BEARS PROVIDE THROTTLE...WARRIORS STILL CLUTCH
Posted 10-26-03

Above: Warrior Mike Wright jukes an Arvin defender on one of his pass routes in the first half.

This game was just as advertised, ey Warrior fans?

Probably one of the most satisfying things to see in the outcome of this game (besides a mountain football win), was the emergence of our closest SSL rival back on the title hunt scene.

Yes Tehachapi, Arvin is back.  Mark 2002 as the year that the Bear "pushover game" is tossed out the window.  With the outstanding play of both Taft and Garces, and now Arvin, the south end of the sequoia division is officially strong as ever.

Yes, coaches would say that "this team was tough" and "that team will be tough", and "that could be close" in previous years of SSL play...but seriously folks, it's real this time.

And quite frankly, it's about time!

But enough of that little shout of love to the depth of the SSL...the game itself last Friday night was a doozie...and as in the previous weeks' big victory over Taft, the clutch in the motor of the Tehachapi Wing-T was #21, Tanner Hutchinson.

Coming into the contest with the Bears,  The Warriors' stamp as a so-called "second half team" proved to be null-and-void, providing more than enough umph to show up for the first couple of quarters, taking their first two series of the game for crucial points and an early 10-0 lead.

Hutchinson set up the first drive with a solid 42-yard kickoff return to the Tehachapi 46-yard line, where Kris Haycock and the Mountain Offense set up shop for their seven play drive that would end with a 27-yard field goal.

Yes Warrior fans that didn't attend...you did not read that wrong...A FIELD GOAL....the first time since October 11th of 2002 Against Wasco, when John Sullivan booted a 31-yarder through the uprights to contribute to the 17-7 win.

The field goal drive was set up by a magnificent catch by Mike Wright, who beat two defenders on a waggle for a 33 yard catch to the Arvin 10-yard line.

"When Mike caught that football it was just something that the defense just gave us," said Warrior Head Coach Steve Denman.  "They were playing man-to-man so we knew that there was a pretty good chance that he could make a big play for us up the middle, and he did...so it gave us a good start in the ball game."

The fun wasn't over for Tehachapi in the first quarter, marching half a football field from their own 46-yard line on their next possession to mount solid drive capped off by an eight yard TD run by Hutch.  Mike Papac made a big third down conversion on the drive, catching an 11-yard pass to the 15 yard line.  Two plays later, #21 scored his 13th touchdown of the season.

"This game was a big win for us, but we knew it was going to be tough," said Warrior Linebacker Mike Faulkner.  "They showed a lot of heart in making it a close game like they did."

You'd think that 10-0 would allow you to prop the lever up on the easy chair and coast to halftime, but sorry armchair quarterbacks, as Tehachapi found out...

Arvin wasn't about to lay down and let the Warriors wallow away in their chips-and-dip.

After compiling a meager 75 yards of total offense in the first half, the Bears took advantage of good field position set up by turnovers, with one touchdown drive starting at the Warrior 33-yard line and the other a first-and-goal at the Tehachapi two-yard line.

End result - a halftime score of Arvin 13, Tehachapi 10.

Oops.  We got a ball game.  But...starting off fast and allowing two interceptions deep in your own territory will have that result almost every time.

In the third quarter, the Mountain Men had the visiting crowd a little worried when a fumble at the 42-yard line gave the Bears possession and a chance to potentially pad to their three point lead, but scoring was not-to-be for Arvin when a three-and-out forced a punt to give Tehachapi the ball back deep at their own 13-yard line.

13.  An unlucky number for some, but for Tehachapi, it was money in the bank.

Starting at the 13, Tehachapi mounted an impressive 13-play drive for a net of 91 total yards to retake the lead in the game at 17-13.  The Warrior coaching staff made one of the most alarming calls of the year on the march, electing to go for a first down on 4th-and-2 at the Tehachapi 32-yard line, but after a Tanner plunge, it was a first down for the Warriors near mid field.

"We just felt confident on that fourth down play and we wanted to just keep the drive going," said Denman.  "We got a good push from our guard and tackle and we were able to keep the momentum."

Facing a third down again three plays later on the drive, Denman called a masterful play in a bootleg screen to Josh Lange, with the Bears posting nine players in the box leaving Lange open for a six yard gain.  Four plays later, it was Hutchinson bursting through the middle of the field for a game high 30 yard-run to account for the final score of the night.

"We felt that to win this game the one thing we had to do most was contain their speed," said Warrior defensive end Jon Anderson.  "We were concerned about (Joey Ugues) coming into the game, but when he went down it helped a little since we could focus more on (Hector Velasquez)."

In week 8 of the 2003 season, speed almost won-out, but in the end...

the clutch proved to be the victor.

Lots of brownie points to hand out in the fifth win of the season, with the offense leaders consisting of Hutchinson with 168 yards on 34 carries, Mike Wright with two catches for 41 yards, and Kris Haycock 4-9 passing for 58 yards, a field goal, and two extra points.  Defense had a lot of standouts as well, with Vincent Flores making a strong showing with three tackles, two pressures, and a sack, and Jeremy Clark with three tackles, three pressures, and a pass deflection.  David Gonzalez also had two tackles and a solid showing in man-to-man coverage on the Bear speedy wideouts, Sean Finley had five tackles and two pressures, Maurice Sales had two tackles, Anthony Scott had four tackles and two pressures, Josh Lange had four tackles and three pressures, and Dan Haycock and Tyler McCann had two tackles apiece.  

