Tehachapi at Centennial
September 12, 2014
Noah Whitlach wraps up Centennial's Mason Saba. Centennial defeated the Warriors in Bakersfield, 28-3.
Tehachapi hosts Arvin High Friday night at Coy Burnett Field. Photo by Mark Nessia, The Tehachapi News.
Posted on September 17, 2014 by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News Defense Stymies Warrior Offense
Centennial Defeats THS In Bakersfield
Mountain Football’s offense ran into a brick wall on the road last week, suffering a 28-3 defeat to Centennial last Friday night in Bakersfield.
Down 7-0, Tehachapi (1-2) did get a spark in the first quarter with their longest run from scrimmage, a 39-yard Willy Urciel jaunt through the middle of the line of scrimmage to help set up a field goal attempt.
Abraham Katona made good on the field goal try, booting a kick 40 yards through the uprights to cut the lead to 7-3. The 40-yard field goal is the fourth-longest field goal in school history,
with Vince McLaughlin holding the record with a 45-yard field goal against Kern Valley in 1977.
Uricel finished the game with 81 yards on 14 carries, followed by Chris Rhodes with 17 yards on 13 attempts and Nick Steele with 13 yards on one carry. Through the air, Chris Llamas converted a 33-yard completion to Jake Walters in the second half.
On defense, Angel Garcia had seven tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery and Ethan Averett had six tackles. Multiple-tackle games were also recorded by Katona, Jacob Gonzales, Caleb Huebner,
Connor O’Neal, Michael Bailey, Jerry Castaneda, Colten Eaton, Noah Whitlach and Juan Cabrera. Eaton and O’Neal also recorded quarterback sacks.
In addition to the 40-yard field goal, Katona also recorded a touchback on a kickoff and seven punts for 186 total yards.
The Warriors will look to bounce back from their loss with a home game against Arvin this Friday night. The Bears enter the game with a 0-2 record, having lost to South 30-12 last week. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. at Coy Burnett Field.
Warrior running back Willy Urciel #32 breaks away for long yardage against Centennial Friday night in Bakersfield. Urciel led the Warriors
with 81 yards rushing on 14 carries. The Division I power Golden Hawks defeated the Warriors, 28-3. Photo by Casey Christie, The Bakersfield Californian.
Posted on September 13, 2014, by Stephen Lynch, The Bakersfield Californian Giulietti Rushes For 179 Yards, One TD
To Power Centennial Past THS, 28-3
There was nothing slick or fancy in the way Centennial played against Tehachapi on Friday night.
The Golden Hawks simply overpowered the Warriors at the line of scrimmage on offense and defense.
By winning the battle in the trenches, host Centennial also won the battle on the scoreboard, claiming a 28-3 non-league victory over Tehachapi (1-2).
"Tehachapi is a great program and we knew coach (Steve) Denman was going to have them ready to go," Centennial coach Kevin Sneed said. "We knew we weren't going to trick them on anything. We knew we were going to have to outplay them. And tonight we out-played them. Our kids played really well."
The Golden Hawks (2-1) rushed for 245 yards, including 178 and a touchdown on 18 carries by Hunter Giulietti, who was making his debut as the team's starting tailback.
"We fought hard coming back from last week," Giulietti said of the Golden Hawks' 9-2 loss to Clovis West. "We just bounced back and played hard and we executed ... Our line stepped it up big time. That's all it was, really. We practiced and practiced and got better every day this week."
Most of Tehachapi's offensive output came on a 39-yard run by Willy Urciel and a 33-yard pass from Chris Llamas to Jake Walters.
Centennial's defense was dominant from start to finish, sacking Llamas three times and throwing Tehachapi ballcarriers for losses nine times.
"They did a good job on us defensively," Denman said. "Especially in the second half, we were three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out. You can't do that against a good team. They're going to put points on the board eventually and they did."
The Golden Hawks started off slowly on offense, but finally got rolling late in the first half, with Giulietti breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage and rumbling around the right side for a 20-yard touchdown and 14-3 lead.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Golden Hawks scored early in the second quarter as Cole Beaty returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown.
Tehachapi's only points came on Abraham Katona's 40-yard field goal in the second quarter.
Giulietti, replacing Brandon Robinson, who sufered a fractured collarbone in the Golden Hawks' season opener against Porterville, had 126 yards on 13 carries in the first half.
Centennial led 14-3 at halftime before breaking the game open in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns.
Centennial went 64 yards on just four plays for a score. Giulietti started the short drive with a 44-yard run and Austin Davis finished it emphatically with a 17-yard jaunt into the end zone.
The Golden Hawks delivered the knockout punch on the last play of the third quarter when Andrew Hansen hit Danny Roach with a short pass that the wide receiver turned into an 80-yard touchdown.
Centennial improved to 3-0 all-time against Tehachapi.
The two schools hadn't met since 1995, when both were members of the South Sequoia League.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 0 3 0 0 03 Centennial 0 14 14 0 28
The Scoring:
Second Quarter:
C-Beaty 51 punt return (Benjamin kick)
T-Katona 40 FG
C-Giulietti 20 run (Benjamin kick)
Third Quarter:
C-Davis 17 run (Benjamin kick)
C-Roach 80 pass from Hansn (Benjamin kick)
Tehachapi vs Centennial Stats
THS CHS First Downs 6 13 Rushes-Yards 41-92 32-249 Passing Yards 33 131 Comp-Att-Int 1-6-0 6-10-0 Total Yards 125 380 Punts 7-26.6 3-38.0 Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-1 Penalties 1-15 6-60
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING — Tehachapi: Urciel 14-81, Rhodes 13-17, Scott 9-(-7), Steele 1-13, Llamas 3-(-11), TEAM 1(-1);
Centennial: Giulietti 18-179, Davis 7-54, Crawford 3-33, Hansen 3-(-16), TEAM 1-(-1).PASSING — Tehachapi: Llamas 1-6-0-33; Centennial: Hansen 6-10-0-131.
RECEIVING — Tehachapi: Walters 1-33; Centennial: Nelson 3-35, Roach 1-80, Giulietti 1-10, Duey 1-6.
Varsity – Tehachapi (1-2), Centennial (2-1)
Junior Varsity - Tehachapi 15 Centennial 02
Frosh-Soph Game - Tehachapi 00 Centennial 19
