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Submitted by Sal Murguia, THS Alumnus of 1993 Former Warrior Reflects On 1989
CIF Championship Game vs Carpinteria
Posted on November 18, 2009
Every summer my family would venture to the Central Coast and go camping at the beach. As a child living in an isolated town, the excitement was overwhelming as I took in the sites of our trip. I always loved to see the “The Colossus” as we passed by Magic Mountain entering the 126 Highway. Listening to U2 and Ozzy while passing through Fillmore and Santa Paula, knowing that we were getting close!
Then at last, gazing in awe at the glistening water once we got into Ventura and headed north on the 101 freeway. I would take in the smell of the cool, salty air, the overcast skies, and the waves! After about 20 minutes up the coast we would make our exit and pass through a little non-descript town.
And every year I would see a high school football field and a sign that said, “Home of the Warriors.” And every year I would think, “Hmm, I wonder if they’re any good?” Along with, “Wouldn’t that be funny if we ever played each other?” Little did I know at the time, I was staring at Tehachapi’s Greatest Rival!
Tehachapi Football’s Greatest Rival!
It’s been 20 years since they took the field. At this point the Warriors were getting ready to play in their third straight CIF Championship game! And I can’t reiterate how difficult that was when you had 4 games to play in the playoffs and no such thing as the best record receives the home field advantage.
If you think I’m talking about a team from the Mountains wearing Green, Black and White, you’re sorely mistaken. I’m talking about a team from the coast wearing Red and White, the Carpinteria Warriors. The only program that has come up to the Mountain in Mid-December and completely manhandle a Tehachapi team in a CIF final and the only team that stood in the way of the 1989 Tehachapi Warrior Team!
Something beautiful was transpiring on the football field in 1989. Two programs at the peak of their powers were getting ready to dance for a CIF Title for the third straight year! Tehachapi versus Carpinteria, the mountain men versus the beach bums both named The Warriors battling for football supremacy!
For Tehachapi, this was the peak of Coach Denman’s first generation of power I players; a perfect blend of homegrown toughness and new school talent. This team was loaded! They had all world wide receiver Lavail Johnson and the great Anthony Kelly at Running Back leading the charge. This team was so loaded Eric Young, (The Eric Young!) was a fullback! The greatest running back in Tehachapi history wasn’t the best tailback on this team! I have never seen a Tehachapi Football team as gifted as the 1989 team. They literally had it all and they were destined for a CIF title!
In any other year, they would have waxed whoever they faced. They beat a great Valley Christian team in Cerritos with a triple over-time thriller! (Probably the most exciting and unbelievable finish to any game I’ve seen). They punched a Montclair Prep team (with three D1 athletes in the backfield) in the gut on the Mountain! But in the final, they had to get through Tehachapi’s greatest foe, The Warriors of Carpenteria led by the great Coley Candaele at quarterback!
Candaele was a stud! He had a gun for an arm, with great mobility, and most importantly, he was tough! As a sophomore he led his Carp team up to the bitter, cold Mountain in the 1987 final and smacked around Tehachapi to a 27 to nothing route! It seemed Candaele and his Warriors were destined for a back to back championship when Carpinteria jumped out to a 14 to nothing lead in the 1988 final at Santa Barbara City College. But two scores in the fourth quarter by Tehachapi, (One a 42 yard interception return for a Touchdown by Dante Patterson with 3 minutes left in the game!) proved that Candaele and his Warriors were indeed mortal.
In what was probably the most controversial yet appropriate outcome in Warrior history, the 1988 final ended in a tie. Both teams proved to be each other’s equal and everyone knew they would return to settle the score the following year. You saw Frazier and Ali, The Red Sox and Yankees, The Celtics and Lakers! High school football had the Tehachapi Warriors versus the Carpinteria Warriors!
And in 1989 they met each other again on a cool December night at San Marcos field in Santa Barbara and played in the most anticipated game in Tehachapi Warrior History! In most years leading to this point, Tehachapi was the underdog. The small team from a small town, but not this year! This 89 team from the mountain was the only team in Tehachapi History that could walk into Carps home turf and be favored to win!
They played a different brand of Mountain Football! A brand of speed and power! An offense that could beat you through the air, grind it out on the ground, or bust it open with a big play! A defense with athletic speed that matched the traditional brute force! They had players that could score from anywhere on the field and that’s what made the 89 team so great!
When these two teams clashed for the third straight time, it was a magnificent site! Like two titans, both Warrior teams played each other to a standstill! Anthony Kelly was running his heart out! Ryan Grimes was playing out of his mind lofting passes to Lavail Johnson! I was there standing on the sideline and I couldn’t believe the hitting that was going on. My brother Benito sent the Carpinteria running back into the sideline with a thundering pop that sent shivers down the spines of the 8000 plus that witnessed it! This was football at its best!
Tehachapi found themselves with a 21 to 17 lead deep into the 4th quarter. At this point Lavail Johnson was closing out his final game as a Warrior with 3 touchdown receptions. Tehachapi had Carpinteria on the ropes, but Candeale had the ball with time still left on the clock. The quarterback from Carp completed a crucial third and long play with less then 2:00 minutes left in the game. Tehachapi again stiffened up on defense and forced Carpinteria to a fourth and short, but a critical offsides penalty against Tehachapi kept the drive alive.
You give a good quarterback these opportunities and they’ll usually take advantage of them. Candaele was a great quarterback and he did just that. With :17 seconds left in the game Candaele completed a perfect fade to his receiver in the back corner of the endzone. Like a cold blooded assassin Candaele stuck a dagger into the heart of Tehachapi and it’s fans as they took the lead 24 to 21.
To our Warriors credit, they didn’t give up. With one last gasp Grimes completed a pass and to Eric Young! The Tehachapi great busted loose and made a valiant effort to score! Eric made it down to the 15 yard line before he was cut down! With the clock showing zeros, time had run out on the Tehachapi squad and their chance to be crowned champions had expired.
It hurt watching the Carpinteria team and their fans celebrate. It hurt watching my friends and my brother go down in defeat. But as I feel now like I did then, they had nothing to be ashamed of. These two teams were equal in every sense of the word, but one them had to lose and it’s unfortunate that it was our team from Tehachapi. Like I said before, this 89 team was special, the best collection of talent I’ve ever seen in Tehachapi. And who knows, maybe if they played the game in Tehachapi the outcome would have been different.
Their opponent? Well, I’ve witnessed Tehachapi face off against numerous programs over the years and Carpinteria was our greatest foe. Coley Candaele who was also an accomplished runner went off to the Mecca of Track Oregon University. He returned to Carpinteria, coached for some time at his alma mater and now leads a successful program at Vista Murrieta High School.
As for the rivalry? You couldn’t ask for a better competition between two schools and the fans were treated to a final dance two years later. Tehachapi and Carpinteria faced off one last time in the 1991 CIF Final, but this time it was a little bit different. Both squads didn’t have the firepower as in previous years and it was quite the surprise that they met each other again. That’s a testament to the programs and the players involved demonstrating grit and determination.
This was a bitter sweet event with Tehachapi saying goodbye to the Southern Section and it was only appropriate that Carpenteria was the opponent at the going away party. This was Tehachapi’s sixth CIF Final in 7 years, it’s 5th final in a row, and Carpinteria was their opponent for 4 of them. So once again, Carpinteria was standing in the way of a Finals Championship. And as a player in this game; I could tell you we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way!
True to form, both teams slugged it out in a brutalizing competition at the same San Marcos Field in Santa Barbara! Again, both teams were playing each other to a stand still! Carpinteria was a physical opponent with a potent ground game, but Tehachapi countered with one of the best defenses in the state to slow them down. The score was tied 7 to 7 at halftime and it remained that way until midway through the fourth quarter.
Like in any close battle it was one play that changed a team’s fortune. In this case it was Carpinteria that took advantage of a great punt return and ultimately slammed the ball into the endzone to take a 14 – 7 lead. And that’s the way the score would remain until the final gun sounded. Once again our hearts were broken as Carpinteria walked away with the title. Our team said goodbye to the Southern Section coming up just short yet again. Was Carpinteria the better team? The scoreboard said so, but really there wasn’t much of a difference and every participant in the game left with mutual respect for one another.
And that was the nature of our rivalry. Two programs, equal in every aspect of the game, taking turns punching each other! I played against some pretty good teams, but none matched the intensity, heart, discipline and class of that Carp team. Not Garces, not Bishop, no one!
Years have passed on but along the way I became quite familiar with that annual drive that my family made when I was young. With Santa Barbara becoming my adopted home town, I’ve had a lot of reminders of that old rivalry. I think of it every time I pass by that same San Marcos High School field next to the Turnpike exit going to my best friend’s house. I think of Dante Patterson’s interception every time I pass by Leadbetter Beach and Santa Barbara City College.
And every once in a while I’ll pass by that non-descript town and I wonder what Carpinteria football looks like today? I know if they see Tehachapi, they’d see the same old program with a different style of attack. But one things for certain, if Carpinteria kept up it’s program the way Tehachapi has, the Warriors from the coast would give the Warriors from the Mountain their toughest fight. And it would be a great site to see…
You can e-mail former Warrior Sal Murguia at salmurguia@msn.com
Submitted by Gary Childress A Championship Game
To End All Championship Games
Posted on December 2, 2007
On Nov 21, 2003, a #4 seeded Tehachapi Warrior squad stepped on to an chilly gridiron in a central valley town near Fresno, preparing to grapple with an opponent in a CIF Playoff game. Though this scenario was (and is) not an uncommon one for the Warriors, their opponent on this particular evening was anything but uncommon!
As I remember it, 2003 didn't exactly start off as the prosperous championship season it would eventually turn out to be. Having dumped their season opener against Burroughs (Ridgecrest) on their home turf, the Warriors would go on to surrender two more games (Clovis East & Delano) during inter-league action before entering league play with a 2-3 record.
Having witnessed a somewhat uncharacteristic slow start by the Warriors, a lot of the Tehachapi faithful in the stands that year didn't holdout much hope for a successful season (much less a CIF Title). From the opening kickoff at Wasco to the final second at home against Garces, the Warriors played the second half of that season like a team possessed and would enter their post season campaign having utterly laid waste to all of their SSL opponents and capturing their 5th South Sequoia League Title.
However, the main focus in the Central Section at that time was not on the mid-season resurrection and resurgence of the marauding Warriors, it was solely centered on a High School in the small Fresno suburb of Easton !
The Washington Union Panthers had generally had a reputation of being a somewhat formidable team in the highly competitive North Sequoia League, but during this particular football season the school would unleash a beast like non other. Washington Union was a complete package and long before the Central Valley had even entered the post season, most of the preps media from Fresno to Bakersfield had all but handed them that year's (Div III) Valley Championship!
After the defeat of Selma in the first round, the direction of the Warrior's compass was now true north in the direction of the Fresno / Clovis area. Just as David had been thrown into the arena against Goliath centuries ago, the Warriors to would now have to face a Giant of it's own!
From the opening kickoff, the Panthers seemed to live up to all the hype. Causing a turnover on Tehachapi's first drive, and striking first blood a few plays later. The Warriors seemed to be falling into the pattern of Washington Union's previous opponents and possibly doomed to suffer the same fate.
