Warrior Adam Bullard #11 is chased by #75 Keoni Taylor of Garces in 1st half action last Friday night.
Garces held on to defeat the Warriors 34-28 in Bakersfield. Photo by the Bakerfield Californian.
Posted by thswarriors.com on September 14, 2011 SSL Ramblings
Warrior Coaches Face Dilemma With Lange
Well, what can you say? While it was a heartbreaking loss to Garces, it was certainly an entertaining and well played football game between two very good high school football programs. While the Warriors fell short of a win by one TD, fans will agree Garces had a difficult time stopping the Warriors, the Warriors stopped themselves with some costly turnovers. Some other tid bits from the Garces-Tehachapi game:
* Tehachapi had more total yardage than the Rams, 398 to 343.
* This was the 40th game between the two rival schools; the series is now tied 19-19-2.
* The Garces win snapped a 13 game win streak by the Warriors dating back to the 2010 season.
* Does Garces consider Tehachapi their rival? The "Holy Bowl" game is in a few weeks and pits Garces against San Joaquin Memorial. These two rival Catholic schools have been playing each other for a long time for San Joaquin Valley supremacy.
* The loss to Garces hardly hurt the stature of the Warriors ranking in the San Joaquin Valley. Tehachapi is ranked #16 by the Fresno Bee and #12 by the Bakerfield Californian. Garces is ranked #14 by The Bee and #8 by The Californian.
Meet the North High Stars
The Warriors will travel to Oildale this Friday night to play the North High School Stars. This will be the second year of a home-and-away series for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. The Warriors won the 2010 contest in Tehachapi by a slim 19-13 margin. Warrior fans will remember this was a sloppy game, as both offenses combined for 11 fumbles in that game.
The Warriors and North High will play for keeps beginning next season when Tehachapi joins the Southeast Yosemite League along with North, East, Foothill, Highland and Garces.
North won their opening game of the season last Friday night, routing Mira Monte of Bakersfield by a final 26 to 7 count. North Bakersfield exhibited a balanced rushing and passing attack, and had a good night defensively holding down Mira Monte.
Warrior wide receiver Cory Lange #4
Warrior Coaches Face Dilemma With Lange
One challenge for the Warrior coaching staff this season is how to get the ball into wide receiver Cory Lange’s hands. Good things happen when Lange is around the football. In 2010, Lange caught 13 passes, recorded 509 passing yards (averaging 39 yards per catch), and scored 8 receiving TD’s.
Lange, at 6’2” 180 pounds, is one of the most gifted athletes to go through Tehachapi High School in the last decade. He is a tri-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. He’s probably the best athlete to wear a Warrior uniform since Jerad Romo who graduated in 2001 (sidebar: Romo chose football and was the starting QB at both Antelope Valley JC and D1 member Southern Methodist University). Case in point, Lange scored a whopping 41 points in one basketball game last year.
So it’s simple. Throw the ball to Lange. There’s just one problem, Tehachapi employs the run based wing-T offense with exceptional results. In 2010, the Warrior offense scored a school record 462 points, which topped the previous school record established in 2008 of 460 points. Well, you get the idea, the wing-T system works. All the accolades go to Warrior running backs. Since 2000, that’s 135 Warrior football games, Warrior football teams average just six (6) passes per game. Defenses know this, and “load the box” as they say, creating tremendous opportunities to pass the ball.
To be fair, the Warriors look for creative ways to get the ball to Lange. He even carries the ball from time to time to get the ball into his hands. He also gets his shots when he plays on the defensive side of the ball (blocked a punt against Exeter). The Warriors have completed just six passes this young season --- and Lange has caught all six passes. At this modest pace, Lange will catch over 30 passes this season. That would shatter all known Warrior pass receiving records.
The bottom line is Tehachapi has a very talented receiver. It would be a shame if Lange graduated from high school as the best wide receiver in school history nobody ever knew about.
Around the South Sequoia League (SSL)
The SSL took it on the chin in Week 1 collecting one win and losing four games. But that one win was a little tainted as Wasco ripped Coalinga 34 to 12. The game was stopped due to a fighting incident between the two teams just before the first half ended. CIF central section Commissioner Jim Crichlow and staff are reviewing video of the game to determine what players left the benches --- and there were many --- to join in on the melee. Those players, by CIF rule, will be suspended for the next game.
In other action, DIII powerhouse Porterville destroyed Shafter 46-7; Foothill defeated Arvin 34-14; in an eye opener, Coalinga wiped out Taft 59-15; Garces nipped the Warriors; and Bakersfield Christian had a bye week.
