Warriors at Bakersfield High Drillers
September 21, 2001 at Griffith Field in Bakersfield
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Drillers 14 Tehachapi 6
First Ever Meeting Between The Two Schools
BAKERSFIELD - On September 21, 2001, for the first time ever, these two schools played each other
(at the varsity level) on a warm night at historic Griffith Field in downtown Bakersfield before a near capacity crowd.
The footnote to these two schools playing each other is they had actually met nine times before, the last time in 1956.
Tehachapi actually led the series, 7-2. BUT --- Tehachapi had always played Bakersfield Junior Varsity or Varsity Reserve teams. Bakersfield,
the former "Kern County High School", used to carry THREE varsity teams many year ago!
The sequence of events that led to the chance meeting of these two schools is also quite unusual.
This was not a regularly scheduled game for either team. The tragic events in New York at the World Trade Center
on September 11, 2001, led to the cancellation of sporting events all over the country. For Tehachapi, it led to the cancellation of the
scheduled game against Rosamond on September 14. Bakersfield was supposed to play AB Miller of Fontana on September 14 --- that game was also cancelled.
Rosamond and AB Miller are members of the CIFSOUTHERN Section. Tehachapi and Bakersfield are members of the CIFCENTRAL Section.
CIF CENTRAL Section schools moved their schedules up one week. CIF SOUTHERN Section schools resumed play with their regularly scheduled opponents.
Okay, if you are still with us --- you are doing better than most. The net scheduling result is Tehachapi and
Bakersfield were left without a game on September 21.
You have to commend coach Steve Denman for accepting the challenge to play Bakersfield. He could have found
a lot of reasons to say "no thanks". According to the Bakersfield Californian, Denman was quoted as saying, "To us, this is just another game.
This is a great challenge, but we're approaching it just like any other game."
But to many, this was a "David vs Goliath" matchup. The mighty Drillers have won more football games
than any other high school in the state of California. In 107 years of playing football, the Drillers have had 23
undefeated seasons, dozens of league championships, 31 CIF titles, 7 State Championships. The Driller program has produced many NFL players and dozens of
top rated Division I college players. And most recently, the Drillers are coming off an impressive 12-1 season in 2000 where they lost in
the "large school" Yosemite Division CIF title game to Buchanan of Fresno. The Drillers entered the game versus Tehachapi as the
5th ranked team in the State of California.
But somebody forgot to tell Tehachapi they were "David". After all, THS has a little 71 year tradition of winning
football themselves, including 18 playoff appearances in the last 22 years, 23 league championships, and 7 CIF championships. From the opening kickoff,
the boys from Tehachapi did not play like they were a star struck team. The poised Warriors played a stellar game against
the speedy and talented Driller team, losing by a final 14-6 count.
A combination of a tough Warrior defense combined with a penalty prone Driller team (125 yards in penalties)
kept the game close. The Warriors trailed at halftime 7-6, and were a few plays away from potentially upsetting the Drillers.
Speedy Warrior running back Gary Evans rushed for 109 yards on 15 carries including a 68 yard TD run. Evans' electrifying
TD run was a sweep to the right side where he broke a tackle in the backfield, cut back up the field,
and outraced several quick BHS secondary defenders to the goal line. The PAT was blocked after two five-yard penalties pushed
the PAT back to the 18 yard line. The Evans score came just three plays after BHS took a 7-0 lead.
The Warriors had two other golden scoring opportunities, missing a field goal on their first drive of the game,
and turning the ball over on downs early in the second half at the BHS 5 yard line. In the end, it was the outstanding
Driller defense that was the difference in the football game.
"Tehachapi is a good, solid football team," BHS coach Tim Hartnett said, "they are going to beat some people.
I'm disappointed in the way we played. But I'll take the win."
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 0 6 0 0 06 BHS 0 7 7 0 14
The Scoring:
2nd Quarter:
BHS – Dover 1 yard run (Barthelmes PAT kick good)
THS – Evans 68 yardrun (PAT kick blocked)
3rd Quarter:
BHS - Mackey 55 yard pass from Dover (Barthelmes PAT kick good)
Click Here For Game Clip |
THS vs Bakersfield Game Statistics
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING: Tehachapi: Evans 15-109, Bennett 6-9, Easttom 8-13, Troffer 2-8, Vandeventer 3-7, Warner 3-(-5).
PASSING: Tehachapi: Warner 1-10-0-31, Easttom 1-2-0-37. Bakersfield: Dover 8-14-1-176, Francies 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING: Tehachapi: Altien 1-37, Easttom 1-31. Bakersfield: Mackey 2-64, Shirley 3-54, Cooper 1-38, Carter 1-16, Vercher 1-4.
Junior Varsity: BHS Roughnecks 14, Tehachapi Braves 6
THS BHS
First Downs 06 10 Rushes-Yards 37-141 33-104 Passing Yards 68 176 Comp-Att-Int 2-12-0 8-16-1 Total Yards 209 280 Punts-Avg. 5-35.0 3-49.3 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0 Penalties 5-35 11-125
Bakersfield: Stancil 17-98, Vercher 1-21, Scott 1-2, Mackey 1-(-1), Dover 10-(-4).
Frosh: BHS Bits 22, Tehachapi Indians 16