However, just like it had done six weeks prior. Tehachapi would retake the field with a renewed sense of vigor and would mount a punishing ground attack that would push the Panther defense in a whole new direction they apparently weren't prepared for or accustomed to dealing with. "Backwards!"
A game considered by many as a mere stepping stone on the way to Easton 's Valley Title, had turned into a nightmarish disaster. On this chilly night the Panthers would see their undefeated hopes and dreams come to an abrupt and unexpected end at the hands of a #4 seeded team that was heralded as nothing more then lambs being lead to the slaughter!
The rest of the 03 season for the Warriors is now a part of history. Tehachapi would make one long last trip to another mountain the following week, and after a hard nosed slug fest against the #2 seeded Yosemite Badgers, the Warriors would leave Oakhurst ( California ) with the 2003 Valley Championship in tow.
On Nov 30, 2007. the 2007 Tehachapi Warriors (now the #1 seeded team) once again stepped on to an icy field, this time standing on the precipices of what appeared to be an inevitable CIF Championship! Though they didn't garner an undefeated record as the Panthers, Tehachapi had without a doubt become a Gridiron Leviathan regardless!
Finishing a very successful regular season campaign that saw the Warriors not only clinch their 6th South Sequoia League Title, they also dispatched two incredibly talented teams (Taft & Bakersfield Christian) that would eventually go on to win Valley Championships in their own prospective divisions as well.
As the Warriors were preparing to do battle against the #2 seeded Foothill Trojans in pursuit of the (Division III) Valley Championship, they and all in attendance would soon be reminded of the old Indian proverb that the wolf on top of the hill is not always as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill!
As Foothill's opening drive ended by an interception, and was soon followed up by a quick Warrior touchdown. The Warriors seemed to be in full control of what appeared to be their destiny. However, memories of what happened on that cold night in Easton four years ago would soon come flooding back as Foothill quickly struck gold on it's next two possessions, putting the Warriors in the role of the struggling Goliath's!
Though the Warriors would fumble on they next possession, the tough Mountain D would manage to keep the Trojans out of the end-zone and allow the Tehachapi offense to tie up the score.
However, proving to be were worthy of their #2 status, Foothill would put it in the end-zone again and take the lead just before the end of the first half.
As the fog began to roll in from the north and onto the field, the Warriors would prove once again that there's no place like home as they would find the end-zone for a third time after a interception return would put them within striking distance. However, a missed PAT would hound the Warrior faithful like a resounding drum within their heads as the scoreboard would continue to resonate the single point deficit for all to see through the moist patchy air for most of the second half.
With fog thicker than soup that had Coy Burnett Field now completely socked in, a Warrior offense now having to rely mostly on the pass would once again go to the air and in almost total obscurity would make the connection and quickly reclaim the lead.
With the fog now clearing, and the momentum now in their favor, the high powered Warriors would once again put the wood to the Trojan D and once again strike pay-dirt in a touchdown run that by all accounts would seem to have sealed the deal and the Division III Title.
However, just as they had done in the previous weeks of the playoffs. Foothill was extremely notorious for being capable of pulling off tremendous upsets when all hope seemed lost! We all should have been prepared for what happened next, or perhaps we would have been if it weren't so impossible!
With just over a minute left, with one of the greatest desperation plays that it's ever been my privilege to witness, the Trojans would strike back with pin point accuracy on a 50+ yard pass and pull the deficit within five points.
As the cheering from the revived visitors section slowly settled into stony silence, both sides of the field now anxiously awaited and dug in with wide eyed anticipation as all of sudden we had a ball game again! It seemed that the entire game with all it's wild twists and turns, as well as the fate of both teams now hinged on the success or failure of an ensuing solitary on-side kick. You could literally feel the tension in the air as all in attendance were now focused like a laser beam on a single football at the 40 yard line. As Foothill's kicker dropped his right arm and lunged at the ball you could almost hear a collective gasp from both sides of the field as the ball was soon aloft tumbling end over end!
Yet just as quickly as the Trojan's resurgence had began, it all came crashing to an end as the short ten yard pouch bounced off the ground and into the safe possession of the Warriors! In a thunderous ovation of applause that was probably reminiscent of those heard in the Great Coliseum during the days of the Roman Empire, the Warriors would take a knee and run out the clock to secure the victory and the 2007 (Division III) Valley Championship. "Goliath hath Triumphed!"
Though the conditions surrounding the jubilation were harsh and brutally cold, the fire within the hearts of the Warriors (team and fans alike) were burning brighter than ever before. It was truly time to celebrate as the boys in green symbolized by hoisting their shinny new piece of hardware into the frosty and frigged night air. "We are the Champions again!!!"
My personal compliments go out to the Foothill ( Bakersfield ) Trojans for stepping up to the plate with tremendous courage and steadfast dedication. You certainly silenced all the critics and proved beyond any shadow of doubt that you all were extremely worthy of this title shot, you are surely Champions in my book!
As the 2007 season has now officially concluded and the time to stand down has come for us all! All we can do for now is reflect on this great season for weeks to come and bask in the glow of this tremendous victory. And, as most of us already anxiously await next year we can only stop and wonder. "Can make another run at it?"
See you next year Warriors!!!
You can e-mail Gary Childress Jr. at ibegaryc@yahoo.com
Submitted by Sal Murguia My First Game In Over 10 Years!
Posted on November 26, 2007
I went to my first Tehachapi Football game in over 10 years and there was one lasting impression that I couldn't get over, IT WAS COLD! Maybe living in Southern California has softened me up a bit, but now I can understand why Tehachapi opponents have dreaded the trip up to the Mountain come playoff time. It's no coincidence that some of Tehachapi's monumental upsets over the years have taken place on the bitter cold mountain. One thing's for sure, I must have been insane whenever I refused to wear long sleeves when I was a kid!
I wanted to wait until the final gun to make it down to the field and congratulate Coach Denman, Ruggles, and Carl on their dismantling of Garces, but my party and I left early once we knew the outcome was in hand so we could GET WARM! Despite the cold weather, it was great to say hello to some old friends. I went to the game with my old neighbor Ty Franklin, one of the subjects of my last story. It has been literally 12 years since we last saw each other, but sitting there with him and my brother Benito watching football seemed like no time had passed.
And that's my general impression of the entire occasion. Not a whole lot has changed over the years except my own perception maybe. When I remember what Tehachapi Football was like in my stories, I look at it from a child's perspective. But sitting there as an adult on Friday, I couldn't help but notice how innocent it all was. After all it's just a kid’s game. So to judge, criticize or compare those kids from teams of years past would be unfair. The players from Tehachapi did what all of the young men from Tehachapi have done over all of these years; they played their hearts out.
Other then that, I couldn't of asked for anything more. I enjoyed visiting and seeing former players George Heath, Shawn Lunz, Ryan (his wife Kim) and Jason Grimes, Trevor Hayes, Todd Fink, and Eric Young. I also saw former cheerleaders Leslie Davis, Carrie Whittier, and former mascot Heather Elmor. Being at the game brought back a lot of great memories of friendship.
When I wrap up my stories of Tehachapi football in the future, I hope the readers understand that it wasn’t the games or the wins and losses that I remember the most (or that were the most important to me). When I look at Tehachapi Football, it’s the friendship and the bonds that were formed in a unique and wonderful community environment.
Well, as far as next week is concerned, I know Coach Denman will have his team ready. I really couldn’t tell you who’s going to win. What I do know, if it’s as cold as it was last week, the “Warriors” will be awfully tough to beat. Good luck to Coach Denman, the Coaching Staff, and to the Players, I’ll be cheering for you all from a nice, warm place!
You can e-mail former Warrior Sal Murguia at salmurguia@msn.com
Submitted by Gary Childress The Green Machine Guts the Goats,
Advances to the CIF Finals!
Posted on November 25, 2007
In 1878 in the back country along the West Virginia-Kentucky Tug Fork River, a feud was brewing between two families with a long history in that area, a feud that would officially last over 13 years and become the most famous in American History.
In 1946 in eastern Kern County, a feud was brewing between two area High Schools that so-far has lasted 61 years and in it's own right has become just as notorious in the annuls of Kern High School sports as the Hatfields and McCoys had become 129 years ago!
The exact reason of why the feud in the back hills of the Tug Valley (like Tehachapi and Garces) began is still somewhat of a mystery. Some say the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys started over a pig. Some say the feud between the Warriors and Rams began over a choice in school colors.
The exact reasons of why the rivalry exists will probably never be known. The one thing that is known is that just like those waring families of the late 1800's, We is a feudin, and a feud is a feud! Though this high school rivalry has not taken it's toll in senseless death and bloody violence like the one a century before, it has made for some fun, highly intense, smash mouth football!
Last (Friday) night was no exception as the Warriors and Rams stepped on to the frosty sub freezing grass of Coy Burnett Field to face each other for the first time in the post season in both of the school's history. This time the ensuing battle would not take place over a South Sequoia League Title (like in years past), nor for a mere swine. Last night's contest was for the greatest prize the two squads would ever lock horns for. A shot at the 2007 CIF (Division III) Valley Championship!
For the Warriors, a win would mean getting a shot at their first CIF Championship since 2003 when the Warriors defeated the Yosemite Bagers in Oakhurst ( California ) 14-10. For the Rams to win would mean a return to the big game the second straight year and a chance to reclaim their Division III crown and win back-to-back valley titles.
However, it was very appearant from the opening kickoff that a title reclimation by the Garces Rams would be easier said than done. Going 4 and out with lost yardage on their first drive, the Warriors would strike first blood on their opening drive in less than 4 plays.
Though the Rams defense was at times somewhat effective against the Tehachapi run game, it was the Garces offense that would prove to be ineffective against the Mountain D-Line that would hold the Rams out of the endzone in four scoreless quarters enabiling the Warriors to defeat Garces for the second straight time this season by a final of 23-0.
For the first time in 4 years, Tehachapi is finally returning to the big game! For the first time in 10 years the game will be held on the Mountain at Coy Burnett Field.
The last CIF Championship appearance hosted by the Warriors on their home turf was against the an undefeated Dos Palos Broncos team in 1997, a game that saw an also equally undefeated Tehachapi Warriors team fall to the Broncos by a final of 14-11 in one of the worst snow storms in recent history.
Tehachapi's opponent on Friday will be the #2 seeded Foothill (Bakersfield) Trojans (9-3) who advanced to the finals by upsetting the highly favored #3 seeded Washington Union Panthers by a final of 30-26.
Tehachapi and Foothill first crossed paths in the 2000 in a contest that saw the underdog Warriors defeat the Trojans 34-7. Since than the two programs have faced each other a total of 6 times, with the Warriors yielding a 5-1 average over the Trojans so-far.
My personal Congratulations go out to the Foothill Trojans who will be making their second straight appearance in the big game for the Central Section (Division III) Championship!
See you on the Mountain next Friday!
You can e-mail Gary Childress Jr. at ibegaryc@yahoo.com
Submitted by Gary Childress Warrior Train Continues Through Garces
Posted on November 18, 2007
Just as a human has a near death experience when they come close to buying the farm, a rusty Warrior squad was probably watching visions their entire dream season flashing before there eyes as a quagmire of mistakes and turnovers nearly sent their 2007 campaign tumbling down like a house of cards last (Friday) night at Coy Burnett Field.
The Tehachapi Warriors eventually defeated the Highland Scots by a final score of 21-14, however it wasn't pretty! In what had to be the sloppiest game played by the mountain offense all year, the defense stepped it up and kept the Scotsmen at bay and out of the endzone till the clock finally expired.