Player of the week honors go out to a couple of uber-defensive studs, Mike Faulkner, who had nine tackles and three pressures, and Jon Anderson who had six tackles and three pressures.  Congrats guys!

Jon Anderson (#6), Mike Faulkner (#44)
WEEKLY WARRIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Above: Action against "Da Bears".

Ok.  I know it's hard.  You want to look ahead a week REAL bad, don't you? Sorry Warrior fans, you just can't do it.  Garces is there waiting for you to challenge their reigning title supremacy, but when you look ahead, you know what happens. Teams like Shafter, who you're playing this week, torch you for 288 yards passing and four touchdowns.  Those statistics seem familiar?  They should... Shafter did that to Tehachapi last year. Still want to look ahead?  I thought you'd say no. Business still needs to be handled in week 9 of the closing SSL season, and for all accounts and purposes, the Generals should be in over their heads a bit in their upcoming contest with Tehachapi. But...that all said...they may be 0-7-1 on the year, but they've had some close ones, notably a 17-14 loss to South-Bakersfield in week 5 (South just beat West-Bakersfield this past week), and two close calls with Arvin and Garces, loosing only 20-13 and 7-0 in those games. So, these pesky Generals have a defense. The book-ends for Shafter will be one-to-watch players this week, with Senior (#78) Miguel Paramo and Junior (#52) Juan Zamudio foaming at the mouth to track down #21 if he attempts a sweep around the corner.  Shafter also boasts talent in their linebacking corps with returning starter (#32) Michael Figueroa, who has laced some wicked hits on opponents in his final year. "Shafter won't be an easy game for us, and we will not approach it that way," said Head Coach Denman.  "We want to come into this game with a solid understanding of what they do well and try to answer with the things we do well, and hopefully we can have some success." On offense, Shafter showed solid work from their sophomore QB Lucas Gonzalez, who turned in a solid outing with 13 completions for 120 yards and a touchdown strike to (#8) Daniel Valle.  Leading up to the game against Taft, Gonzalez has been impressive in his first year with the team, completing 51 passes for 558 yards and a score. Valle's output against Taft should be a concern for the Warriors, considering that coming into the game the senior wideout only had 12 receptions for 169 yards.  Against the Wildcats, he almost attempted to reach those totals in one game with a seven-catch, 57 yard performance and his first TD on the year. Other receivers that Tehachapi should be on the look-out for are (#10) David Aldape, who has hauled in 138 yards of receving on 11 catches, (#18) Travis Kroeker, who doubles up as the teams' kicker, and (#3) Joe Montemayor, who had a solid outing against Taft as well with three catches for 21 yards. On the ground, Shafter returns one of the premiere runners of the league in (#22) James Zrofsky, who so far has picked up 613 yards 127 carries so far in 2003.  Last year, Zrofsky lead the Generals with 402 yards, five touchdowns, and a 5.0 per carry average. It's unknown who will be the quarterback for Shafter when Tehachapi comes beckoning on the front door step in week 9, but rest assured, Head Coach Erich Smith knows how to exploit the defensive backfield of the Warriors, coming off a 235 yard passing barrage in 2001 and last years' 288 yards. "We overlooked Shafter last year and they beat us," said Jon Anderson.  "We want to neutralize their running game and try to contain their throws, but we just need to take this game one play at a time and just play our style of football." Above: 2002 Action Against the Generals, THS lost in the final minutes, 29-23.

Congratulations go out to the Junior Varsity team, who's 7-1 (3-0 SSL) mark has just landed them sole possession of first place in league.  The big test for the Braves come this week, when they travel to Shafter to take on the 2-0-1 Colonels, who just suffered a tie to Taft in week 8, 7-7.  A win by Tehachapi this Friday against Shafter would give the Braves the outright SSL title even if loss is registered against Garces in week 10.  With the win this week, Tehachapi would be 4-0 in league, and Shafter would be 2-1-1.  If Taft wins their game against Wasco, then the Cats' would be 2-1-1.  Neither team would be able to reach Tehachapi's four wins, giving the Braves the title...if they come out victorious. In the freshmen ranks, the Ramblers look to have a firm hold of the league crown, with the only team in the league to not suffer a loss.  The Indians are currently in third place with a 1-1-1 SSL record, right behind Wasco (2-1) and Garces (3-0).

Notable games showed Yosemite thrashing SJM 33-14, Dos Palos taking care of Coalinga 23-13, and Garces using a first half surge to dispatch Wasco, 35-6.  This week has one of the biggest games of the year in the sequoia division, the Badgers at the Broncos!  If the Warriors weren't playing, that would definitely be the game to watch... Notable match-ups in week 9 Arvin @ Garces Yosemite @ Dos Palos Dinuba @ Woodlake