The Greatest Passing Game In Warrior History
Killingsworth Throws For 7 TD Passes!
Senior Carroll Killingsworth in 1951-52.
It's the kind of story that makes Warrior legends.
On a sunny fall afternoon, Saturday, October 27, 1951 to be exact, the mighty Warriors played host to a highly
touted Garces Rams team in a key Sierra League contest.
The Warriors entered the game undefeated with a perfect 5-0 record, 1-0 in league play. The game would
go down in history as the single best passing game ever by a Warrior quarterback.
Senior quarterback Carroll Killingsworth would throttle the Ram secondary by completing nine (9) passes
in 15 attempts --- SEVEN of those passes going for touchdowns!
Killingsworth passed for over 200 yards as the Warriors led Garces 14-0 after the 1st quarter; 26-7 at the half;
47-7 after 3 quarters; and won going away by a final count of 53-13.
According to the Bakersfield Californian, "The ball handling of Killingsworth for Tehachapi was a thing
of beauty. It was difficult for even the more experienced eyes of some of the fans
to figure out who had the ball. He threw four different touchdown passes and was on
the throwing end of two more pass-and-lateral touchdown passes. In addition, he converted (PAT's) six times."
Carroll Killingsworth Passing Game
Versus Garces in 1951
Quarter Play Pass Yds. TD #1 1 Killingsworth-to-Jim Lovelace 68 yards TD #2 1 Killingsworth-to-Rudy Muro 12 yards TD #3 2 Killingsworth-to-Jim Lovelace 12 yards TD #4 2 Killingsworth-to-Porter-to-Muro 20 yards TD #5 3 Killingsworth-to-Muro-to-Porter 43 yards TD #6 3 Killingsworth-to-Troy Porter 9 yards TD #7 3 Killingsworth-to-Muro-to-Porter 45 yards
The record of seven TD passes in one game still stands today --- some 50-plus years later! And while high
school passing offenses are more sophisticated these days, the Denman era of the run based Wing-T offense has
produced few challenges to the old school record. Some of the former quarterbacks that Denman allowed to throw including
Brett Oberg, Joel Nash, Ryan Grimes, and Jerad Romo all had highs of 3 touchdown passes in a single game.
THREE. Denman himself (1973-74), under the play calling of former head coach Gary Ogilvie, was allowed to sling the ball
on a regular basis. His best single game TD passing performance? TWO.
The point is what Killingsworth accomplished is impressive by any standards.
Oh, and by the way, the Warriors of 1951 went undefeated and were the small school
champions of the San Joaquin Valley. Killingsworth threw a record 23 TD passes during the 1951 season.
The 23 TD passes in one season is still a record today --- and he did it in 9 games!
Killingsworth also rushed for 6 TD's and was responsible for 29 PAT's, primarily as a kicker.
Reflecting back on his high school years, Killingsworth is quick to recognize the protection he received
from his offensive line, " ... I am gratefully aware that I had the opportunity to (be successful) because
of the the pass protection provided by Jim Lovelace, Dwayne Stevens, Ed Sparks,
Norman Wills, Dick Fritz, John Cummings and Troy Porter."
After high school, Carroll was recruited to play football for Fresno State. He played for about a month,
but stopped playing to concentrate on his studies. Carroll graduated from Fresno State University with
a Bachelors degree in Education. He also earned a Masters Degree at LA State College and also did graduate work at USC.
Over the years he worked at school districts in Visalia, Azusa (just south of LA), Taft, and Mill Valley.
He served the youth of those respective communities as a teacher and an administrator. In Mill Valley,
Carroll worked as a Principal at three different schools and also worked as the Assistant Superintendent for the school district.
Today, retired and living in Mill Valley, Carroll works as a consultant and an author. Carroll is both
a champion for the Warriors, and a champion in the game of life.
Carroll Killingsworth, Tehachapi High School Class of 1952, worked for school districts in
Visalia, Azusa, Taft, and Mill Valley. He served the youth of those respective communities as a teacher and an administrator.