Our boys really got a reality check last night, realizing that the wolf on top of the hill is not always as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill, and they nearly had their butts handed to them. Coming off a bye week can sometimes throw you out of your rhythm, and hopefully they'll get themselves back in full swing by next Friday?
The Warriors however did advance to the semi-finals and this Friday after Thanksgiving they'll be facing there biggest nemesis of all time as they will go head-to-head against the Garces Rams with the winner advancing to the CIF (Division III) Finals. Last night the Rams defeated the Golden Valley Bulldogs 51-25 to advance to the semi-finals, and a week one rematch in the post season is now locked and loaded!
The Warriors and Rams have one of the longest active rivalries in the history of the Kern High School District (dating all the way back to 1946), not to mention one of the nastiest and most bitter! Tehachapi and Garces faced off earlier this year in the season's opener on August 24th with the Warriors defeating the Rams 28-13 at Tobias Stadium in Bakersfield. Now the high school football equivalent of the Hatfield's and McCoy's will face off on "The Mountain" for the second time this season.
This will be the first time ever that these two schools with such deep seated feelings an anamosity for each other have crossed swords in the post season. Will history repeat itself, or will the Rams derail the Warriors train to the promise land?
Submitted by Sal Murguia, 1993 Warrior Alumnus The Greatest Warriors That Weren't ...
Posted on October 8, 2007
If there was one thing I could excel at as a child, it was the ability to make a tackle. Starting out in the Tehachapi Youth Football League, I was known as a great tackler. If there was a tackling drill, I was always called on by the coaches to demonstrate how to do it properly. head-up, butt down, keep your back straight, bend at the knees, look at the running back’s hips, get your head across, and wrap. I was good at that!
When I was in the 7th grade, I already made a name for myself as a good defender. During one practice we had an inter-squad scrimmage and I was put on the defensive side to play against our starting offense. The quarterback got the ball and tossed it to the running back for a sweep. I read the play perfectly and stayed a step behind the running back. The bodies cleared and it was just me and the back one-on-one! The tailback stopped! I zeroed in on him ready to make my hit! My head was up, my butt was low, the setting was perfect for me to make the play!
Suddenly, the running back shifted his hips, took two steps forward, then took two steps back, side stepped, and spun! I was locked in and went in for the hit, lunged, and grasped at nothing but air! Left on my belly I turned over and looked up as I watched David Nunez, the best running back I ever played against, run for a touchdown!
The Greatest Warriors That Weren't
In football, it’s easy to forget about the past. It’s a “What have you done for me lately?” activity. When you play football in Tehachapi, you feel on top of the world because you get a lot of positive attention. But when you’re done playing, gone are the cheers as well as the admiration, and the recognition that came along with it. You become a ghost and the attention that you once received moves on for someone else to appreciate.
David Nunez
When I decided to write some stories about Tehachapi football a few years back, I used it as an opportunity to reminisce about my childhood. Football played a big role in my friend’s lives and writing about the sport gave me a chance to write about people in my life that were long forgotten. Thanks to this website a lot of my friend’s are recognized for their contribution to Tehachapi football. What gets lost in the history however, are those great football players in Tehachapi that didn’t directly contribute to the Warrior legacy.
Some of the greatest football players and athletes that I ever competed against never put on the Warrior uniform. One great player that comes to mind is the greatest running back that Warrior fans have never seen, David Nunez. David was a year older than I and possessed the skills that made him the youth football equivalent to Barry Sanders. Anyone that competed against him will tell you that he was the most difficult running back to pin down!
Talk about moves, David had them in spades and he’d shuck and jive tacklers out of their jocks and just embarrass them! Despite his lack in size, Nunez made up for it with his quickness and he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. I remember David having a great sense of humor who liked to laugh. I guess he needed it because he was a huge Raider fan and wore the number 32 to honor his hero, Marcus Allen. David wasn’t just an awesome running back; he was a great all around player who was gifted with great hands and was a great form tackler. I believe that if he chose to continue playing football, he would have been one the best running backs that Tehachapi had ever seen.
So what happened to him you ask? I don’t know, but my guess is he fell out of love with football when a certain “Great” Hockey Player decided to call Los Angles his home in 1988. I distinctly remember in Jr. High that David would not shut up about hockey! Everyday he would get excited and talk about Wayne Gretzky this and Luc Robitaille that! Back in the day this was kind of weird because nobody really cared about hockey.
I don’t remember how well David played as a Brave his freshman year in football, but when he was a sophomore he decided that football wasn’t for him anymore. Not having the opportunity to play with him again was disappointing, but to his teammate’s delight, David was talked into playing after our starting running back was suspended following the first game of the season. And for a brief moment, Tehachapi fans witnessed David Nunez’s greatness!
Even though our team was terrible, David shined and was the brightest spot in an otherwise disappointing season. The last thing I remember about David as a football player was our last game of the season against Paraclete. I was the starting full back and the play was a 28 sweep. As his lead blocker I was assigned to find the first red jersey I could see and keep him from tackling Dave. When the ball was snapped I swept out to the right. Suddenly I felt a hand on my back and a voice behind me says, “There he is on the left, go get him.” David then grabbed my jersey, pushed me into the defender, and I went crashing down into my opponent. Picking myself up from the ground, I looked up and could see David Nunez dazzle his way down the sideline running for a Touchdown!
Ty Franklin
David was just one of many kids in Tehachapi that would play football on any given weekend just for the love of it. One kid that loved playing football more than anybody I knew was my next door neighbor, Ty Franklin. Now I only played organized football with Ty for one year and that was our TYF freshman year in 1984. That being said, I probably played football with Ty more than any other person I knew in Tehachapi.
I remember when I first saw Ty and it happened to coincide with the first time I ever went to a Tehachapi Warriors game. While taking in the excitement of the atmosphere I saw a little kid down on the dirt track walking around in a football uniform that was very reminiscent of the Warriors. He was decked out with a helmet, shoulder pads, and had on a green numbered 10 jersey. I soon figured out that Ty was my new next door neighbor when I moved to Tehachapi, and he was the younger brother of Warrior quarterback Martin Rolin.
Ty was a year younger than me and boy did he have a competitive spirit that border lined on arrogance. He had to win no matter what the cost was and he’d do anything to take you out of your game. I swear almost everyday Ty and my brothers would be in the street, or in our front yard organizing football games with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood. I think some of the craziest, most intense football games in Tehachapi history took place at the cul-de-sac on Mill Street.
As a person who could get people to follow him, there was no one better than Ty. He was a natural leader and he possessed great athleticism. When we were teammates on the Tomahawks, Ty was the youngest player on the team. He got beat up a lot and would often leave our practices in tears. But to his credit he never gave up or quit, and in the long run, became an outstanding football player.
I can’t tell you how many times I witnessed Ty break away for a long touchdown run or make an outstanding play. He would often have 5 touchdown games and was regarded as the best player in his age group. Ty had a great head on his shoulders, a good arm, and it appeared that he was being groomed to follow in his older brothers footsteps as a future Warrior Quarterback.
Unfortunately however, circumstances didn’t allow Ty to fulfill his potential. I can’t recall necessarily how or when it happened, but Ty’s athletic career came to a screeching halt around his freshman year in high school. In my humble opinion I think he was a victim of overkill. Ty loved to play sports and he played everyday whenever he got the chance. He was a great pitcher, had a great outside shot in basketball, and of course he was a great football player.
From what I understand, Ty blew out his arm early on his freshman year in high school. The details are sketchy because when it happened I was no longer his neighbor. But I do remember Ty walking around with a cast on his arm and understood that his injury was so severe, his arm wasn’t going to be the same. I can’t speculate how an injury like that can affect you emotionally, but for it to happen at such a young age, it must have had a huge impact on him.
Even though Ty’s playing days came to an end, the real victims in the story are the Tehachapi Warrior fans. They never had the opportunity to see what this kid was made of and he would have brought a lot of people to their feet. Ty, still showcasing his natural athleticism and his need to compete, took up roller hockey and became a damn good player! Not only did he move on from his injury, he matured into one of the best, most kind hearted, sincere people they I have ever known; just an all around great guy with a great sense of humor.
I haven’t spoken to Ty in maybe 10 or 12 years, but I still regard him as one of my good friends and he’ll always be my next door neighbor. His parents Karen and James are some of the kindest people that you’ll ever meet and I hope their invitation for “Hot Stuff” will never be rescinded.
I’m sure there are a lot of stories in Tehachapi similar to Ty’s and David’s. And there are still more great football players in Tehachapi that never became Warriors. Back in the “Golden Era” of Tehachapi football, kids played football on a daily basis just for the love of it. In the street, on front yards, or down at the parks, football was the king regardless of season. I just hope there are (and I’m sure there is) kids today that play football just because they love it.
You can e-mail former Warrior Sal Murguia at salmurguia@msn.com
Submitted by Sal Murguia, 1993 Warrior Alumnus Breaking Barriers: A Warrior Superstar Remembered
Posted on August 5, 2006
It was your typical afternoon in Tehachapi during the fall of 1987. The sun was out, the sky was clear, the air was crisp and the Tehachapi “Braves” were taking the field against the Kern Valley “Broncos”. This seemed like your typical Junior Varsity “Braves” game. There wasn’t a lot of fanfare and the crowd was slowly filling Coy Burnett Field for the highly anticipated varsity contest.
Everything seemed normal until the “Braves” offense took the field…but then something in the air started to change. A slight breeze began to gust as both teams broke out of their huddles.
The quarterback yelled, “Ready, Set, GO!” The center snapped the ball; the quarterback turned and handed the pigskin off to the running back for a “26 Power.”
Suddenly the rest of the players stopped…or so it seemed! The running back who took the ball turned into a blur! With the gust of breeze transforming into a gapping howling forceful wind, a bolt of lightning struck through the offensive line, and the running back flashed by leaving the rest of the players on the field in his wake!
TOUCHDOWN TEHACHAPI! The audience couldn’t believe what they just saw…or what they tried to see. No one had ever run that fast in a Tehachapi uniform before. He was so quick the crowd couldn’t capture what number he was wearing. A person in the confused crowd finally asked, “Who was that?” No one, not even the announcer knew who this person was…What the Tehachapi fans were treated to were three more instances like this in the game! And when it was all said and done, everyone knew his name and no one would ever forget it. Tehachapi was just introduced to Anthony Kelly…the first superstar in the history of Tehachapi.
Anthony Kelly: Tehachapi’s First Superstar
Growing up in a small town can be a frustrating experience for any kid. The pressure to “fit-in” and the need to discover one’s place in the social world is a tough experience for children all throughout this country. Tehachapi was no exception to this rule and since this was such a small town, the pressure to be like the other kids was immense.
But what if you didn’t look like the “other kids?” The ugly truth about growing up in Tehachapi was that if you didn’t look a certain way, talk a certain way, or act in a certain manner; you would be treated like a social outcast. To be blunt, Tehachapi was a predominately conservative, “White”, middle class community and if you didn’t fit into that mold, life in this small town could be difficult.
This is a touchy issue, but it’s a subject that has to be addressed and is vital in the storytelling of football in this small town. Tehachapi has a long rich history of minority families thriving in its community. The Latino and native American population have especially played an important role in the development of Tehachapi’s identity. Despite this, Tehachapi wasn’t exactly a welcoming community to minority or outside cultures and there was very little presence of African American culture during my childhood.
