San Marin holds on to defeat Redwood
Rees comes up with huge sack to help Mustangs preserve 21-14 victory
With seconds left on the clock and Redwood needing a score to force overtime against San Marin, Giants sophomore quarterback Brady Weingart dropped back, looking to connect on a seventh consecutive pass on the final drive of the game.
Over the prior minute and a half, Weingart had looked Tom Brady-esque. The Giants, out of timeouts, had started the drive deep in their own territory but thanks to six completions of 10 yards of more from Weingart, they suddenly found themselves at San Marin’s 14-yard line.
For that minute and a half, it was looking like Redwood would have a repeat of their last-minute comeback win over Tam in week one — if not for the effort of San Marin’s Robbie Rees.
With his team needing a stop, Rees got it for the Mustangs, sacking Weingart and knocking the ball loose as he dropped back in the pocket. The Giants recov
ered the ball and scrambled to get another play off but time expired before they could, ending a thrilling 21-14 win for San Marin at Redwood High on Saturday.
Ever since Marin Catholic took itself out of contention for the MCAL title a few years ago, San Marin and Redwood have emerged as two of the top teams vying for the league crown. Redwood claimed it outright last year and shared it with San Marin and Terra Linda the year prior, but the rivalry between the Mustangs and Giants has only intensified with so much now at stake.
“This is like a championship game for us,” said Rees.
Both teams certainly played like it on Saturday.
San Marin came out of the gates quickly, scoring on its first drive of the game. After a healthy dose of carries from starting tailback Justin Guin, who finished with a gamehigh 178 rushing yards on 28 carries and a score, Jake Marshall connected with Shawn Arnold for a 22yard touchdown pass on fourth down to give the Mustangs an early 7-0 advantage.
Guin then picked off Weingart on the Giants’ opening drive, one of three picks the young signal caller had in the game. But like he did in his team’s last-minute drive, Weingart showed poise fit for an upperclassman and rebounded early in the second quarter. He found Zach Ginsburg for a 50-yard pass and then hit the senior receiver again from one-yard out to even the score at 7-7.
Ginsburg had a gamehigh 91 receiving yards on seven catches. Weingart finished with 185 yards — 72 of which came on the final
drive — on an efficient 18 of 23 pass completions.
San Marin’s defense then stepped up just before the half. With a minute left in the second, Nathan Burger blocked a Giants punt, which was scooped up by Rees and taken in for a 15-yard score to give San Marin a 14-7 lead at the break.
Redwood knotted things up late in the third on a 1-yard keeper from Weingart but San Marin wasted no time in responding. After a 50-yard kickoff return from Aidyn Gendel, Guin found a seam and took off on the Mustangs first play on their ensuing possession for a 44-yard score that ultimately proved to be the game-winner.
“Going back to last year and the last couple times we’ve played these guys, special teams has played a significant role so we definitely overemphasized that this week and I think that paid dividends,” said San Marin co-head coach Cory
Boyd.
Added fellow co-head coach Dom DiMare: “We prepped to run the ball, obviously with Guin and Gendel. I thought in general, our defense made big plays when they needed to make big plays and we got first downs we needed to get first downs. In a game like that, it can go either way.”
The Mustangs’ Harry Hughes picked off Weingart for the third and final time with under four minutes to go in the fourth but the Giants got the ball back with 1:52 on the clock. That set the stage for Weingart’s potential last-minute heroics. He completed passes of 11, 11, 10, 19, 11 and 10 yards on the drive but was sacked twice, the second coming from Rees to end the game.
“Nothing to be upset about,” said Redwood head coach Allen Talley. “We had a chance and we fought down there by the end. We drove from our 20 down to their 20, I mean in a minute fifty with no timeouts. That’s poise. We just couldn’t finish it in the end.”