Wasco Tigers at Tehachapi
August 17, 2018
Going for a two-point conversion and an 8-7 lead, Warrior Hayden Palmer, #6, dives over the goal line in second quarter action of Friday’s
season opener against Wasco on Coy Burnett Field. Tehachapi led 22-14 at the start of the fourth quarter. Wasco regained the lead with just over
five minutes left on the clock to defeat the Warriors, 28-22. (Photo by Michael Duffy.)
Posted by Corey Costelloe, The Tehachapi News, on August 19, 2018. Warriors Fall In Football Season Opener
Wasco 28 Tehachapi 22
Three solid quarters of football and a 15-point lead welcomed the Warriors into the fourth quarter Friday night, but the Wasco Tigers took advantage of the final 12 minutes, scoring a pair of touchdowns to spoil the Warriors home opener 28-22 at Coy Burnett Stadium.
Elias Salinas led the rushing attack for Wasco with a pair of touchdowns including a 14-yard run that proved to be the difference as Tehachapi stalled in the final frame.
“We did a lot of things well, we just didn’t finish the game,” said Tehachapi head coach Doug DeGeer. “We only played three quarters and were too complacent after half time.”
The Warriors, playing without senior quarterback Chris Garcia, trailed 7-0 following a scoring drive by Wasco on the second possession of the game. The Warriors responded during their first possession of the second quarter as junior quarterback Jaron Searcy scored on a four-yard run before Hayden Palmer dove in for the two-point conversion to give the Warriors an 8-7 lead.
Tehachapi built on that lead later in the second with a 56-yard touchdown run by Tanner Love. Love recorded nearly 100 yards rushing in the game before exiting with an ankle injury in the second half.
Using his replacement, Tehachapi scored just 50 seconds into the third quarter when Mathew Finklea scored on a 61-yard touchdown run to give Tehachapi a 22-7 lead. Palmer once again converted the two-point try for the Warriors.
Wasco however would respond using quarterback Jacob Villanveva and superior down-field blocking to open the gaps on a 25-yard quarterback keeper to spark the comeback for the Tigers. Following that run it was a pair of rushing touchdowns including Salinas’ 14-yard dagger in the fourth quarter that would propel the Tigers to the victory.
Tehachapi had one final possession but couldn’t manage to cross mid field before turning the ball over on downs.
“We improved a lot from the week before, but we still need to clean up the little mistakes like formation confusion and backfield blocking assignments,” DeGeer said.
The game was played almost exclusively on the ground by both teams and included nearly 500 yards of combined rushing. The Tigers carried the ball for 271 yards while Tehachapi rushed for 206. All the touchdowns came on the ground.
“I was very happy with the personnel that we had in the game,” DeGeer said. “We had a lot of guys playing both ways and they showed a lot of heart and grit.”
“We will hopefully get healthy and clean up the little things before BHS this week.”
The Warriors will take a huge leap up in competition this week as they play their first road game of the season at Bakersfield High School. The Drillers (0-1) fell on Thursday night at Servite 17-7 in a game that included four turnovers for BHS.
The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Griffith Field. However, heat index and air quality could potentially delay the start time of Friday night’s games as they did last week in Bakersfield. This will mark just the second meeting all-time between the school’s varsity football programs.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Wasco High 7 0 0 21 28 Tehachapi 0 14 8 0 22
The Scoring:
First Quarter:
WHS: - 2 yd. TD Run (PAT kick good)
Second Quarter:
THS - Searcy 4 yd. TD run (Palmer 2 pt. conversion run)
THS - Love 56 yd. TD run (PAT conversion run failed)
Third Quarter:
THS - Finklea 61 yd. TD run (Palmer 2 pt. conversion run)
Fourth Quarter:
WHS - Villanueva 25 yd. TD run (PAT kick good)
WHS - Salinas TD run (PAT kick good)
WHS - Salinas 14 yd. TD run (PAT kick good)
Wasco High vs Tehachapi High Stats
WHS THS First Downs Rushes-Yards 46-326 206 Passing Yards 33 10 Comp-Att-Int 1-2-0 5-9-0 Total Yards 360 216 Punts Penalties
Varsity Records: Tehachapi 0-1. Wasco High 1-0.
Braves 07 Wasco JV's 37
Indians 00 Wasco Frosh 06