Growing up in Tehachapi, the “N-Word” or n*gg*r was a word that was heard all too often. There was even one instance at a football game in Rosamond a Tehachapi youth called an African American kid from the other school an “Alabama Porch Monkey” and that drew a huge laugh from all of the kids of the visiting side. Prejudice and racism was bred into the minds of some Tehachapi youth and sadly not a lot of people were willing to address the issue honestly.
Were there African American families in the Tehachapi community? Yes, but they were few and far between. In the 70s through the early 90s, the only African American students that grew up in the small town were Arthur Jackson and Kiana Sanchez. There is also other remembered African Americans like Steve Sheppard, Cory and Bucky Tucker, and Charles and Helen Slayton. The exposure to people of color was limited in Tehachapi and a lot of people in our town often judged African Americans by the racial stereotypes portrayed by the mass media.
Now this isn’t to say that everyone in Tehachapi were ignorant racists because they weren’t. As a matter of fact, most of the people in town and their families were open-minded and tolerant of other people’s differences. However, as a community, all residents had something to learn when it came to the issue of being racially sensitive. More so, there was an underlined perception from some of the people in Tehachapi that African Americans were inferior “trouble makers” and were often the punch line of racist jokes. It was safe to say that Tehachapi wasn’t immune to the ignorance regarding race relations that plague our society and the community wasn’t exactly embracing Black culture.
With that said Tehachapi, and the nation as a whole, had a challenge ahead of them in regards to how the general public perceived African Americans in the late eighties and early nineties. Black culture was ready to explode to the forefront of popular culture after it was ravaged throughout most of the eighties. Tehachapi in this time period was growing and there was an extraordinary amount of new families moving to town. Cultural change was on the horizon and a number of individual’s thoughts and perceptions were going to be confronted in terms of racial tolerance.
If you were a new kid in Tehachapi life as an “Outsider” could be down right terrible. As anyone could imagine it was difficult for any new student to come into a small town and try to fit in. Now if you were a person of color and a new student, the difficulty of finding your place in the community was magnified. There was however one easy way to break down barriers and gain respect. If you wanted to get immediate acceptance into the football crazy town you had to be a tremendous athlete. And for Anthony Kelly, his life in Tehachapi as a new student could have been pretty difficult, but he just happened to be one of the best athletes that the town had ever seen.
Learning to Fit In
When Anthony first came to Tehachapi as a sophomore in 1987 he wasn’t allowed to showcase his God given talent right away. The Junior Varsity “Braves” already had a tailback and the coaches put him at wide receiver with the hopes of taking advantage of his speed. Anthony would blow by the Tehachapi defenders in practice and his opponents during games but there wasn’t a talented enough quarterback to get him the ball. This was a failed experiment and Anthony started his Tehachapi football career in complete anonymity. As time went on Anthony was finally given the chance to run the ball and when he did, he showcased a talent that was never seen before in the history of Tehachapi Football. Anthony tore apart his opponents and the fans of Tehachapi were treated to an extraordinary combination of speed, finesse and power.
Despite his display of brilliance as a “Brave” Anthony wasn’t the starting tailback at the beginning of the season for the “Warriors” during his junior year in 1988. That job belonged to Senior Ty Trimm who was a long time family friend. Tehachapi had a tradition for establishing a pecking order at tailback and Ty had earned his spot. He was a good running back; big, fast and strong, but he had a history of knee problems. When Ty started having trouble with his knees early on in the season, the coaches decided to start giving Anthony the ball. Like any great athlete, when Anthony started to run, he took the ball, slashed through his opponents and never looked back!
In 1988 the faces of the Tehachapi “Warriors” seemed a little different from years past. There was an unprecedented amount of African Americans on the team. Now there have been African American players that have played for the “Warriors” in the past, but up to this point (50 years of football) I could probably count them on my fingers. With the town growing there was an increasing amount of “outside” talent coming to Tehachapi and it just so happened that a number of these talented players were African American.
At wide receiver you had Dante Patterson, Lavail Johnson and Bucky Tucker. At offensive guard you had Charles Slayton. At defensive tackle there was Charles Scott and leading the charge at tailback was Anthony Kelly. (Oh yeah…I forgot to mention Darren Williams, he played “Left Out!”) Obviously there were other great players on this team but it wasn’t a coincidence with the inclusion of these talented players that the “Warriors” won their third C.I.F. title that year; and Anthony Kelly became the team’s breakout star!
Going into his senior year Anthony was named as one of the Captains for the “Warriors” and his celebrity among the people of Tehachapi was growing. Not everyone however was happy to see him as the “face” of Warrior football and there were a lot of haters in the “Good Ol’ Boy” community that believed that he wasn’t that good. Regardless of this Anthony was becoming the biggest star that Tehachapi had ever seen and at this point he was simply known as “A.K.” Anthony was all over the news getting coverage from both the Antelope Valley Press and the Bakersfield Californian. He was given the nickname Anthony “TD” Kelly by “Home Town Sports” and he was the most popular guy at the school. It was also at this time when Anthony had the biggest impact on my life personally.
Living with a Tehachapi Icon
Anthony’s senior year coincided with my freshman year in high school and he and my brother Benito became best friends. Now I’m not going to get into details but for reason’s known to Anthony, Benito and my parents, Anthony came to live with us. My parents ran a very open household and they raised me to be an open-minded and welcoming person. When I found out that Anthony Kelly was coming to live in my house, man I couldn’t be more excited! Here was the “Warriors” biggest star, the most popular guy in the school and he was coming to live with us!
When Anthony moved in we didn’t communicate a lot at first because to my surprise he was a pretty quiet guy. But after a couple of days he started to open up and I found him to be sharp, intelligent, and polite. Basically he was just an all around cool person. It didn’t take long before the ice was broken and “A.K.” and I became friends. One thing that I found curious at the time was that a lot of people at school were always asking me about Anthony and what he was like. I didn’t know if the questions came from a place of general curiosity, or that he was the best athlete at our school, or the fact that he was black. In my opinion it was probably a combination of all three.
Anyways, I can’t begin to tell you how cool it was as a freshman to have “A.K.” around because at that time my brother Benito didn’t want anything to do with me at school. I mean he was a senior and I was his un-cool, annoying little brother. Like any other freshman, I wanted to be accepted and fit-in with the popular crowd. I had my awkward tendencies and Benito (my childhood rival) wanted me to earn everything I got and wasn’t willing to use his “popular” status to make my life easier.
Anthony noticed this and he always went out of his way to acknowledge me when I walked down the halls. And when “A.K.” walked down the halls people noticed! Especially when he wore his letterman’s jacket decorated with all of his football and track medals. Let me tell you, it felt pretty cool having the best athlete at the school giving me a high five in the hallways when I was a nothing freshman. It helped me with my confidence and it made my first year in high school more tolerable.
So I got along with Anthony really well and it felt like I had another older brother to look up to. He and I were cool but there was this one incident that happened when I went too far and Anthony taught me a lesson.
I remember when I was in the 9th grade rap music was exploding. It was 1989 and I was listening to NWA, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, and Ton-Loc. Anyways I thought I had a good handle on Black Culture and I thought I knew everything that I needed to know. One day Anthony was in his room and I waltzed in seeing what he was up to. He was sitting on his bed and I stuck my hand up and said, “What’s up my nigger?” Anthony surprisingly didn’t respond in the way that I expected him to. The room went cold and what I saw was a face with a combination of shock and a look that could kill! Anthony’s eyes narrowed, he grabbed my hand and said to me with restrained anger, “Man, don’t you ever say that word! Not to me, not to anybody!” I said, “But I was just kidding around.” Anthony didn’t care, he told me to, “Please leave” and I left the room ashamed and confused.
I didn’t get it; I heard that word all the time and I thought it was something I could say to him. I knew that it wasn’t a great thing to repeat but I was just kidding around with him. Hours went by and Anthony didn’t speak to me. I kept walking by his room hoping to apologize, but his door remained shut and I wasn’t given a chance to talk to him. Finally, as I hung out in my bedroom, Anthony walked in and told me that we needed to talk.
“A.K.” sat down next to me, looked me in the eyes and said, “Listen, I know you didn’t mean anything bad by what you said, and I’ve heard that word a million times, but I never expected hearing it from you.” He continued, “That word carries a lot of hate and I don’t want you to say it under any circumstances. Not to me, and not to anyone else got it?” I nodded my head in agreement. It wasn’t my place to argue, it wasn’t my place to complain and it wasn’t my place to say that black people call each other the “N-Word” all of the time. I took what Anthony said to heart, respected his words and said, “Yeah I got it.”
Before “A.K.” got up I asked, “Are we cool?” He stuck out his fist; he bumped it with mine and said with a smile, “Yeah man we’re cool.” And with those words Anthony “TD” Kelly opened up my eyes and I would never see the world in the same light again. Never again would I utter that word to anybody. It was not only a sign of disrespect to my brother Anthony, but it also disrespected the millions of African Americans that suffered at the hands of bigotry…..
When you talk about the greatest running back in Tehachapi School history, only one name comes to my mind. I never saw anyone run faster or harder than Anthony Kelly. He was not only gifted with speed but he was one tough runner! He wasn’t the biggest guy in the world; he was lean, stood about 5 foot 9 and couldn’t weigh more than 170 pounds. But this guy was an outstanding athlete! He was unlike any other athlete in Tehachapi before him. “A.K.” was the first person that I witnessed in person that could dunk a basketball with authority on a 10 foot rim. Come on! He was only 5’9’’!
A Legend Remembered
In 1989 Anthony shattered the record books, records that have since been broken. Yes there are running backs with better statistics but if you ever saw Anthony play you knew you were watching the best! Plus Anthony became the first African American football player at our school to become a leader and a captain! He was a vocal leader who gained the respect from his teammates and his impact on others extended beyond the football field.
Not only was Anthony Kelly Tehachapi’s first black star, he was Tehachapi’s first Superstar! He was charismatic, articulate and commanded attention with his confidence. He was on the news, in the papers, on T.V., and won so many awards for football I don’t know where to begin. Everywhere “A.K.” went in the county, even rival schools, everyone knew who he was and respected him.
Was Anthony perfect? No, there were times when he made mistakes and used poor judgment. Man he was pretty stubborn too and he had a temper. I didn’t write this to glorify “A.K.” and make him seem like he was this perfect saint who changed people’s perception on race because he didn’t. It was his success however and the success of other minority athletes at this time that helped change some of the ill prejudices that several people had in Tehachapi. No one and I mean no one ever said the “N-Word” to “A.K.”! And for that I thank him because it wasn’t said as much around school.
The celebrity of Anthony Kelly among the people of Tehachapi demonstrated that an “outsider” can come to this town and be accepted among them. He was a captain, a leader, and a great friend to all that knew him. Did Anthony have a larger effect on the school and the community in terms of race? I don’t know. I’m sure there were people that never accepted Anthony simply because of his skin color and it’s likely that some people’s minds will never be changed.
