Highland High comes to Tehachapi for a CIF Division III playoff game this Friday night after advancing in the playoffs with a 35-7 victory over Cesar Chavez of Delano. The Scots have a season record of 5-6, but play in the tough Southeast Yosemite League. Above, the Scots star player Anthony Johnson (with ball) tries to elude the Bakersfield Driller defense in a game played earlier this year. The Drillers won, 26-0.
Posted by thswarriors.com on November 10, 2007 SSL Ramblings ...
Highland High Comes To Town
For a CIF Division III Playoff Game
The playoff season for the Warriors gets underway this Friday night when the Highland Scots come to town for a 7:00 pm game at Coy Burnett Field. The Warriors are the SSL champions for the 2007 season and had a first round "bye" in the Division III bracketing by virtue of a #1 seeding.
The Scots of head coach Tim Hartnett come into the game with an overall season record of 5 wins and 6 losses, and advanced in the playoffs by soundly defeating Cesar Chavez of Delano 35-7 this past Friday night.
Hartnett may be a familiar name to Warrior fans, as the long time coach once guided the mighty Bakersfield High Driller program. Hartnett was the Driller head coach from 1997-2002, winning the Southeast Yosemite League all six years he guided the program, including a 2002 Division I large school valley championship. It was Hartnett that made the call to Warrior coach Steve Denman in 2001 to schedule the first ever varsity game between Tehachapi and Bakersfield High (a game won by the Drillers 14-6) .
Speaking of the Southwest Yosemite League (SYL), the Scots finished 3-3 in SYL play, which includes Bakersfield area schools Garces, Golden Valley, Liberty, Foothill, East High, and Bakersfield High. So as you can see, the Scots have had some quality opposition.
The Scots claim to be a much improved team, not the same team that lost earlier in the year to Shafter, 17-14, and struggled to get a win over Arvin, 24-6. Much of that improvement is due to the versatile play of senior Anthony Johnson who has played wide receiver, running back, and now quarterback for the Scots.
For those not familiar with Highland, the school is located in northeast Bakersfield. The school opened in 1970, and boasts a student population of just over 2,000 students. The Scots will have quite an uphill battle in Tehachapi --- no pun intended --- as the Warriors are notoriously tough to defeat in November and December at home. Since Coy Burnett Field opened in 1958, the Warriors have a 31-7 record in CIF playoff games in Tehachapi.
For the Scots to be successful, they will have to stop the Warriors highly potent Wing-T offense. The 2007 Warriors have a balanced running attack featuring the big three of Josh Strauss, Adam Mullen, and Kelly Lorenz. The trio have combined for over 2,500 yards rushing and 33 touchdowns. The potent Warrior offense is averaging 35.2 points per game.
Warriors Top Running Backs
GP Car Yds Lng TD Avg. Josh Strauss 10 135 867 54 7 86.7 Adam Mullen 10 79 833 84 12 83.3 Kelly Lorenz 10 98 819 82 14 81.9
In other Division III games played Friday night, #3 seed Washington Union topped Madera South, 62-14; #4 Garces defeated Frontier, 23-0; Golden Valley upset Selma, 38-28; Delano whipped Kerman, 61-18; and Dinuba defeated Roosevelt, 35-14. Foothill, the #2 seed, also had a bye.
In games involving other SSL schools, #9 Wasco was soundly defeated by #8 Dos Palos, 41-7 in Division IV play --- while #1 Taft was idle with a bye. Taft will host Dos Palos in Taft this Friday.
In Division V play, #2 seed Bakersfield Christian crushed Coast Union of Cambria, 56-35, and will host #3 seed Strathmore.
Warrior fans can view all of the playoff bracketing in Division I-V if you follow this link to the CIF offices in Porterville:
http://cifcs.org/PlayoffBrackets/fall_playoff_brackets.htm
The Scots are led by their offensive leader #7 Anthony Johnson. The versatile Johnson has been the featured wide receiver and now quarterback for the Scots this season. Johnson has scored 11 TD's this season.
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