Tehachapi at Burroughs (Ridgecrest)
September 2, 2016
Warrior running back Chase Podratz #25 follows his blockers in the game versus Burroughs Friday night in Ridgecrest. Podratz led the
Warriors with 104 yards rushing on 15 carries. Burroughs won the game in the final minute of play, 22-14. Photo by The Tehachapi News.
Posted on September 3, 2016 by John Nelson, The Tehachapi News Miscues Sink Warriors
In Season Opening Thriller
RIDGECREST — Tyler Mata apologized to his Warriors teammates — not for scoring their only two touchdowns, but for not scoring more.
“My legs cramped up, and I had to come out of the game,” Mata said. “I feel like I let my teammates down.”
If anyone let the Warriors down on Friday night, Sept. 2, it wasn’t Mata. Maybe it was fate, or penalties, or just misfortune, but it wasn’t Mata.
In fact, for all but the final five minutes of the game, the Warriors looked like winners in their 22-14 season-opening loss to Burroughs in Ridgecrest.
“We might have had some first-game jitters,” Mata said.
The Warriors scored the game’s first touchdown and led into the fourth quarter. Then, with the score tied 14-14 with 5:05 left to play, the gravest misfortune of them all occurred.
They’d already had a delay-of-game penalty that forced them to punt the ball away once, costing the Warriors a possible scoring opportunity, then came “The Fumble.”
On his way to the end zone with two defenders on his back, senior running back Zion Dean had the ball stripped from his arms. As it tumbled into the end zone, a pair of Burroughs defenders fell on it for a touchback.
Thus began Burroughs’ 80-yard, 11-play scoring drive that ended on quarterback Austin McCullough’s 2-yard keeper for the winning touchdown with 29.8 seconds to play.
“We made a few errors that cost us,” Warriors head coach Steve Denman said, “but for the most part we did well.
“The delay of game really hurt us, and then the turnover,” Denman said. “But he was running hard, and it’s our first game. Little things add up, though, and there were two opportunities we should have had points and didn’t.”
Mata’s first touchdown gave the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 4:26 left in the first quarter.
The Warriors had just stopped the Burros deep in their own territory and took over at the Burroughs 42 after a short punt. Mata ran the ball four times during the ensuing drive, his longest an 11-yarder to the 21.
Five plays later, Mata ran off right tackle for a 4-yard touchdown, and Eddie Graham’s point after made it 7-0.
Halftime ended with the Warriors leading 7-6, and Mata added a 15-yard touchdown run with 8:05 left in the third quarter. Running back Chase Podratz, who led all rushers with 104 yards, set up the score with a 39-yard run.
That made it 14-6, and the Warriors appeared to have the momentum.
It didn’t last long, however.
McCullough connected with Donte Williams for a 47-yard touchdown pass with two minutes gone in the fourth quarter, and a 2-point conversion pass tied it 14-14.
McCullough wound up completing 19-of-31 passes for 256 yards, although he was intercepted three times, twice by Logan Snider.
“Just like on offense, we had a couple of breakdowns on defense that hurt us, but I thought overall our defense played well,” Denman said. “The defense played tough and they were getting after that guy (McCullough). Their quarterback knew he’d been in a game.
“If the offense had got its part done, it would have taken a lot of pressure off the defense.”
Israel Guerrero led the defense with 10 tackles as the Warriors held Burroughs to 81 yards rushing.
Paul Stephens played the entire game at quarterback for the Warriors. While he was 0-for-6 passing, he had at least two balls dropped and another batted away by the defense.
“I need to complete some of those passes, just to take the pressure off the running backs,” Stephens said. “I had a couple of balls dropped. If they catch them, great, if not, short memory.”
Now, the Warriors face old rival Garces in Bakersfield on Friday night, Sept. 9.
Warrior running back Conner Timms #3 in white scrambles for yardage Friday night in a contest against Burroughs.
Photo by The Tehachapi News.
Posted on September 2, 2016 by Tom Shea, The Bakersfield Californian Burroughs Nip Warriors In Season Opener 22-14
RIDGECREST – For the second straight week, the Burros orchestrated a thrilling late game-winning touchdown, with the latest heroics fueling a 22-14 victory over Tehachapi.
Burroughs (2-0) scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, with quarterback Austin McCullough leading the way with 19 completions for 256 yards and three total touchdowns.
McCullough connected on a deep completion to Donte Williams in stride on the first play of the fourth quarter, riding momentum with Williams again on the two-point conversion with a screen pass completion to tie the game at 14-14.
The Burros then reeled off an 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter, ending it on a McCullough two-yard touchdown run with only 29 seconds remaining in the game. Jack Sherritt added an insurance two-point conversion reception from McCullough to ice the win.
Williams led the Burroughs receiving corps with five receptions for 104 yards, followed closely by Tariq Abdul Raheem with five catches for 74 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown reception in the first half.
Tehachapi (0-1) recorded the first touchdown of the game on a nine-play, 42 yard drive that was finished off on a Tyler Mata four-yard touchdown run. Mata scored again in the third quarter on a 15-yard run, finishing the night with 62 yards on 16 attempts.
Chase Podratz led all rushers in the game with 104 yards on 15 carries.
On defense for Tehachapi, Logan Snider had two interceptions, Tanner Herman had an interception and Chris Garcia had a fumble recovery. Israel Guerrero helped hold the Burroughs rushing attack to only 81 yards with a team leading 10 tackles.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 7 0 7 0 14 Burroughs 0 6 0 16 22
The Scoring:
First quarter
T - Mata 1 run (Graham kick)
Second quarter
B – Abdul Raheem 25 pass from McCullough (kick blocked)
Third quarter
T – Mata 15 run (Graham kick)
Fourth quarter
B – Williams 47 pass from McCullough (Williams pass from McCullough)
B – McCullough 2 run (Sherritt pass from McCullough)
Tehachapi vs Burroughs Stats
THS BHS First Downs 11 17 Rushes-Yards 43-211 31-81 Passing Yards 0 256 Comp-Att-Int 0-7-1 19-31-3 Total Yards 211 337 Punts 6-33.3 3-29.0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 4-1 Penalties 9-75 5-35
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING—Tehachapi: Podratz 15-104, Mata 15-62, Dean 6-27, Timm 4-12, Powell 1-5, Noda 1-2, Metzler 1-(-1).
Burroughs: Lusher 21-57, McCullough 7-22, Ramirez 2-7, Liszka 1-(-5).
PASSING—Tehachapi: Stephens 0-6-1 0; Garcia 0-1-0. Burroughs: Griffin 19-31-3-256.
RECEIVING—Tehachapi: None. Burroughs: Williams 5-106, Abdul Raheem 5-74, Pippin 5-31, Ramirez 2-29, Lusher 2-16.
Varsity Records: Burroughs 2-0; Tehachapi 0-1.
JV: Burroughs 32, Tehachapi 14.
Frosh: Tehachapi 35, Burroughs 18.
