Tehachapi at Yosemite (Oakhurst, CA)
December 5, 2008
Yosemite running back Jayme Lee (21) fights for short yardage against four Warror defenders. The Warriors won a shootout
in Oakhurst, 62-41, to advance to the Division III finals. Photo by Rick Slayton, Oakhurst Sports Media
Posted December 5, 2008 by Jeff Evans, The Bakersfield Californian Tehachapi Earns Chance To Defend
Central Section Division III CIF Title
OAKHURST — Josh Strauss and Adam Mullen have been the two-headed monster that has paced Tehachapi High this season. But it was the Mullen show in Friday’s Division III semifinals against Yosemite High.
The sixth-seeded Warriors stunned No. 2 Yosemite 62-41 in a wild game that saw neither team have much success stopping the other.
The difference was turnovers. Tehachapi had two interceptions and recovered four fumbles — with five of the turnovers leading to touchdowns.
“We’re just happy to get out of here with a victory,” said Tehachapi coach Steve Denman. “We told the kids, the difference in the game would be turnovers. You’ve got to watch the turnovers. You’ve got to play good ‘D’ and when you get in the red zone you’ve got to score.”
But Mullen was the significant player, scoring six touchdowns — two on pass receptions of 55 and 38 yards, the others on runs of 8, 64, 28 and 10 yards. “Our line always sets us up,” said Mullen, a senior who had four TDs in Tehachapi’s upset win over third-seeded Golden Valley last week. “We do our job, they do their job.”
The 62 points was Tehachapi’s season high. The 41 points allowed was also a season high. “They kept scoring so we had to keep scoring,” Mullen said.
He finished with 195 rushing yards on 20 carries and had four receptions for 108 yards. Strauss added 129 yards on 17 carries. “People key on Strauss and it kind of opens up Mullen’s game,” Denman said. “Strauss was running the ball well and it sets up Mullen; just like Mullen was running well and it sets up Strauss.”
The Warriors (9-4) advance to the Div. III title game at Hanford next Friday. Hanford downed Foothill 24-0 in the other semifinal.
Tehachapi quarterback Kurtis Knudson, who had seven TD passes all season before Friday, had three TD passes in the first half against Yosemite (8-4).
“Knudson did a heck of a job throwing the ball,” Denman said. “They had a lot of pressure on him. … When they put eight or nine guys in the box, you can’t block them all. I told Knudson, ‘Hey, we’ve got to win the game with you.’ He threw the ball well, on target — that was a big difference.”
Yosemite coach Aaron Eames said his biggest surprise was how effective Tehachapi’s passing game proved to be. “The big plays he (Knudson) made surprised us,” Eames said. “We had guys covered and he still made the play. But (Mullenj) was the difference in the game.”
Tehachapi finished with 359 net rushing yards. Perhaps the biggest sequence of the game came in the final two minutes of the first half. Yosemite led 20-13 after quarterback Jesse Lownbury scored on a 9-yard run with 2:46 left in the second quarter. Tehachapi turned the game around by scoring three touchdowns in the final 1:45, all on huge plays.
Mullen’s 64-yard TD run and Jake Reimer’s extra point tied it 20-20 with 1:45 left. A fumble on the ensuing kickoff gave Tehachapi the ball, and Mullen got loose in the Yosemite secondary and hauled in a perfectly thrown pass he turned into a 55-yard scoring play with 1:01 left.
Another Yosemite fumble, this time on the first play following the kickoff, gave Tehachapi the ball on the 35-yard line, and after a sack, Mullen again beat the Yosemite secondary for a 38-yard TD reception.
The Badgers received the second-half kickoff, but on the sixth play of that drive, Tehachapi defender Jason Hail stripped the ball from wide receiver Jonathan McNamara and returned the fumble 55 yards for a TD, making it 41-20.
The lead ranged from 14 to 21 points the rest of the way.
For the Badgers, Jayme Lee had TD runs of 1, 1, and 3 yards. Quarterback Lownsbury had TD runs of 9 and 10 yards, and a TD pass. He finished with 253 passing yards. McNamara had six catches for 126 yards.
Posted December 9, 2008 by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News Title Game Bound ... Again
Warrior Offense Crushes Yosemite, 62-41
The run continues.
In one of the most impressive offensive displays in the history of the program, no.6 seeded Tehachapi came off their mountain top to ascend another peak 198 miles away, in the process handing Yosemite (Oakhurst) their first loss at home on the year.
When the scoring explosions subsided and the shrapnel and ash settled to the ground, the Warriors escaped no. 2 seeded Yosemite with a thrilling 62-41 victory.
In what has turned out to be a reoccurring theme on the season, more records fell for Tehachapi. As a team, the Warriors now have the distinction for the most points ever scored in one season (439), total points (103) and offensive points (62) for a playoff game.
Individually, Adam Mullen secured two individual records, now sharing two top-sports with Warrior legend Tanner Hutchinson for most touchdowns in one game (six) and overall touchdowns scored in a varsity uniform (48).
