Warrior running back Mike Jones #33 rushes for yardage Friday night in Tehachapi against
Sunnyside High of Fresno. Sunnyside won the second-round playoff game, 33--21, and will advance to
the semifinals. The Warriors finish the season with a 10-2 record. (Photo by Vicki Shea, The Tehachapi News.)
Mountain Football Season Ends In The Quarterfinals
The Warrior football season came to an abrupt halt last Thursday night in the CIF Central Section Division III quarterfinals
in a 33-21 defeat to Fresno-Sunnyside.
Tehachapi (10-2) hosted the playoffs as the No. 3 seed against the No. 11 seed Wildcats, facing off against a very talented quarterback
in Tanner Wilson. The sophomore gunslinger came into the game with the central section record in regular
season passing yards and added to his season total with 310 yards through the air along with five total touchdowns.
His favorite target was fellow-sophomores CJ Jones, who had 13 receptions for 171 yards and a touchdown,
and Malachi Barnes, who had five receptions for 93 yards and two touchdown receptions.
Despite having to face off against a tough offensive opponent, the Warriors had a handful of defensive highlights in the game, led by Nick Smith,
who recorded 15 solo tackles, eight assists, six hurries and four sacks. Other standouts included
Mike Jones (16 tackles), Martin Rodriguez (13 tackles, two sacks), Christian Morse (11 tackles, four hurries, two sacks), Adrian Pina (11 tackles),
Wyatt Richie (nine tackles), Andrew Aguirre (nine tackles, two fumbles caused), Kaleb Songer (seven tackles),
Tanner Gary (seven tackles), Karson Tiewater (five tackles, fumble caused), Mason Rothermel (five tackles,
fumble caused) Jacob Root (four tackles, pass deflection), Raul Navarro (three tackles, sack) and AJ Anderson
(two tackles, two sacks, fumble recovery).
Offensively, Anderson helped the Warriors to an early lead with a pair of receptions that went touchdowns, 64 and 68 yards, respectively.
Anderson finished with four receptions for 148 yards and the two scores. Tiewater provided the spark
in the ground game with 82 yards rushing and a third quarter touchdown run, while Mike Jones
had 40 yards rushing. In the passing game, Root finished with six receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns.
With the season concluded, the Warriors can now reflect on an outstanding year that brought a South Yosemite Mountain League championship
and saluting the contributions of their senior class. Playing in their final season for Mountain Football
were Ryan Wilson, Nick Smith, Wyatt Richie, Christian Morse, Magnus Daugaard, Ryan Walker, Peniel Whiteside,
Martin Rodriguez, Kamron Westerby, Matthew Cardenas, Jason Garcia and Andre Stephens.
All-league recipients for the Warriors will be highlighted in a future edition of the Tehachapi News.
Coaching the Warriors this season were Kris Krempien, Chris Jones, Jason Hail, Mike Ledesma and Ryan Grimes.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Sunnyside | 6 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 33 |
| Tehachapi | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| SHS | THS | |
| First Downs | ||
| Rushes-Yards | 24-169 | 32-126 |
| Passing Yards | 310 | 159 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 22-30-0 | 6-14-2 |
| Total Yards | 479 | 285 |
| Punts | 3-36.0 | |
| Penalties |
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING — Sunnyside High: Dickson 8-69, Jones 8-39, Pacheco 5-31, Wilson 3-30.
Tehachapi: Anderson 9-20, Tiewater 8-82, Jones 8-40, Root 7-(-16),.
PASSING — Sunnyside High: T. Wilson 22-30-0-310. Tehachapi: Root 6-14-2-159.
RECEIVING — Sunnyside High: Burton 3-28, Dickson 1-18, Barnes 5-93, Jones 13-171.
Tehachapi: Jones 1-9. Tiewater 1-2, AJ Anderson 4-148
| OPPONENT | THS | OPP | L | GAME HIGHLIGHTS | |
| Aug 19 | Burroughs (Ridgecrest) | 52 | 00 | A | Mike Jones: 2 TD's, 94 yds. rushing |
| Aug 26 | Highland (Bakersfield) | 42 | 07 | H | AJ Anderson: 3 TD's, 222 yds. rushing |
| Sep 1 | Taft | 30 | 20 | H | Martin Rodriguez: 3 FG's: 25, 26, & 35 yds. New school record. |
| Sep 9 | Wasco | 27 | 20 | A | AJ Anderson: 2 TD’s, 104 yds. rushing |
| Sep 16 | Arvin | 28 | 10 | A | AJ Anderson: 2 TD's, 144 yds. rushing |
| Sep 23 | Golden West (Visalia) | 13 | 34 | H | Karson Tiewater: 1 TD, 72 yds. rushing |
| Sep 30 | South Bakersfield) * | 26 | 20 | H | Karson Tiewater: 2 TD's, 108 yds. rushing |
| Oct 6 | East Bakersfield) * | 35 | 00 | A | AJ Anderson: 1 TD, 82 yds. rushing |
| Oct 14 | North Bakersfield * | 32 | 28 | A | AJ Anderson: 3 TD's, 167 yds. rushing |
| Oct 21 | West Bakersfield) * | 43 | 07 | H | AJ Anderson: 2 TD's, 160 yds. rushing |
* Denotes Mountain League Game
| OPPONENT | THS | OPP | LOC | GAME HIGHLIGHT | |
| Nov 4 | Mt. Whitney (Visalia) | 37 | 14 | H | AJ Anderson: 2 TD's, 143 yds. rushing |
| Nov 10 | Sunnyside (Fresno) | 21 | 33 | H | AJ Anderson: 2 TD's, 148 pass reception yds. |
The 2022 Warriors include #1 Ryan Wilson, #2 Karson Tiewater, #3 Nick Smith, #4 AJ Anderson, #5 Levi Heart, #6 Jacob Toot, #8 Jacob Stewart,
#9 Nathaniel Ruben, #10 Wyatt Richie, #13 Jacob Betancourt, #14 Ed Vasquez, #16 Ben Emery, #18 Tim Yanes, #21 Kaleb Songer, #22 Christian Morse,
#23 Adrian Pina,#25 Magnus Daugaard, #27 Andrew Aquirre, #31 Ryan Walker, #33 Mike Jones, #42 Peniel Whiteside, #51 Martin Rodriguez,
#55 Mark Nicholson Jr. #57 Michael Garza, #59 Kamron Westerby, #66 Matthew Cardenas. #67 Jacob Marsh, #71 Tanner Gary, #72 Hayden Michael,
#74 Travis Mason, #75 Jason Garcia, #76 Raul Navarro, #77 Andre Stephens, #78 William Stephens, #88 Braedan Warne. The head coach is Kris Krempien
his assistants are Jason Hail, Chris Jones, and Mike Ledesma.