, Casey Kelly of PDG made a defensive play worthy of an “ESPN Top 10” highlight, laying his body out to knock down a pass.
With Moore yelling, “Who gets behind you?” the defense hollered back in unison, “No one,” and proceeded to pitch a shutout.
“Our defense was great. We have really good players,” Kelly said.
Point Dume Green scored its final touchdown when Shah intercepted a pass and ran it back for the final tally to make it 32-0.
Cook completed six of nine passes for three touchdowns in the title-winning game. Kelly snagged three flags to go along with three pass break-ups. Marshall ran precision routes all day long, while Shah contributed on both sides of the ball.
“It feels great,” Cook said. “I was nervous on some passes but I came through and finished hard.”
Mulder and Bercu played well for Juan Cabrillo in the losing effort, grabbing three flags apiece and making multiple productive runs on offense.
But this day and this season belonged to Point Dume Green.
“This was an amazing group of kids. No discipline problems and very coachable,” Moore said. “I’m sad that it’s over.”