Against Yosemite (8-4), the Warriors juggernaut offense rolled to 478 total yards, scoring five touchdowns in the first half and four scores in the second period. Mullen paced Tehachapi (9-4) with 198 yards on 20 carries and four catches for 114 yards, four scores on the ground and two from the air.
Josh Strauss had a brilliant game as well, taking 17 touches for 130 yards while also hauling in a critical 15 yard catch in the first half to keep a Warrior scoring drive alive.
Other key plays included Garrett Coontz scooping in a three-yard touchdown catch on fourth down to help knot the score at 13-13, and Jake Reimer recovering from an early extra point miss to go 8-for-8 on PAT’s down the stretch.
Kurtis Knudson, who had an overall solid game with 129 yards on five completions, now has 866 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. Knudson has a chance to become the first 1,000 yard passing quarterback in nine years for Tehachapi. Jared Romo was the last to reach the quad-digit mark in 1999 when he had 1,057 yards through the air.
Up next for Mountain Football is a second-straight trip to the valley finals, with the opponent against no.1 seeded Hanford (11-1).
The Bullpups come into the game with a victory over two-time Division III runner-up Foothill in the other semi-final match-up, 24-0. Hanford (11-1) has allowed only one score or less in seven of their 11 wins, including four defensive shutouts. Their only blemish on the year has been to El Diamante, who coincidentally will be defending their Division II title championship this week against Tulare Union.
The game at Hanford will be this Friday night at 7 p.m. For directions to the Bullpup’s stadium and pre-game analysis on the contest, log on to thswarriors.com.
Posted December 5, 2008 by The Fresno Bee Tehachapi Blitz Does In Yosemite
- Mullen Scores 6 TD's -
Tehachapi High returned to the Central Section Division III championship game in wild fashion Friday night, beating host Yosemite 62-41 in Oakhurst.
The defending champions, seeded No. 6 after finishing runners-up in the South Sequoia League, took advantage of six turnovers by the second-seeded Badgers to score the upset on a cold night.
Yosemite quarterback Jesse Lownsbury completed 17 of 29 passes for 253 yards and one touchdown, but was intercepted twice.
And Tehachapi staggered the Badgers with three straight touchdowns in a span of less than 2 minutes by Adam Mullen to close out the first half, giving the Warriors a 34-20 lead that they never surrendered.
First, Mullen scored on a 64-yard run with 1:45 left.
Then after a Yosemite turnover, Mullen caught a 55-yard scoring pass from Kurtis Knudson with 1:01 left.
Another Yosemite turnover and another Mullen TD, on a 38-yard pass from Knudson with 24 seconds left, finished the Tehachapi blitz.
Jayme Lee had three rushing touchdowns for Yosemite, including two that helped the Badgers jump to a 13-6 lead.
Lownsbury, a senior, added two rushing touchdowns.
Jon McNamara was Lownsbury's favorite receiver with six catches for 126 yards.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 6 28 21 7 62 Yosemite 0 20 14 7 41
The Scoring:
First Quarter:
T -- Mullen 8 yard run (kick no good) 7:40
Second Quarter:
Y -- Lee 1 yard run (kick no good) 11:00
Y -- Lee 2 yard run (Ditomaso kick) 10:34
T -- Coontz 3 yard pass from Knudson (Reimer kick) 4:06
Y -- Lownsbury 7 yard run (Ditomaso kick) 2:46
T -- Mullen 64 yard run (Reimer kick) 1:45
T -- Mullen 55 yard pass from Knudson (Reimer kick) 1:01
T -- Mullen 43 yard pass from Knudson (Reimer kick) 0:24
Third Quarter:
T -- Hail 53 yard fumble return (Reimer kick) 10:22
Y -- Lownsbury 10 yard run (Ditomaso kick) 4:37
T -- Strauss 30 yard run (Reimer kick) 4:14
Y -- Lee 3 yard run (Ditomaso kick) 2:27
T -- Mullen 28 yard run (Reimer kick) 0:12
Fourth Quarter:
Y -- Allsup 3 yard pass from Lownsbury (Ditomaso kick) 10:59
T -- Mullen 10 yard run (Reimer kick) 5:14
THS vs YHS STATS
THS YHS First Downs 12 19 Rushes-Yards 41-349 34-129 Passing Yards 129 253 Comp-Att-Int 5-7-0 17-29-2 Total Yards 478 382 Punts 3-32.0 N/A Fumbles-Lost 2-1 6-4 Penalties 7-42 6-33
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING--Tehachapi: Mullen 20-198, Strauss 17-130, Olofson 1-7, Knudson 2-7, Lange 1-7;
Yosemite: Lownsbury 9-54, Lee 14-47, Sotelo 10-30, Glines 1-(-2)
PASSING--Tehachapi: Knudson 5-7-0 129; Yosemite: Lownsbury 17-29-2 253
RECEIVING--Tehachapi: Mullen 4-114, Strauss 1-15; Yosemite: McNamara 6-126, Shackelford 4-62, Shahan 4-47, Allsup 3-18.
Varsity – Tehachapi (9-4), Yosemite (8-4)
