Under the direction of assistant coach Patrick Snyder (far left), the Warriors hone their skills on proper tackling technique during drill sessions.
The Warriors will hold an intrasquad scrimmage this Saturday morning at Coy Burnett Field, beginning at 8 a.m. (Photo by Michael Duffy, The Tehachapi News.)Posted August 12, 2014 by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News Football Season Fast Approaching
Mountain Football Readies For Upcoming Year
Since the end of July, the Warriors, Braves and Indians have been working hard in preparation for the upcoming football season.
It will be strength in numbers for each THS team, with nearly 150 combined athletes out for varsity, jayvee and freshmen squads. Steve Denman, Ryan Grimes and Bruce Schkade will be the head coaches for each respective team.
“We have a great group of kids this year, very coachable with great work ethic,” Denman said. “We just want them to keep improving in their groups and as a team overall.”
The Warriors will have 26 seniors on their roster, spearheaded by the return of vested linemen Connor O’Neal, Trey Abarquez and Rocky Radcliff, running back Chris Rhodes and kicker Abraham Katona. Mountain Football also will feature underclassmen that saw significant playing time last year, along with talented sophomores Troy Noda (WR/DB), Tanner Herman (RB/LB) and Keyron Scott (RB/DB).
The Warrior football schedule will have a new look in 2014, highlighted with a promotion to the mid-tier group of county power schools, the South Yosemite League. One of the notable omissions from this year’s schedule is Garces, who moved to the Southwest Yosemite League. According to Coach Denman, a pre-season meeting with the Rams could be a possibility in the near future.
“Garces has a good coach in Tim Antongiovanni and I can see us re-upping with them in a couple of years,” Denman said.
Despite not having Garces on the schedule, there is still plenty of competition for the Warriors to contend with for the upcoming season.
Prior the start of the SYL, Tehachapi will face off against Foothill, Burroughs-Ridgecrest, Centennial, Arvin and North in the first five games.
THS will then follow up with league matchups against Independence, East, Golden Valley, Ridgeview and West.
“Overall, we have some schools bigger than us and we are by far the smallest school in our league,” said Denman. “You have teams like Independence coming down from a Division I league. Ridgeview has been a powerhouse in the playoffs the last couple of years and West, East and Golden Valley will be tough.”
This week, the Warriors will hold an intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, Aug 16, at Coy Burnett Field. The scrimmage will start at approximately 8 a.m.
after the conclusion of team pictures. Fans are welcome to attend and admission is free.
Next week, a ‘Meet the Warrior’ banquet will occur on Wednesday, Aug 20 at 6 p.m. Tehachapi will also have a tri-scrimmage at Coy Burnett Field against South Bakersfield
and Taft on Friday, Aug.22, starting at 5 p.m. The non-league season will begin at home against Foothill on Aug 29.
Button Fundraiser Sale this Thursday
In conjunction with the Moose Lodge, THS student athletes will be selling buttons at Railroad Park this Thursday afternoon, beginning at 4 p.m.
Each button is $2 and proceeds will benefit the THS football program.
Coach Denman thanks Benz and Grimes
The Warrior Football Program would like to thank Benz Sanitation and Propane and Ed and Ruthie Grimes for their generous donations to our program. Benz Inc. and the Benz family have provided continuous support for over 30 years at Tehachapi High School and the Warrior Booster Program and the Grimes family has been generous with putting on the pancake breakfast Fourth of July fundraiser every year. Their continued support has helped all sports programs and provided opportunities to our student athletes, ranging from providing food during summer camps to uniforms. Thank you again for your support!
From left to right, Thomas Blewett, Caleb Huebner, Nathan Collier and Trevor Newton work their way in the backfield during practice last Friday.
(Photo by Michael Duffy, The Tehachapi News.)