I just wanted to recognize “A.K.” for who he was, what he did, and the impact he had on my life. Plus, he was one hell of a football player. In a town with little tolerance for “outsiders” during a time when football was everything, Anthony Kelly was able to break down a lot of barriers. There have been a number of great football players at THS and maybe there were some who were better. But there was only one Anthony Kelly and he just happened to be the biggest star of them all…
You can e-mail former Warrior Sal Murguia at salmurguia@msn.com
Submitted by Sal Murguia, 1993 Warrior Alumnus The Birth of "Mountain Football"
Posted on July 1, 2006
Around 1987 Tehachapi started to experience unprecedented growth. It seemed that our little town was ready to reach out and embrace the outside world. Sure the residents already had cable TV and were exposed to outside influences. With that said Tehachapi still remained in its own cultural bubble. The community was very localized and there were virtually no signs of corporate America. You wanted to go shopping? Go to Town and Country Market. You wanted to eat? Go to the Warriors Den or the Burger Spot. You wanted to rent a video? B&B Liquor had the best variety of movies.
In the later part of the 80’s the scenery in Tehachapi started to change. In no time the dirt road and open fields surrounding Tucker Rd. and Valley Blvd. made way to become a brand new commercial shopping center. That’s right! Tehachapi hit the big time when Video-Zone, Save-Mart, Little Ceasar’s Pizza, Subway, Beno’s, Thrifty’s, Krispy Doughnuts, Chiefs Auto Parts and the first official fast food joint, Jack in the Box invaded the isolated community. This commercial intersection was all controlled by Tehachapi’s very first, RED, YELLOW, and GREEN stoplight!
Despite this growth people who lived away from the mountain still didn’t know where Tehachapi was or what type of people populated it. Go to Mt. Village Liquor and the bumper sticker, “Where the Hell is Tehachapi?” was the best selling item. Even our neighbors from Bakersfield didn’t know a heck of a lot about our isolated town. That was all about to change with one TV program. A program that would become the most popular local show in Kern County and was going to bring the people of Tehachapi into the homes of thousands. That television program was “Hometown Sports” a TV show dedicated to high school football in Kern County and that’s where everyone witnessed the birth of “Mountain Football.”
IV. The Birth of “Mountain Football”
Tehachapi Football was growing in reputation throughout the eighties. With Coach Denman, Tehachapi had its C.I.F. Championship and participating in the Southern Section allowed our football team the opportunity to play against larger schools in Southern California. Playing teams from Whittier, Cerritos, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Bernardino helped the program grow tremendously. Even with our success in the Southern Section, Tehachapi was still not getting its due respect from the Central Valley and the Bakersfield schools. Sure we were given some respect after the 1985 Championship, but I don’t think the programs down in the valley really knew how good Tehachapi was becoming.
Then with one programming move at KBAK–29 in Bakersfield, all of that was going to change. In the fall of 1987 “Hometown Sports” made its premiere right after “Monday Night Football” and football in Kern County would never be the same. The show was a highlight recap of all the local high school football action that took place over the weekend. This simple program turned high school football in Kern County into a primetime event!
Before “Hometown Sports” came on the air, exposure for the local football programs and the players was limited. For example, you knew that BHS existed and you knew that they always had a good squad, but you just never got to see them play. When “Hometown Sports” came around you could watch Aaron McDonald, Larry Parker, Chad Provensal, Jeff Buckey, Mario Delfino etc. dominate for the “Drillers!” Before “Hometown Sports” rivalries were big, after “Hometown Sports” rivalries became must see events as the TV exposure created tremendous hype for the big games. Yes, I paid money in high school to see BHS destroy Garces! I paid money to see BHS battle Rashan Shehee, Vic Diaz and the Foothill Trojans! The exposure that this program provided created an extraordinary hunger for football in the county.
With “Hometown Sports”, athletes became celebrities throughout the county. Popular players from their schools were given nicknames by the host of the show, just like how Chris Berman does it on ESPN’s NFL Primetime. Some of my favorites were Isaac “You Make My Brown Eyes” Lablue from West, Herman “The Freight Train” Santiago from Arvin and Tony Baker “The Touchdown Maker” from Garces. The most notable star from the first generation of the “Hometown Sports” era had to be Wasco’s “Nacho” Martinez. I still remember the first time I saw him being interviewed and he explained the origin of his nickname, “They call me Nacho because I like to crunch people!” Even Tehachapi had players with their own “Hometown Sports” nicknames. Who could forget Jake “The Ripper” Hogue, Ty “Wan” Trimm, or Anthony “TD” Kelly!
“Hometown Sports” became the must see show in Kern County and it helped build team camaraderie. When my brother Benito was on the “Warriors,” they established a tradition of having the players go to a teammate’s house to eat enchiladas and watch the show. It became a program that gave you a chance to have some fun with your friends and teammates. One of the best segments was “Hits of the Week.” If you were featured in this segment you would gain automatic respect from your teammates. On the other hand, if you were on the receiving end of a great hit you would never hear the end of it. I still remember when they showed Eric Young get blasted into tomorrow by one of the Antoingiovanni brothers from Garces. Eric was on the Junior Varsity “Braves” and was an awesome running back. But man that hit he received was something to see. The guy from “Hometown Sports” said, “We usually designate the “Hits of the Week” to the Varsity games, but we just had to show you this.” And over and over again they showed Eric getting drilled!
To say “Hometown Sports” was a popular show with the players and the fans was an understatement. Throughout the first year of the show however, Tehachapi was treated like an afterthought. Our highlights were usually last and not given much time. We were included in the program, but it was as if we didn’t get the airtime or the respect that the other schools received. Soon enough though the commentators started to notice that Tehachapi was whipping another opponent or the “Warriors” were going to the CIF finals again.
The game that made everyone notice that Tehachapi belonged with the Bakersfield schools was in 1988 when the “Warriors” beat Garces High School in a tight game in Tehachapi. Some of you might remember this as the “Garces Busters” T-shirt game, where these shirts depicting a crossed out Ram were worn by the Tehachapi crowd. Garces is a private school in Bakersfield and traditionally has one of the better football programs in the county. Tehachapi and Garces have shared a bitter rivalry ever since the days of Coach Ogilvie and it intensified when both teams won the C.I.F. title in their respective divisions in 1985.
It was safe to say that Tehachapi did not like Garces and to make matters worse, Garces along with BHS were the darlings of “Hometown Sports.” Every week the show led off with either a Garces or BHS highlight and every week the commentators would pick Garces to beat their opponents, including when they played us. That show touted Garces like they were the freaking Dallas Cowboys and they never gave us a chance to win! But when we beat them, EVERONE got to see it on “Hometown Sports” and everyone realized that the “Warriors” were a force to be reckoned with! And with one comment by a “Hometown Sports” anchor, “Those boys up in the mountain are tough to beat, they play a tough mountain football style,” Tehachapi Football became forever known as “Mountain Football” and our football program would never be the same.
From that point forward “Mountain Football” became our new moniker, and our reputation as a football powerhouse spread throughout the county. “Mountain Football” became an identity and our teams took pride in our tough style of play. We made sure that when our opponents were up against “Mountain Football” they were in for a cold, hard-hitting evening. Schools from out the area especially feared coming to play the “Warriors” up on the mountain in November and December. Teams would literally bring gas heaters to keep themselves warm while we were all on the other sideline in our short sleeved shirts. Being on that mountain definitely gave us a distinct home field advantage and some of our opponents were beaten before the game even started.
With the “Mountain Football” title and unprecedented success in the “Golden Era” our football program gained respect in the eyes of “Hometown Sports.” We started getting a lot more coverage from the show and the commentators were a lot more favorable to us in predictions.
So for the coaches and players, “Hometown Sports” was here to stay. I think it’s still on the air today and you can see the impact that it had on Tehachapi Football. I mean it gave Tehachapi an identity with “Mountain Football.” Plus, it gave football players from other schools the opportunity to know each other on a level that was separate from the rivalry. It was cool to go to another school and have other students recognize you. It blew my mind when a player from Garces recognized me one time and said to me in a friendly tone, “Your Sal Murguia, I hate you!”
You can e-mail former Warrior Sal Murguia at salmurguia@verizon.net
Submitted by Sal Murguia, 1993 Warrior Alumnus 1983: The Year That Changed Tehachapi Football
Posted on November 10, 2005
I remember like it was yesterday, the team was running off the field, the crowd was cheering and it was cold as hell! The players were in a frenzied celebration as they made their way back to the locker room. Jumping up and down, screaming they were all in euphoria after a tough win, but this wasn’t just any other win, this was for the championship! Back in the locker room the quarterback was yelling, “Hell yeah, I told you we’d do it! Hey little "B" get over here and give me a hug!” Hugs were going all around and someone started blasting, “Come on Feel the Noise!” by Quiet Riot! They all started screaming along with the song, “…Girls Rock Your Boys! We’ll Get Wild Wild Wild!” The noise was deafening and you could just feel the excitement spread throughout the room!
It was something to see as the celebration went on without end! The entire year they said they’d win the championship and there they were all together as they just fulfilled their prophecy. For an impressionable 8-year-old this was a memory that would never be forgotten. I wanted to be a part of that! I wanted to feel what they were feeling! At that moment my whole life changed, this was something I wanted to do! These were my heroes and they were the best football team in the world. Forget that there was another game to watch that evening; these guys were the reason why I was there. This was the type of moment that lives on forever in dreams, a moment that would change the course of years to come. The Junior Varsity “Braves” just won the D.I.L. Championship on a freezing autumn evening in Bishop, CA. The year was 1983, the year that changed Tehachapi football forever.
Waterboy Sal Murguia enjoys the moment on the sidelines with the Warriors.
III. 1983 The Year that Changed Tehachapi Football
I know what people will be saying, “If there was a year that changed Tehachapi Football, it was 1980.” That’s an obvious assessment, but you have to understand that at the time, the undefeated 1980 team was an anomaly. Tehachapi in 1980 was so small and isolated that something like a C.I.F. Championship was unheard of and only a real special team could achieve it. Besides, the football program at the time was good, but it wasn’t anymore special then the programs in Desert or Bishop. The irony when you have success in a small town like Tehachapi is that the probability of repeating that success was very unlikely. It’s as if people felt that 1980 was the end of an era and not the beginning of something special. The general consensus was that the 1980 Championship was a feat that could never be repeated and the team cast a very big shadow over those that immediately followed in its footsteps.
What made the 1980 C.I.F. Championship so hard to duplicate? For starters, the 1980 team was coached by the legendary Gary Olgilvie, he happened to be the most successful coach in school history and was like the Vince Lombardi of Tehachapi. Second, the 1980 team had Mark Ricker, he was the greatest running back in school history and there wasn’t going to be another one like him. Now, if there was any other team that even had a remote chance to do what the 1980 team did, it was the 1981 team. Sure they didn’t have Mark Ricker, but they had talent that included Erik Oberg and they still had the coach!
Hopes were high for the 81 squad and a back-to-back C.I.F. championship would have turned Tehachapi from an isolated unknown program on the mountain, to a big time program that would command respect from the “Metropolis” known as Bakersfield. The 81 team came close but hope was lost when they fell one game short by losing in the C.I.F. Championship Game against Desert. With that, Coach Olgilvie retired, Tehachapi reached the peak, and lost its best chance at becoming a dominant football dynasty in Kern County. The era of C.I.F. Championships was short lived, everyone in town knew that the players coming up were not as good as the players from previous years and nobody could possibly fill the shoes of the legendary Coach “O”. The sign posted above the announcer’s booth reminded everyone that the 1980 team was the first and probably last “C.I.F. Champion” from Tehachapi California.
