'Holy cow,' Alameda High School wins first North Coast Section flag football championship with Hail Mary

After game-winning touchdown pass is wiped out by penalty, the Hornets would not be denied in flag football thriller at California High

We are the champions. Alameda's girls flag football team won the initial NCS championship after a 26-20 overtime win over Alhambra at California High. / Photo: Jim Malone

SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA — What in the name of flag football will the North Coast Section do for an encore?

Thanks to a thrilling overtime closer capped by an improbable fourth-down 30-yard touchdown heave by senior quarterback Aaliyah Soderlund to junior Leaira Robinson, the NCS’s first playoff championship finished with a flurry and a thrilling 26-20 victory for Alameda over 14th-seed Alhambra on a chilly night under a near full moon. 

“I mean, Holy Cow,” said Soderlund, a future college softball catcher who was talked into playing the second-year NCS sport. “I mean, it’s my senior year. This is the last flag football game I’m ever going to play. So I’m just so excited and just feel blessed.” 

Both teams looked like it had pulled out the back-and-forth affair in the final minute of regulation. 

Soderlund capped a long drive with a 5-yard keeper for a touchdown to give the fourth-seeded Hornets a 20-14 lead. Their two-point conversion try failed with 35 seconds to play, but no worry. With their defense they had the game in the bag. 

But just like the Bulldogs (19-7-1) had done throughout the playoffs, they had another gear. 

Alameda junior receiver Leaira Robinson reacts after catching the game-winning touchdown in overtime of the Hornets' 26-20 win over Alhambra Nov. 14, 2024 / Photo: Jim Malone

Speedy senior quarterback Jessica Blake threw a bomb down the right sideline that was tipped straight into the air. Speedier Julissa Islas snapped up the ball in the air and raced the distance with 20 seconds left to tie the score at 20-20. 

When back-to-back Alameda penalties put the ball at the 1 for a conversion try, the Bulldogs seemingly had the game in the bag. But nothing was certain in this contest. 

Blake’s conversion pass fell incomplete and this game was going to overtime. Alameda coach Michael Lee was confident his Hornets would pull it out. 

“It’s a very resilient group,” he said. 

More than he could have possibly known. 

After an interception by Robinson stopped Alhambra’s possession, Soderlund seemed to have ended the game with a 25-yard touchdown strike to Zalayah Cobarruviaz, who was brilliant all night. The Hornets celebrated in the end zone, but hold on. 

The referees called the Hornets for a blocking violation to the astonishment and bewilderment of Lee and Soderlund. 

Alameda senior QB Aaliyah Soderlund during her team's first North Coast Section title win over Alhambra. / Photo: Jim Malone

“When it was taken away I was upset because I went from thinking we won to like we gotta do it again,” she said. “I had confidence because it was first down, but then three plays went by and it was like ‘oh crap.’ “

Lee didn’t have any 4th-and-goal from the 30 plays of note, so Soderlund just told everyone to go deep. Everyone did but Robinson somehow got loose in the back of the end zone and Soderlund found her with a rifle throw after evading a heavy pass rush. 

Replays showed she almost stepped over the line of scrimmage. 

“I thought the game was already over when Zalayah had made the game-winning catcher,” Robinson said. “The last play was just streaks to the end zone.” 

Heading to the end zone, Robinson had confidence Soderlund would get her the ball. 

Alhambra senior QB Jessica Blake avoided good pressure all night and had several touchdown passes / Photo: Jim Malone

“Aallyah and I warm up together every game,” Robinson said. “It was just like her and I were warming up again and I was about to get another catch.” 

But this was no ordinary catch. It was a historic catch to win a historic first title. 

“It was a lot of shock,” she said when she caught the ball. “We did it. We came a long way.” 

“It’s been exciting. It’s been stressful. It’s been hard, wonderful, it’s been like a roller coaster. Especially the games when we were down and we’d sometimes turn on each other. But then we came together and did amazing.” 

A hard collision on an imcomplete broken up largely by Alhambra senior Julissa Islas, who later in the game provided a 60-yard catch and run for score to send the game into overtime. / Photo: Jim Malone

It was an amazing day all around for both finalists, which had to each win semifinal games a couple hours earlier. 

North Coast Section commissioner Pat Cruickshank agreed 100%. He was grinning ear-to-ear throughout the five-hour competition, which included two semifinals before the championship game — a 19-18 Alhambra upset of second-seed California and Alameda’s 32-14 victory over Heritage-Brentwood.

“It was an instant classic in our first year," he said. “It was honestly one of the coolest moments I have had as commissioner.” 

Soderlund was brilliant in both games, throwing four touchdown passes and two interceptions on defense in the semifinals.  

She would consider playing flag football in college, but there are very few schools at this point offering scholarships, especially out West. She’s a big time catcher on the softball team with offers from Cal, Davis and Northern Arizona. She was somewhat concerned that she could get hurt in football — she limped off the field more than once on Friday — but the allure and popularity of the sport and camaraderie with teammates was too difficult to pass up. 

“I came out late  and immediately I liked the team, the chemistry, it was fun.” 

Aaliyah Soderlund goes in for a touchdown on a 5-yard keeper with 35 seconds left to give Alameda a 20-14 lead in the North Coast Section championship at California High School in San Ramon. / Photo: Jim Malone

Alhambra coach Dan Reed said coaching the girls has been a blast, even with having to console them after such a tough defeat. 

His team had made a strong postseason run with wins over higher seeds San Ramon Valley (14-12), Granada (10-7) and California (19-18). 

“We held our own and hung with Alameda also,” he said. “We made a great comeback. We showed so much heart. It was really a great end until the end. That was hard. But I couldn’t be prouder of the girls.”

Alameda celebrates its wild 26-20 overtime win over Alhambra for North Coast Section's first flag football championship / Photo: Jim Malone

The celebration moved to the stands for the Hornets, who won the sports' first North Coast Section championship. / Photo: Jim Malone