The Malibu High School football teams closed out their seasons last week, with the varsity and junior varsity teams scoring convincing victories on the road against the Santa Clara Saints.
In Friday’s varsity contest, the Sharks’ defense held Santa Clara scoreless, with MHS winning 10-0. The Shark attack was led by the hard-hitting running of Chris Lafotu, who rushed for 85 yards in the first half and scored a touchdown. The only second half scoring was a 27-yard field goal by Malibu kicker Jeff Spiegel. Lafotu, Matt Nechak, Chris Callahan and Andrew Heric continued to lead the Malibu defense with hard-hitting and heads-up play throughout the game.
MHS’ varsity squad closed the season with three consecutive victories (the first time any MHS varsity football team has accomplished this feat) and won four out of its last five games to finish the season 4-5, just missing an appearance in the playoffs.
In Thursday’s junior varsity game, the squad was once again impressive, trouncing the Saints 37-0. Sophomore Miles Edman closed out a record-setting season with a stunning 290 yards on 30 carries, to finish the year with more than 2,000 yard rushing. Edman romped through gaping holes in the Santa Clara defensive line, which were opened by the explosive blocking of team co-captain Ted Leshnick. The Sharks finished the season with a 6-3 record.
Next year’s varsity team looks to be strong, with only a handful of players being lost to graduation. The large and well-coached junior varsity squad will send up as many as two dozen players, including Miles Edman, to bolster an already strong varsity team.