Terra Linda quarterback Mira Weidner (30) throws a pass as Redwood’s Riya Pyle (2) closes in during their game at Terra Linda in San Rafael, Calif. on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
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Terra Linda quarterback Mira Weidner (30) throws a pass as Redwood’s Riya Pyle (2) closes in during their game at Terra Linda in San Rafael, Calif. on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
Redwood High sophomore quarterback Annaliese Pyle is carrying the banner for flag football as the Giants prepare for the chance to play for their first title.
“A lot of girls didn’t get this opportunity before they graduated who maybe would have had an interest in flag football,” Pyle said. “I’m so happy it got started at Redwood, so all the girls on my team can come out and play the sport they love. Flag football means a lot to me. It’s my favorite sport. It’s a place where you can come out and do your thing.”
Redwood, winner of 10 in a row, was already rolling toward the playoffs heading into this week, and the Giants fueled their run with Wednesday’s 31-13 road victory over a powerful Terra Linda squad.
“This was a really important win for us,” Pyle said. “Terra Linda is a great team, and we just happened to pull through as a team to win.”
Redwood (13-3, 7-0 MCAL) and San Marin (14-2, 6-0) are set for a showdown in the regular-season finale on Oct. 14 in Larkspur to potentially determine the top seed for the MCAL playoffs, although the Mustangs have to get past Marin Catholic (8-6, 6-1) first.
“We’re taking it one game at a time, but San Marin is definitely a big game,” Pyle said. “We’ve been looking ahead to that game against San Marin for a while now.”
Losses to the MCAL’s top three seeds — Redwood, San Marin and Marin Catholic — leave the Trojans (10-7, 3-3) clinging to the fourth and final MCAL playoff seed, with games against Tam (1-12, 1-5) and Archie Williams (0-11, 0-5) remaining. Terra Linda holds a head-to-head tiebreaker over rival San Rafael (5-7, 3-3), with a 53-12 victory over the Bulldogs.
“I really wanted our team to do well, and I think we deserve to play a good team like this. Redwood is definitely one of the top teams out there,” said Terra Linda sophomore receiver and defensive back Madison Troy, who plays on the Marin Heat club team with several girls from Redwood and other schools. “It was exciting for our team to come in here and play them. I think our spirits were up just because we got to play a good team… Our team came out and we gave it all we could.”
Trojans freshman quarterback Mira Weidner was 20 for 26 for 241 yards, with touchdown passes to Troy and Piper Stewart, and an interception.
Pyle worked to solve a difficult Terra Linda defense, as she threw for five touchdowns. She finished the day 19 for 28 for 196 passing yards with one interception, in the first quarter when her throw bounced off the hands of Isabel Hobson and was scooped up by Trojans freshman Gabby Schecter.
“They were containing instead of coming in hard with the blitz,” said Pyle, who wore out her dancing shoes trying to shake the Trojan defense. “They did a good job of containing.”
Schecter had a team-best seven flag pulls, while senior Kaelyn Cifuentes Leiva had six. Senior Abby Gonzalez had three stops and an interception, while Stewart also had three stops.
The Trojans couldn’t keep Pyle bottled up, but did slow the Giants down slightly. Annaliese Pyle found senior Riya Pyle for a 39-yard touchdown on the Giants’ first possession of the game, a five-play, 38-yard drive. They later connected on a short 7-yard touchdown that gave the Giants a 31-6 lead in the fourth quarter. Riya Pyle finished with eight catches for 72 yards.
“Once we get going, then we get on a roll,” Annaliese Pyle said. “We always need that first big play to get started. That first touchdown got us going, and then our spirits were high and we were ready.”
Annaliese Pyle, who had 11 carries for 105 yards, with har back up against the Redwood goal line, broke off a long 39-yard run to start the Giants third drive of the game. A Trojans penalty for contact tacked on to the end of the run gave Redwood the ball 25 yards from the TL end zone. The Giants kept the drive rolling into the second quarter with Pyle’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Emily Muller for a 12-0 lead.
The Trojans were driving to get on the board as time was winding down in the first half, but the Giants defense held them at bay, with strong pass coverage by Rayne Meyers and Finley Tiscareno, who had six solo flag pulls and two assists. Erin McGovern added three solo stops. Terra Linda’s drive stalled 14 yards shy of the end zone with an incomplete pass on fourth down.
The Giants took the ball, and on the second play from scrimmage, Pyle was looking for her target for a first down at midfield and found Hobson, who beat the defense for a 66-yard touchdown as time ran out to take a 18-0 lead into halftime.
The Giants came back onto the field and immediately went back to work with a long drive that ended with Pyle tossing up a 5-yard, high throw for tall sophomore Emma Stein, who jumped above the defense to grab the ball for the 25-0 Redwood lead midway through the third quarter.
Weidner got into a rhythm with Stewart and Troy, who caught a 6-yard touchdown pass to get the Trojans on the board with 3:14 left in the third quarter. Stewart added a 23-yard touchdown pass with just 3 seconds left in the game. Stewart finished with nine catches for 112 yards.
A sweep of next week’s games would not only lock up a MCAL playoff berth, but also send the Trojans back to the North Coast Section playoffs, where they have some unfinished business after last year’s first-round loss to Arroyo in the Division 2 bracket.
“I’d say definitely since last year the amount of support we’ve gotten has increased a lot,” Troy said. “In years prior, my coaches and nine girls would come out to practice. This year we had 50 girls come for the team. And we’ve had the team in the news and on our school Instagram posts, so just having all that really helps reach a lot of people.”
Around the county
- Freshman quarterback Marlise Moraes threw touchdown passes to Charlotte Bogan and Hailey Vela as she was 17 for 34 for 170 yards with two interceptions in Wednesday’s 12-0 road victory over San Rafael. Moraes also had four carries for 46 yards and Vela had two carries for 32 yards. Mila Whorton and Brooklyn Stewart had had eight solo flag pulls, while JoJo Ronzone had three sacks. Bogan had a pair of interceptions.
- Asher Abedin rand for a touchdown and passed for another to lead Tam to a 20-0 victory over Archie Williams. Abedin completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Beatrice Buell and added a 3-yard run across the goal line. She finished 11 of 24 for 68 yards and had nine carries for 56, and added a sack on defense. Brooklyn Hatch ran for an 11-yard touchdown after a timely interception by Violet Donohue. Hatch led the Tam defense with eight flag pulls and an interception. Zora Paul also had eight flag pulls for the Red-tailed Hawks. Josseline Bat had a sack and four flag pulls.
- Olivia Van Dis and Kailee Akamine both caught 66-yard scoring passes from Avery Bishop as San Marin defeated University 29-6. Bishop had four touchdown passes for the game, adding a second one to Van Dis and one to Ellie Castro as the Mustangs (14-2, 6-0) kept pace with Redwood (13-3, 7-0) ahead of their showdown on Oct 14. in Larkspur.
Source: www.marinij.com
