The Warriors will travel to Taft Friday night to battle the Taft Wildcats. Taft has been led
in 2010 by #8 Daniel Watts (above) who has rushed for 932 yards and scored 12 TD's.
Posted by thswarriors.com on November 11, 2010 SSL Ramblings ...
Warriors Travel To Taft For SSL Finale
Playoff Brackets Announced This Week
The Warriors will travel to Taft this Friday night to meet the Wildcats. While the Warriors are 8-1 for the season; 4-0 in SSL play, Taft has struggled with a 2-7 overall record; 2-2 in SSL play.
Taft, a pre-season favorite by the Bakersfield Californian to win the SSL, lost their first seven games this season, before winning two straight games over Shafter and Bakersfield Christian. Taft, a section finalist in Division IV play last season, has been playing much better in recent weeks.
Taft has been led by quarterback #2 Aaron Kolb and running back #8 Daniel Watts. Kolb has completed 39 of 79 passes for 498 yards and rushed for 270 yards. Watts leads the Cats' with 932 yards rushing and 12 TD's.
Since the two schools began playing each other at the varsity level in 1990, the Warriors lead the overall series, 12-7, with Taft winning SSL championships in 2009, 2004, and 2000. Taft is one of the smaller schools in the SSL with a student population of nearly 1,000 students and will enter the CIF Central Section playoffs in Division IV, if they elect to participate this season?
A win over Taft this Friday night guarantees Tehachapi sole possession of first place and back-to-back SSL championships. A win would also position the Warriors for a desirable seed as they enter the Division II Central Section playoffs. The seeding will be very important as it will dictate the opportunities the Warriors have to play at home. Historically, the Warriors have had a decisive advantage playing at home during the playoffs in late November - early December. The playoff brackets will be announced this Saturday from the CIF offices in Porterville.
Playoff Brackets To Be Released This Saturday By The CIF Central Section ...The Warriors have looked forward to post-season play for many years in the Division III classification in the Central Section. But things have changed this year. Despite the objections of Tehachapi High, and presumably victims of their own success, the Warriors were moved up to Division II in football beginning in 2010.
The Warriors are still looking forward to the post-season playoffs --- but the field of competition is much different in Division II. Bigger schools and private schools.
In Division III, a 9-1 season record would give the Warriors a probable #1, #2, or #3 seed. In Division II, the Warriors will be looked upon as a team that plays a "soft" schedule, and probably will be seeded someplace between #4 and #8.
Central Section Commissioner Jim Crichlow and company will do all the seedings this Saturday. When records are identical, or things get a little tough, there are several key factors to consider:
* Overall record
* Head to head competition
* Strength of schedule
* Record vs common opponents
The first two bullets on the list are easy to decipher, its the strength of schedule and record vs common opponents factors that get a little dicey.
There will be a maximum of 17 teams eligible for the Division II tournament --- with no guarantee all will participate in the tournament (example: Monache-Porterville is 1-8). There is no clear cut favorite for the number #1 seed, but here are some of the teams looking for high seeds in the tournament.
Garces (8-1; 3-0 in SEYL) ... Best Win: Garces 49 Golden Valley 41
Tehachapi (8-1; 4-0 in SSL) plays Taft this week.
San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno (7-2; 3-2 in CMCA) ... Best Win: SJM 41 Garces 35
Frontier (6-3; 2-2 in SWYL) ... Best Win: Frontier 35 Clovis North 34
Redwood-Visalia (6-3; 4-1 in WYL) ... Best Win: Redwood 28 Lemoore 25
Sunnyside-Fresno (6-3; 4-0 in CMAC) ... Best Win: Sunnyside 21 SJM 10
Tulare Western-Tulare (6-3; 6-1 in EYL) ... Best Win: Western 14 Delano 10
Clovis North (3-6; 1-3 in TRAC) ... Best Win: Clovis North 30 SJM 7
Clovis North you say? Consider Garces overpowered Tehachapi, 35-6. San Joaquin Memorial defeated Garces, 41-35, and Clovis North ripped SJM, 30-7! Clovis North, despite their losing record, plays in a very tough Tri-River Athletic Conference with the other powerhouse Clovis High Schools. Yes, there is definately a different level of company in Division II.
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