Tehachapi at Tulare Western Mustangs
November 25, 2017
Warrior running back Hayden Palmer fights for yardage against a stout Tulare Western defense. The Mustangs held Palmer to 38 rushing yards
on 13 carries. Tulare Western defeated the Warriors 38-7 in a CIF semifinal playoff contest. (Photo by Vicky Shea, The Tehachapi News.)
Posted by The Tehachapi News on November 25, 2017. Warriors' Football Season Comes To A Close
With Semifinal Loss To Tulare Western
TULARE — The magical playoff run for Mountain Football came to an end Friday afternoon in a 38-7 loss to Tulare Western.
From start to finish, the Warriors’ opponent was nearly unstoppable. Tulare Western (11-1) quarterback Elijah Burrell threw for 162 yards and a touchdown, while the ground game of David Alcantar, Tairyn Johnson and Damarin Patterson combined for 242 yards and a rushing touchdown apiece.
Defensively, the Mustangs held Tehachapi to 128 total yards of offense.
“When things don’t go your way you don’t roll over, you fight back. Our kids certainly did that in the second half of our season to get to this point,” said Warrior head coach Doug DeGeer. “They fought hard in this game as well. We are proud of them.”
Tehachapi (7-6) forced three turnovers to highlight their effort on defense. Dylan Hanzel and Logan Smith converged on a fumble recovery in the first half, while Peyton Stowers recovered a fumble recovery on a muffed punt and Trevor Medovitch had an interception in the second half.
“We came out flat in the beginning and we couldn’t do much on both sides of the ball. But we started to pick it up in the end,” said linebacker Patrick Grimes.
Grimes led the defense with 10 total tackles, followed by Stowers with eight tackles and Dominic Counihan with seven tackles. Other defensive standouts included Dylan Hanzel (six tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery), Favian Garcia (five tackles), Mason Kiernan (five tackles), Sean Schulgen (five tackles), Dylan Ragsdale (four tackles) and Noah Howell (four tackles).
Offensively, Warriors got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when Connor Timm capped a 74-yard, six-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown reception from Chris Garcia. Timm had a team-high three receptions for 17 yards in the contest.
“We played a good team. It sucks walking away from this new legacy that Coach DeGeer (has established),” said senior running back Connor Timm.
Garcia finished the afternoon with five completions for 67 yards and the touchdown, also connecting with Luke Soto and Medovitch on receptions of 14 and 36 yards, respectively.
Hayden Palmer led rushing attack with 38 yards on 13 carries.
Despite the loss, the Warriors can reflect on a stellar season that had many positives. Mountain Football won back-to-back league titles and reached the section playoff semifinals for the first time since the 2011 season.
“We all were trying to leave our legacy on the field. We just wanted to make our mountain proud,” added Timm.
Warrior Connor Timm fights for yardage in playoff game against Tulare Wester. Timm scored the lone Warrior touchdown
with a TD pass reception in the fourth quarter. (Photo by Vicky Shea, The Tehachapi News.)
Posted by Trevor Horn, The Bakersfield Californian on November 24, 2017. Tulare Western beats Tehachapi 38-7 in D-III Semifinals
TULARE - It wasn’t pretty from the start.
After a six-game win streak, including two home playoff games to start the Central Section Division III playoffs, the season came to a crashing halt for No. 5 Tehachapi. The Warriors lost Friday, 38-7, to No. 1 Tulare Western at Bob Mathias Stadium in Tulare in the D-III semifinals.
“We were slow off the ball,” Tehachapi first-year coach Doug DeGeer said. “Their linebackers were flying around and we didn’t pick up their linebackers at all. A great team on the other side. They were very well coached.”
Tehachapi managed just 111 total yards of offense against Tulare Western’s 412. The Mustangs' attack was bolstered by 100-yard rushing performances from David Alcantar (9 rushes, 100 yards) and Tairyn Johnson (12-114).
The combo had scoring runs of 56 and 66 yards, two plays which surpassed Tehachapi's total output by 11 yards (the Warriors' 111 total yards were gained on 49 offensive plays).
“This sucks, man. We worked really hard all year,” Tehachapi senior Trevor Medovitch said. “It’s a tough game, but I am proud of my guys.”
The semifinals appearance for Tehachapi was its first since 2010, when the Warriors won the program’s 11th section title.
The loss marks the end of DeGeer's first year with the program, after the Warriors were led by Steve Denman for 34 years. Denman had 301 career wins at Tehachapi.
“Things obviously didn’t go our way today,” DeGeer said. “But just all season we were up and down. We fought back all season long and overcame a lot.”
For the second consecutive year, Tehachapi started 1-5 before going 4-1 in the South Yosemite League. The team beat South and Fresno at home in the first two playoff games.
Four of the Warriors' five losses in the regular season came to teams playing this week in the playoffs.
“Our seniors willed themselves and the rest of the team to get it done,” DeGeer said. “We ended up in a spot that five games in we wouldn’t have expected to be in.”
The Mustangs are playing in the D-III championship game for the second consecutive season after losing to Bakersfield Christian last fall. The Mustangs will host the finals as the top-seed.
“We are pretty excited about having that home opportunity,” Tulare Western coach Ryan Rocha said. “It’s really a notch on the kids right there to host a Central Section title game, which is a first in school history.”
Tulare Western got on the board as Alcantar scored on a 56-yard run on the fifth play of the game. The Mustangs would get in the end zone again in the opening quarter on a 1-yard quarterback keeper by Elijah Burrell.
The sophomore was also 9 of 20 passing for 162 yards on the afternoon, including a 48-yard scoring strike to backup quarterback Damarin Patterson. The only blemish on Burrell’s day was an interception by Medovitch, after the Warriors just scored their lone touchdown of the day on a 13-yard pass from Chris Garcia to Connor Timm.
Tulare Western averaged 7.6 yards per play (55-412) while Tehachapi had just eight plays total over eight yards.
“We’ve had the ability to make big plays all year,” Rocha said. “If you can get a lead on a team that runs the ball, you know you’re in good hands. We did a good job executing.”
The game began at 1 p.m. because Tulare Western and Tulare Union share the stadium. The Tribe hosted Dinuba in the D-II championship game at 7 p.m., which marked a special day for high school football in Tulare, according to Rocha.
“It really tips a hat to the kids on both (teams) to represent our hometown,” Rocha said.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 0 0 0 7 07 Tulare Western 14 7 17 0 38
Tehachapi High vs Tulare Western Stats
THS TWHS First Downs 6 Rushes-Yards 37-61 34-246 Passing Yards 67 162 Comp-Att-Int 5-10-1 9-20-1 Total Yards 128 408 Punts 7-35.4 1-42.0 Penalties 8-80
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING—Tehachapi: Palmer 13-38, Garcia 8-10, Timm 9-10, Curry 3-6, Love 2-0, Finklea 1-0, Gaines 1-(-3).
Tulare Western: Patterson 10-99, Alcantar 10-98, Johnson 10-45, Butler 2-3, Burrell 2-1.
PASSING—Tehachapi: Garcia 5-10-1 67; Tulare Western: Burrell 9-20-1 162.
RECEIVING—Tehachapi: Timm 3-17, Medovitch 1-26, Soto 1-14. Tulare Western: Butler 5-94, Hulett 1-36, Alcantar 2-30, Johnson 1-2.
Varsity Records: Tehachapi 7-6. Tulare Western 11-1.