That’s not to say that Tehachapi Football wasn’t big the following years. The 1980 championship made football in Tehachapi HUGE! Attendance and the excitement for football went from high, to extraordinarily high, to ridiculously high, to LUDACRIS HIGH! Friday night football games in Tehachapi became the social event that everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) in town would go to. Tehachapi would literally shut down every Friday night, and not just for the home games, the town would vacate and follow the team on the road as well! Seriously, you couldn’t buy a gallon of milk or find a place open to eat in Tehachapi on a Friday Night in the fall of 1982! With that said the pressure for success was bigger than ever. Sure a C.I.F. championship was unlikely. Everyone accepted that the 1980 team was the best ever and history wasn’t about to repeat itself any time soon. However, the town still demanded D.I.L. titles, victory over their bitter rivals and a good run in the C.I.F. Playoffs. Mediocrity wasn’t in the cards and the person who followed in Coach Ogilvie’s footsteps flew into a hornet’s nest with a lot pressure to win!
Who was the lucky guy for the job? Enter Steve Denman, a mild mannered science teacher who happened to be a former “Warrior” legend. Denman was the best quarterback in the history of Tehachapi and the word around town was that he could’ve made it at the next level if it wasn’t for a serious knee injury he suffered in a pick-up basketball game at the legendary Wells Elementary School “Dunk Courts”.
Coach Denman seemed like a natural fit to take over for Coach Olgilvie. He had the pedigree that brought immediate respect from the old timers sitting at the coffee shop all day talking about High School Football a.k.a. the Warrior Booster Club. But the stars didn’t always shine bright on Coach Denman during his first years as Varsity Coach and he found out that the locals were impatient if they didn’t see results. Sure his first season in 1982 was a success as the Warriors went 10-2, but the following two seasons, the Warriors found themselves on the road to mediocrity with no D.I.L. titles going 6-4 and 5-6 respectively. That was an unacceptable trend and word around town was that the 10-2 season in 82 was a fluke. The “Boosters” attributed that season as a holdover from the Olgilvie Era and they weren’t quite sure they had the right person for the job.
Whispers were brewing that the “Boosters” wanted Coach Olgilvie back and Coach Denman’s job was in jeopardy! These were desperate times for both Coach Denman and Tehachapi Football. If Denmam had lost his job, who knows how the Tehachapi Football Program would’ve turned out. The young coach needed something special to happen, he had to turn things around quickly, or else say “Adios” to his job!
It turned out that fate was just around the corner in the form of the perfect team. A team that had no fear of the past, a team so sure of itself, they could ignore the doubters and prove they could live up to the legendary 1980 team. That team was the 1985 Varsity “Warriors”. That was a true team and there was something special about that group of players. Even when they were together on the Junior Varsity level they felt they were the best team in Tehachapi. They had an aura of confidence, a cocky attitude that didn’t sit well with the Varsity team at the time. They were especially loathed by former players who believed that these arrogant kids couldn’t possibly be as good as they thought they were and had no right in being so confident.
In any case, nobody in Tehachapi seemed to notice their greatness and they were all alone in believing how special they really were. Everyone in town was so focused on the “Warriors” after the 1980 season, the “Braves” were often overlooked and nobody cared that these guys were onto something special. They all believed they were destined to become the best team in Tehachapi Football History and when you look back at what they did, add in what was riding on their success, I believe they fulfilled their destiny. So who were these guys and what in the world made them so special?
The confident attitude with this team started with their quarterback Brett Oberg. People in town knew him as Erik Oberg’s little brother and he had no business thinking he was as good as his older brother. He was a skinny kid with twigs for legs that didn’t possess Erik’s size and strength. Brett however, had a couple of things going for him. He had a charm and a leadership quality that commanded others to follow him, he possessed a swagger that oozed with confidence, and he was out to prove that he was better than any other quarterback before him; including his brother.
Then there was Patrick Snyder, not the biggest guy in the world, or the bruiser that Mark Ricker was. However, this guy had tremendous speed and he could cut on a dime! You add that with the brute strength and blocking from Marcos Curiel and you had a devastating running attack. There were others that brought something to the table such as Chewy Lewis, Gary Cooper, Mark Olgilvie, Richard Drieth and Terry Jetton among others. Plus there were players just a year younger that played big roles like, Norman Villenueva, “Googey” Richardson, Jeff Levia, and Shawn Robinson. All of these guys contributed to an amazing team but I left one ingredient out that made this team extraordinary. There was one player that added intensity, a punch if you will, and a fearless attitude! He didn’t take gruff from nobody and he especially had no fear of any person who was older then him, or tried to keep him down for that matter. He was in my humble opinion the difference maker; he was my childhood hero and also my brother, Ricardo Murguia number 56!
Yeah, I may be biased but anybody who knows Ricardo, or had the opportunity to see him play understands that I am not exaggerating when I say he was the greatest linebacker in Tehachapi School history! After Ricardo played in a losing effort at Garces his senior year, Coach Fanucchi approached him and said, “You’re the best linebacker I have ever coached against.” Ricardo was the toughest, the meanest, the most intense person that Tehachapi Football had ever seen! And yes when I say that, he was even tougher than Mark Ricker!
With these players, this team was different from previous years; just take my word for it. Not only did they have an attitude, they were also the first team who experienced the new changes that Tehachapi Football started to go through in the Eighties. Their sophomore year, they were the first “Brave” team in the history of Tehachapi to put decals on their helmets. It was an awesome looking Mohican bust with a spear and hatchet in the background. I remember the first time Ricardo showed me his new helmet and I thought it was cooler than the “Warriors” helmet at the time. The “Braves” carried that decal for years, I don’t think they use it today, but it was a great logo.
Their Junior Year in 1984, as the “Warriors” opened the season against Boron, they came marching out with a new sharp looking helmet. It was the Washington “Redskin” designed helmet that the Warriors still use today. When they came out with those new helmets, man every kid in town wanted to have one! Even though they were juniors, the 85 team made up over half of the starting line-up for the “Warriors”. So you could say that the 85 players were the first team to carry the new look helmet as well.
Their Senior year in 1985, the “Warriors” came out for their first game with brand new uniforms that introduced the BLACK, to the green, black and white school colors that you see today. They were the first team in school history to wear the smooth looking black pants. By the way the new look didn’t sit well with some of the alumni who didn’t deal with change very well. The 85 squad was also the first team to institute the skull and cockroaches to their helmets that signified individual accomplishment. A skull was given to a defensive player when they did something special on defense (interception, sack, fumble recovery, etc.) or made a certain amount of tackles. A cockroach was given to an offensive player, and sometimes a defensive player, when they knocked their opponent on their backs. (The cockroach symbolized a dead cockroach lying on its back, get it?) This was also the first team who had the opportunity to use a state of the art weight room built for the football team. Prior to 1985 the football teams in Tehachapi had to train on a stage at the High School Gym. Changes like these might seem silly today, but the significance at the time was monumental.
All of these changes signified a shift from the old to the new. This 85 team, unlike the teams that preceded it, symbolized the establishment of growth with the opportunity to move the Tehachapi Football program forward. The Golden Era got a jumpstart from the 1980 C.I.F. championship, but it was about to hit overdrive with the 1985 team. Denman needed this, the players needed this, and most importantly Tehachapi needed this. Tehachapi Football was ready to go from the isolated peak on the mountain and move into the consciousness of every football program in Kern County.
And THUD! As promising as the 85 team was, they hit a couple of roadblocks along the way. They lost to their hated rivalry (the Garces “Rams”) that year, and they had a tough pill to swallow when they lost the D.I.L. Title in a disappointing loss to Paraclete. Believe it or not, Paraclete was a good program back then and they used to have a bitter, even violent rivalry with Tehachapi in that era. Despite the disappointment, the “Warriors” were still going to the C.I.F. playoffs, not as the favorites to win it, but none the less they needed a good showing. If they didn’t at least go into the 2nd or 3rd round, Denman’s future was not a sure thing with the “Warriors.” So to say a lot was riding on their success was an understatement.
Oh yeah and this confident team with their cocky attitude, how did they handle the disappointment of not being the league champs? Did they crumble in disappointment? Did they allow the non-believers get to them with the “I told you so” remarks? This group responded to the pressure and negativity with showing team solidarity by shaving their heads! Everyone did it! (With the exception of Pat Synder, who feared his hair wouldn’t grow back, and Coach Denman, who if you ever approach with clippers, I know with first hand experience, will not react in a peaceful manner). Yup, they were still the only people in town who felt they were destined for greatness. Which begs to question, what made these guys so sure of themselves? Legend has it that before the season started the team met in the City Park and decided that their main goal for the season was a C.I.F. title. That’s right, they really didn’t care how they did it, they just knew they were going to do it! They knew if they got to the playoffs something special would happen. And then something did…
Tehachapi vs. L.A. Lutheran; Tehachapi destroys L.A. Lutheran 34 to nothing! Tehachapi vs. Beaumont; Tehachapi on the road in a typhoon shuts out the favored Beaumont squad 22 to nothing! Tehachapi vs. Valley Christian; Tehachapi goes on the road, shuts down one of the best running backs in the state (Rodney Bowman) and shuts out the favored team from Cerritos 14 to nothing! Three straight shutouts in the C.I.F. playoffs! Today with only 3 rounds in the playoffs, Tehachapi would have already been the C.I.F. Champions, but back in the southern section, you had to win four. That fourth game set up the monumental showdown against the number one ranked Montclair Prep “Mounties”! Back then Montclair Prep was not only an elite team in the division, thanks to their illegal recruiting, they were one of the best teams in the state! Montclair possessed Division I talent on their team that was literally bigger, faster, and stronger than the “Warriors”! The little town on the mountain didn’t stand a chance against the mighty “Mounties”, but something surprisingly happened on the road to the Championship Game, the town got behind this team and believed the “Warriors” were destined for victory!
The hype during the week leading up to the big game was incredible! The Bakersfield news media that included both T.V. and newspaper interviewed the players at practice. Every school in Tehachapi had a pep rally encouraging the team to win!
The estimated attendance for the C.I.F. final game in Tehachapi was approximately 5,000 spectators. Well, in 1985 that was literally the entire town coming out to watch the game. The weather that night was chilly, but it must have felt like sub-zero temperatures for the visiting team. The game was a hard-hitting slugfest with the “Warriors” doing everything to control Montclair’s speed. As it turned out Montclair Prep couldn’t get anything going offensively as the “Warrior” defense started to shut down the “Mounties”. Tehachapi’s ground attack and controlled passing game eventually took over, and in a monumental upset the “Warriors” defeated the “Mounties” 17 to 7! As the clock showed zeros across the scoreboard the players rushed to celebrate with each other, the fans came out of the stands and everyone joined the celebration on the field! It was a sight beyond belief!
The 85 “Warriors” did it! They won the championship like they said they would, and with that victory, Tehachapi football changed forever! Coach Denman kept his job joining Coach Olgilvie in becoming an instant legend. The Bakersfield and Lancaster media outlets were on notice and began covering Tehachapi Football extensively. From that point forward Tehachapi as a town, as a community believed that any team that was coached by Steve Denman had a chance to go all the way! Players from Tehachapi automatically adopted a “Never Say Die, Me Against the World Attitude”, and a “We’re the Giant Killers from this small town” persona! Players took pride in being from Tehachapi and felt that anybody who came to our town was in for a dogfight! From 1985 to 1993 the Tehachapi “Warriors” played in 7 C.I.F. title games, a feat that still impresses football enthusiasts today.
