The Malibu High School Sharks football team won big on Homecoming Night last month.
The Sharks defeated the East Valley Falcons 46-0 on Sept. 16.
Malibu head coach Steven Hernandez said the Sharks’ defense led the way.
“If I had to give a game ball to someone, it would be our entire defense,” he said. “In the first half, our defense only allowed 20 yards. In the second half, our defense left East Valley with negative yards. Our offense did a great job too, but our defense had fumble recoveries, interceptions, and two touchdowns.”
The Sharks defeated the Falcons by a wide margin last year also. However, Hernandez said, the 33-member bunch didn’t step onto the gridiron overconfident.
“They took it serious,” he said. “From the first play of the game, it was a lot of physicality, a lot of determination. We let our play do the talking for us the whole game.”
A couple of Sharks players scored multiple touchdowns in the victory, which occurred in front of an excited Malibu crowd.
That crowd saw the Malibu High Homecoming Court introduced during halftime festivities, in which Jacquelle Kapland was named Homecoming Queen, and Corby Norby was named as Homecoming King.
Hernandez hopes for another great performance on Friday when they host the New Designs University Park Cardinals at 6:30 p.m. Malibu enters the game with a 1-3 record. The Cardinals, a Los Angeles-based team, have a 2-4 record.
The Sharks season began on Sept. 2 with loss to Avalon. The team was defeated by Milken seven days later. The Sharks were downed by Santa Clarita Christian two weeks after beating East Valley.
Hernandez said Malibu defeated themselves in the losses to Milken and Santa Clarita Christian. The group was plagued by turnovers and other miscues.
“We don’t get beat,” Hernandez said. “We beat ourselves. My guys are very hard on themselves. They can’t dwell on mistakes. They are learning to move onto the next play.”
Malibu hosts the Laguna Blanca Owls on Oct. 14 and the Villanova Prep Wildcats on Oct. 23. The Sharks last game of the regular season is at the Santa Clara Saints on Oct. 27.
Hernandez said the Sharks are a hard-working team.
“They have a lot of heart,” the coach said. “We are developing into a really close-knit family. People are hanging out with each other — kids who wouldn’t really hang out with each other are hanging out on the weekend.”