Without question, the 1985 team was the greatest “Warrior” team of all time. Sure they lost two games and there were other teams that went undefeated. However, greatness is not measured with just wins and losses. You measure greatness by the legacy you leave behind that has a sustained influence on generations that follow. Under the circumstances at the time, along with the importance of this Championship, and how it launched Tehachapi Football into the stratosphere, no other team can match the importance of the 85 “Warriors”. Besides, they preformed when it counted most and no other team peaked and destroyed their opponents like they did. During the last six games of the season the “Warrior” outscored their opponents 148-19! They had the greatest defense in the history of the program holding their opponents under 10 points 11 times and shutting them out 5 times. Three of those shutouts occurred in the C.I.F. Playoffs! I know Coach Denman will never admit it, but I do believe this team is the one that will always be the closest to his heart. Why shouldn’t it be? It was the team that made him what he is today. A great coach and a legend!
The 1985 team were pioneers, their legacy remains today as the team that brought all the changes to “Warrior” Football. Every player that wears green, BLACK, and white should honor them and thank them for what they did. I know what a lot of you are thinking, this story talks about what happened in 1985, yet the title reads, “1983 The Year that Changed Tehachapi Football.” I know it seems crazy doesn’t it? Well it was that same 1985 “Warrior” team that went to Bishop when they were the “Braves” in 1983 and won the D.I.L. championship. It was then and there when that team came together, learned how to be successful as a team, and started their journey to the C.I.F. title. That C.I.F. Championship wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for 1983. Man, I still remember it like it was yesterday…
Submitted by Trey Davila, Desert High School (Edwards AFB) Alumni The Warrior Teams of the old DIL
Posted on October 2, 2005
Kudos on your website. I'm not a Tehachapi alumni but, I can appreciate your site because you make a lot of references to teams from the old DIL days. My brother and I both went to Desert High in the late 80's and early 90's and remember playing those tough as nails Tehachapi teams from the time we were in youth football all the way into high school. And to be totally honest, your write up on that 1981 season was the first time I had ever read anything about that year Desert won that championship game in Tehachapi. I remember when I was at Desert I was actually looking for something about that championship game but, could never find a write up. Even the year book that the library kept for that year was gone. I never even knew what the score was until I found your website.
And the page you have for the infamous Trona Sand Pit brought back some memories. We played Trona in junior high and up until 1989 in high school. I try and tell people about "The Pit" but, I really don't think they believe me! They think that it's too ridiculous to be true. I emailed a link to your site so some friends of mine can see that I'm not making this up. But, your site is pretty good. I remember the first time I started going to the games at Desert it was '86 when they had Tony and Ronald Manu and when Tehachapi played at Edwards I just remember seeing all those players on the sideline. Tehachapi always had a ton of players and we were lucky to get between twenty to twenty-five. Seeing all those jerseys on the other side of the field seemed intimidating at first but once we would start playing you didn't think about it anymore. I only remember Desert beating Tehachapi once and that was when we had Randy Mayfield and a young Pat Aument in '88. After that the games were competive but, Tehachapi would always come out on top. We came close in '90 when we had Mike Williams but, our head coach refused to alter his game plan and that was that. I remember seeing Anthony Kelly and Eric Young in those games and talk about some awesome running backs. Anthony Kelly may have been the bigger back but, I always thought Eric Young was better. He was so damn quick!
Well, I suppose I've strolled down memory lane long enough. Keep up the great site.
Submitted by Sal Murgia, 1993 Warrior Alumnus The Godfather of Tehachapi Youth Football
Posted on September 30, 2005
Growing up in Tehachapi, the Mountain Festival meant that summertime was coming to an end and the fall season was ready to begin. It was like a routine for any child wanting to play Tehachapi Youth Football and become a “Tomahawk”: go to the Doctor, get your physical, then go to the sign-ups at the Jr. High and find out what team you're playing for. Did you make weight to be a junior this year? Or was it another year as a sophomore? Once you figured out who your coach and teammates were, it was time to make that Saturday morning visit.
Time to go up the road to that house, the one located up that dusty path known as Adelante Road off Highline. This was the home that belonged to the toughest guy on the planet. He was a stocky, broad shouldered man with a mustache made of bear's fur. He had forearms made of bricks and legs that looked like tree trunks. His eyes were piercing and had a stare that could burn through led. When he spoke in his deep raspy voice, even the most dangerous pit bull would obey his command. This was THE MAN! The man who fathered the toughest football player in Tehachapi football history! The man who brought fear and respect to every youth football player in Tehachapi! He was the Godfather of Tehachapi Youth Football, and the best coach I have ever played for, Mr. Mike Ricker!
II. The Godfather of Tehachapi Youth Football
Tehachapi Football has a long storied history that extends back to the 1930's. There are countless individuals responsible for building the rich tradition and making the program a success. During my childhood in the 80's certain names would pop-up as if they were legends of hallowed lore: Muro, Killingsworth, Damian, Quiroga, Villanueva, Roberts, Lance, Oberg, Trimm, Pettit, Denman, Ruggles, Ogilvie.
No name garnered more respect and put more fear in the hearts of young football players in Tehachapi than Mike Ricker. He was the father of Mark Ricker. THE Mark Ricker who led the Warriors to an undefeated CIF championship season in 1980, the toughest Warrior in history, and the best running back that Tehachapi had ever seen. Legend had it that Mark was so tough and hit so hard that he cracked his helmet right down the middle underneath his striped decal. It was said that Mark either didn’t know or didn’t care that his helmet was cracked and played the entire season with a broken helmet!
Mark had to come from a pretty tough gene pool in order to pull that off and the person who raised him had to be equally as tough. I still don’t know what role Coach Ricker played in the Tehachapi Youth Football program. He may have coached at some point; maybe he was the commissioner (heck he could have been the water boy) it really didn’t matter. What I do remember is those annual trips to his house set the tone for what Tehachapi football was all about. Starting at that initial visit, Coach Ricker with his intimidating looks expected a disciplined, no-nonsense attitude from each player. What did we do at Coach Ricker’s house that was so important? What key did this man hold for 9,10,11, and 12 year olds that demanded our attention and received such high respect? Coach Ricker was responsible for giving each and every one of us our equipment, all of the tools if you will, to become a football menace!
And there it started. Your orientation to Tehachapi Football began as this tough old man hand picked your equipment and sent you on your first steps to becoming a “Warrior.” Outside of that, my contact with Coach Ricker was minimal during my years as a Tehachapi “Tomahawk.” Instead the development of young football players were left in the hands of other individuals that tried to instill the “Warrior” tradition.
If you ask any player that went through the Tehachapi “Tomahawk” program in the 80’s the scariest coach was their first one, Dennis Parks. The man could shout louder then a police siren and could throw a football 100 yards straight up in the air underhanded! He expected disciplined, hard-hitting football and his style generated success. You want to see twenty-five 9 year-olds do jumping jacks all together and in-sync? Hire Dennis Parks. I could still hear his booming voice shouting his famous phrase when any one of us made a mistake during jumping jacks, “TAKE A LAP! ALL OF YOU! IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, TAKE ANOTHER ONE! IF YOU DON’T LIKE THAT YOU CAN QUIT!” Here was a man that would scare the Drill Sergeant in “Full Metal Jacket” and he was screaming at 9 year olds as if they were in boot camp; and the parents loved it!
Tehachapi Youth Football developed a reputation for being a successful and tough program. We had to be tough; I mean we practiced in 90 plus degree weather wearing thick cotton practice jerseys on the old “Imhof” field at the Jr. High. I was lucky though; I never had to practice on the dirt infield to prepare for the sulfur paradise known as Trona like my brothers did. However, I did practice often in blizzard like conditions when it still snowed during the fall season in Tehachapi. By the time I played youth football, gone were the ugly yellow uniforms of old, instead we wore these ugly green uniforms with yellow numbers. Not only was the football program in Tehachapi growing in the 80’s, football programs throughout the entire county were growing as well. During my first year in youth football, Tehachapi participated at the first annual “Kick Off Bowl” in Rosamond for all of the youth football programs in the high desert. I learned quickly that Football in Tehachapi wasn’t just a game, it was a right of passage and you had to be strong to survive.
When I was a freshman, we played Quartz Hill and we put so many of their players out of the game with injuries, their team mother came out on the field, cursed us out, and threatened to forfeit the game! There were drills introduced to us at an early age to make our teams intense and ruthless. “Bull in the Ring” for example comes straight to mind. Now there are too many coaches to mention that participated in the Tehachapi Youth Football program who influenced a number of kids. My older brothers could tell you about Louie Villacana, Mr. Parsley, Scott Caudle, Ed Grimes, Mr. Hogue, etc. The two most important coaches in my youth football experience and arguably the best were Orion Sanders and Brian Copus.
When I was in the 6th grade these two “Coaches” (one was a Biker, the other a football washout) took a bunch of 11 year old goofballs who graduated from the “scared straight” program, I mean football with Mr. Parks, and turned them into football dynamos! Their style of football was fun, exciting, and innovating. Never before or since did I play for two coaches who knew how to utilize the fullback the way they did. They introduced us to the play action pass, pulling guards, screens, traps, film sessions and Monday Night Pizza Parties! Behind Joel Nash’s cannon for an arm, Trad Eiler’s blinding speed, Ben Creason’s hands, my versatility and Tommy William’s uncanny timing for flatulence; we didn’t just beat teams we destroyed them!
Orion and Copus were great! They allowed us to be ourselves and they weren’t tyrannical egomaniacs. For example, during a practice scrimmage a player gained two yards on our defense and Orion started screaming, “THAT WAS PATHETIC!” I responded, “Coach they only gained two yards!” Orion didn’t want to hear it, “Well Murguia if you gave up two yards every play, THEY’D GET A FIRST DOWN!” Now I’m not a mathematician, but I am a wise ass and I replied sarcastically, “Coach that’s only eight yards.” Thinking I was in for it, I was prepared to run, instead Orion looked at me with a grin and said, “Shut up Murguia.”
It wasn’t always fun with these guys; they still had the job of preparing us for high school football. They had to provide us with the mental toughness and the dedication it took to be successful on the next level. Behind this was the psychotic madness of Assistant Coach Glenn Barrett. With Glenn we ran like no other human being had ever ran before! I was lucky enough to have Orion and Copus coach my friends and me for two years, once in the 6th grade and they took over the senior squad when I was in the 8th grade. That being said, it also meant Glenn coming with them and our team being subjected to hills, stairs, ladders and the dreaded 220’s for those two years as well! This running according to Glenn was for our own good and it was supposed to help us toughen up for high school football. I don’t know if it helped in football, but by the time Glenn was finished with us we could outrun any Kenyan in the Boston Marathon.
As my days as a “Tomahawk” came to an end, it was time to take the next step into high school football. In high school you had the chance to make a name for yourself in Tehachapi and try to become a “Legend” like the people I mentioned earlier. It was there in high school where I finally had the opportunity to play for the Godfather! Mike Ricker was the defensive coordinator for the Junior Varsity “Braves” and I learned if anybody could make you a “somebody” it was him.
During my days as a football player I always heard the phrase, “Murguia, you’re too slow and too small.” With Coach Ricker I learned that size and speed didn’t matter. He was concerned with only one thing, your toughness. Coach to my surprise was fairly mellow! Despite his intimidating presence, he didn’t yell or scream a lot and he didn’t let his ego get caught up in our team’s success or failure. My freshman year we had a really lousy team, one of our coaches didn’t take losing very well and was having a breakdown. He started crying and pleaded with the team to win the homecoming game against Mojave, if not for ourselves then for him! The sight of a grown man crying before a kid’s game was kind of humorous in a pathetic sort of way. Needless to say that coach lost the entire respect of the team and never coached high school football in Tehachapi again. Ricker on the other hand, treated that season as if records didn’t matter. That’s how he was; calm, level headed and just plain cool.
Heck anyone who was lucky enough to be coached by Ricker should thank him for making them better. Before being coached by Ricker I used to get so wound up and nervous before games, I’d get sick and throw up. I even puked right in the middle of the huddle on the field! Don’t believe me? Go ask Copus or Orion. For as tough and hard-nosed as I thought Ricker was when I was a kid, I found out he was a calm, fun loving guy. He loved coaching and you could always sense the excitement coming from him when he was teaching us the game. He was the person who taught me that football was just for fun and was something I should get excited about. He named me a starting linebacker by the 3rd game of the season, not because I was big or fast, but because he recognized my quickness and knowledge for the game. I was one of his “Bull-Pups” or “Midget Middle Backers” as he put it and I started to feel like I could dominate a game without fear. By the end of that lousy freshman year, coach taught me to be fearless, he inspired me with confidence, and I felt like I could run through a wall!
By the time I was a sophomore, football started to come easy to me. Ricker would feed my ego with compliments and I started to believe I was as good as he said I was. He would say things like, “I’ve never seen anybody hit or play defense like you, you’re an animal that can’t be stopped.” In one of the biggest games I have ever played in we were facing an undefeated Mojave team that was actually really good. So good in fact that none of their opponents scored a single touchdown on them leading up to our game! After watching game film Coach Ricker only said one thing, “They’re not that good.”
On our way to the locker room before the game, the players from Mojave were confidently standing outside of their locker room, taunting us and blasting, “Blaze of Glory” by Jon Bon Jovi. I was walking next to Ricker and he pointed out that their stud running back Dickerson was getting a brace taped to his knee. Coach Ricker poked at me and said, “Look, he’s weak, that’s where you’re going to put your helmet all night!” Sure enough I relayed the info to the rest of my defense and we hammered at Dickerson and swarmed their other stud Jesse Hightower the entire game. By the middle of the 3rd quarter Dickerson didn’t want to run anymore and Hightower left the game in tears. Mojave was finished and we beat those taunting slugs 14 to nothing! That victory was all Ricker! He made it happen by filling our team with confidence and made us believe that we could do the impossible!
My last game as a “Brave” was against Bishop and to bring back a painful memory, we lost the game by 6 points. I didn’t play my best game and Ricker was honest enough to tell me. That was another testament to his greatness, he was always honest with each and every one of his players. Back in the locker room after the game I was sitting at my locker with tears in my eyes. Coach sat down next to me, put his hand on my shoulder pad and said, “Why did you choose today to play your worst game of the season? You didn’t play that bad, I’ve just seen you play better.” His honesty somehow made me feel better and knowing this was my last game for Coach Ricker the only thing I could say to him was “Thanks Coach.”
The last time I saw Coach Ricker, I was visiting home from college and decided to go to a game. I happened to see him down on the track, standing next to the fence. Coach greeted me with a warm smile and a strong handshake. We had idle chit-chat about football and talked about the outlook of the season. After a brief pause, coach sighed, looked at me and said, "Murguia, plan on having kids any time soon?" I looked at him with a slight grin and replied, "Not yet." He looked at me and said, "Hurry up, they don't build em' like you anymore."
Coming from the father of the toughest Warrior in history and the Godfather of Tehachapi Football that was the greatest compliment I could have ever received ...
Submitted by Sal Murgia, 1993 Warrior Alumnus The Golden Era of Warrior Football?
Posted on July 30, 2005
My name is Sal Murguia and I played football in Tehachapi for about 10 years and was a graduate from Tehachapi High School in 1993. The following stories are subjective in nature and are based on my opinion alone. I intend for them to be entertainment for Warrior athlete’s past, present and future. Like any story that is told, there’s going to be embellishments. For example, if I write Joel Nash threw 8 touchdowns in 1992 against Wasco, it’s an exaggeration and just for fun. By the way, he actually threw 10 but who’s counting? The fact is, Joel had a great game that day and that’s what really counts. I write these stories because I hold my football experience near to my heart and I am proud to have been a part of the rich folklore that is Tehachapi Warrior Football…
I. (1980-1993) The Golden Era of Warrior Football!
What is this? The Golden Era? Are you kidding me? The greatest era for Warrior Football was in the 70’s! Tehachapi football would be nothing without the 50’s and 60’s generations! The eras of Warrior Football in the mid 90’s and today are way more important! There’s no golden era in Tehachapi Football, they are all golden eras!
All of these are valid statements, but the era that’s most significant in my opinion, is the 1980 through 1993 seasons of Warrior Football. Why? It’s not because I experienced them firsthand, but if you look back through all of the eras, this one was the most important. This was the Golden Era where not only did Tehachapi Football experience significant growth, but Tehachapi itself was growing with cultural change.
What era brought four CIF titles? What era ushered in the modern look of the Green, Black and White uniforms? The phrase, “Hit n’ Fly” was introduced into the vocabulary of players and the skulls and cockroaches on the Washington Redskin inspired helmets were all born in this period. Warrior players stopped training on a stage in a gym; they had their own state of the art weight room built for them.
This was the era that saw the introduction of “Hometown Sports” (local TV), the program that changed high school football for an entire county and helped usher in the phrase, “Mountain Football.” An era of CIF playoff games in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, the era that experienced the influx of outside talent, and saw the first African American star athlete in Tehachapi.
This was a time of the Tehachapi Marching 100, the installation of new bleachers to accommodate the overflow of spectators on the dusty hills. This was a time when the stands cleared to the field with the Marching Band to welcome the players from halftime: A time of bonfires, the VW bug on the roof, plastic footballs thrown to the crowd during the homecoming game, little “Warriors” playing football in the north end zone, the Garces Busters T-shirts, and pep rallies at elementary schools to wish the team good luck for the CIF championship game.
Tehachapi football was big before and after this era, but it was HUGE in the 1980’s and early 90’s. This era was the payoff that previous generations worked so hard to build up with a very rich tradition. It’s hard to argue, the Golden Era in Warrior Football lives on today to influence the generations to come. These are stories from the Golden Era, the Era when a town and the game of Football meant so much to each other. I hope you enjoy them in the weeks to come…
Submitted by Mike Killingsworth, ALL-DIL Wide Receiver, 1960 Warrior Championship Team. Possibly the BEST and WORST
Warrior Teams in School History
Posted on December 3, 2004.
My fellow Warriors and Warrior fans, we all love our tradition and the wonderful memories which it has given to us. Those memories somehow bind us together as the Warrior Family. However, all families are to some degree dysfunctional. There are the favored and the disfavored among us, the spoiled and the “black sheep”, the loved and the forgotten. I would like to explore some of the teams who fit these definitions in one or several ways.
As a former Warrior football player and observer of human behavior, I find it very interesting when I hear terms such as “best team ever”, “best players” in Warrior history, etc. Reading Al Damian’s article reminds me of the many discussions between my brothers Carroll (All League ’51 - holds the Warrior record for most TD passes in a season – 16), and Tom (All League ’59 - a starter on the undefeated 1956 champs, the only team to go 10-0 in the first 50 years of team history). It seems the older we get, the better we were. As we get older we all have memory lapses and distortions. I hope my good friend Al will excuse me if I have different views of Warrior history.
My first observations are that today’s high school players have the advantages of weight training programs, video tapes of opponents, video tapes of themselves in action, etc. to use in preparation for games. They are bigger, faster, better trained, and better prepared. It is hard to make comparisons to them, but here I go anyway.
First, I need to correct some errors in Al’s article. Larry Wiggins did not play football to my knowledge. Perhaps he meant brother Ed Wiggins who was an All DIL tackle on the ’60 championship team. Don Mitchell also did not play in the ‘50’s, nor did Tim Sanders. Perhaps Al was referring to Don’s blazing-fast brother Bob Mitchell who also played on the ’60 championship team.
Let’s Talk Defense ...
There are only three teams in school history who have had 6 defensive shutouts; the ’56, ’60, and ’86 champs. Does this make any one of them the best defensive team in Warrior history? The nod might have to go to the ’86 champs because of the advent of the field goal kicker and the use of multiple offenses which, by then, had made it practically impossible to hold teams scoreless. Yet, the ’85 champs gave up only one TD in four championship games, the toughest opponents to shut out. They could be the best ever. However, don’t forget the ’88 and ’91 champs with 5 shutouts each.
Let’s Talk Offense ...
The ’51 champs were a scoring juggernaut, amassing 396 points in a 9 game season for an average of 44 points a game. The ’56 champs scored 335 in 10 games (you do the math). Both of these teams could score from anywhere on the field. The other team which comes to mind is the Gary Ogilvie team of ’80 which scored 378 points in 13 games for a 29 point/game average. For many years I thought the ’56 team had the best offensive team with Ruben Narez (speed) and Pete Galan (power) As a freshman who scrimmaged against them, when either got the ball, I looked for a place to fall down or hide. Somehow I still doubt that any of these teams could have beaten the ’85 or ’86 teams.
Let’s Talk Worst ...
This is going to be short, because I do not like to dog my Warriors regardless of the era in which they played. The 0-9 ’36 team gave up 275 points and didn’t score. Enough said.
The Rodney Dangerfield Champs ...
The Warrior team which seems to get no respect is the championship team of 1960. If you look at their record, you will see a huge change in scoring and defense about mid-season. In the first 4 games they had a 45.5 points per game average on offense and 3 points per game against on defense. In the course of that time, they lost first string defensive end Joe Esparza to a broken leg, starting guard Stan Weaver to fractured ribs, starting end Gerald Killingsworth to torn knee cartilage, starting halfback Gene Rymel had a bulge on his lower spine the size of a tennis ball cut in half, and Doug Bingham had a badly sprained ankle. The last 5 regular season games they averaged just over 14 points per game on offense and 9 and a half on defense.
They dealt with a lot of adversity and still became champions. Good teams do that! In the game against Desert, the Scorpions led at half 12-0. Starting QB Eugene Hayes was ejected for un-sportsmanlike conduct just before the half, yet they came back to win 13-12 in a driving rain. Dan Acuna, who went on to play for the Jr. Rose Bowl bound Renegades was the leading scorer in the county until he broke his foot before the championship game at Mojave ( who had Bill Parlier and Mike Kekich – later to become professional athletes). The Warriors won anyway. Who is to say what might have happened against Servite if only half of those injured were healthy. (If if’s and but’s were candy and nuts ….) I suppose a lot of Warrior teams could say that.
What are your recollections of Warrior football history? And let me know your opinions of mine. Remember though, “we are family”!
You can e-mail former Warrior Mike Killingsworth at BestFalcon@aol.com
