Tehachapi at Garces Rams (Bakersfield)
November 8, 2002
Rain Soaked Rams Reign Supreme in South Sequoia
Posted Saturday, November 9, 2002, by Ryan Schuster, Bakersfield Californian
BAKERSFIELD - After the game several members of the Garces High football team posed for photographs covered in mud from head to toe.
The Rams outslogged South Sequoia League rival Tehachapi, 19-6, in Friday night's regular season finale at a rain-drenched Sam Tobias Field.
The victory helped Garces finish the regular season undefeated at 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the SSL. It is the first time the Rams have finished the regular season undefeated since 1987.
"This game meant a lot," Garces senior defensive back Vincent Frazer said. "It was smashmouth football the whole game. The best team won."
Frazer helped to clinch the game for Garces by intercepting a Greg Sanchez pass with two and a half minutes left and the Rams clinging to a 13-6 lead.
"We knew we had to step up," Frazer said. "That's what we did. We made the play."
Three plays after Frazer's interception, Nick Zachary bulldozed his way into the end zone on a 6-yard touchdown run, bowling over a Tehachapi defender in the process and putting the finishing touches on the game.
Before the interception, both teams traded fumbles inside Tehachapi's 30-yard line.
Garces quarterback Matt Oliver stretched the ball over the goal line on a 1-yard TD run on a quarterback keeper, putting the Rams ahead 13-6 after a failed conversion attempt with 4:30 to play.
On the previous play, Oliver ran seven yards down the left sideline on a broken play to convert on third down.
"It was a 7-6 ballgame until we turned the ball over at the end," Tehachapi coach Steve Denman said. "We were really happy with the heart we displayed. We're really proud of our kids."
Tehachapi (6-3, 2-3) gave Garces all it could handle.
The Warriors pulled within a point at 7-6 on a 31-yard TD pass from Sanchez to Mike Wright a minute and a half into the fourth quarter.
But Tehachapi turned the ball over three times in the final three minutes and was unable to recover.
On paper, Garces and its high-octane offense figured to be a sizable favorite.
But in a monsoon, it was anybody's game.
The game was played under typhoon-like conditions.
It was like football being played on a slip and slide. The dirt track surrounding the field was covered with standing water and the middle of the field was reduced to a mushy mud pit the consistency of thick soup.
The weather conditions dictated much of both team's play calling. There were just six pass attempts by both teams in the first half before the rain finally let up in the second half.
"It was tough to run outside much," said Garces running back Adam Cook, who rushed for 87 yards on 13 carries. "The wings couldn't cut, so we had to run inside."
The Warriors were stopped short on a fourth-and-1 run from the Garces 7-yard line with a minute and a half left in the third quarter.
Garces had the only score of the first half on a 27-yard TD run by James Bailey through a gaping hole up the middle with nine-and-a-half minutes left in the half.
Bailey's TD run capped off a three-play, 48-yard drive.
Garces was unable to convert on the only other scoring opportunity of the first half when the Rams on a 30-yard field goal attempt was stopped in the backfield.
Garces kicker Steven Mahlmann made an extra point after the first score of the game. But neither team was able to convert on game's final three PAT attempts.
"It was just tight," Cook said. "They (played well). We knew with the weather it was going to be a mud bowl."
Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture of action from the rain soaked Warriors-Rams game in Bakersfield
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 0 0 0 6 6 Garces 0 7 0 12 19
The Scoring:
2nd quarter:
Gar -- Bailey 27 run (Mahlmann kick)
4th quarter:
Teh -- Wright 31 pass from Sachez (kick failed)
Gar -- Oliver 1 run (conversion failed)
Gar -- Zachary 6 run (conversion failed)
TEHACHAPI vs GARCES GAME STATS
THS Garces First Downs 4 11 Rushes-Yards 31-89 45-208 Passing Yards 58 57 Comp-Att-Int 4-11-1 3-5-0 Total Yards 147 265 Punts 5-36.2 5-34.6 Fumbles-Lost 5-3 5-2 Penalties 6-35 4-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:
RUSHING -- Tehachapi: Sanchez 10-40, Lange 5-21, Hutchinson 8-14, Troffer 6-9, Clark 2-5. Garces: Cook 13-87, Bailey 7-39, Zachary 7-30, Oliver 10-28, Hensley 8-24.
PASSING -- Tehachapi: Sanchez 4-11-1-58. Garces: Oliver 3-5-0-57.
RECEIVING -- Tehachapi: Wright 1-31, Lange 2-18, Altieri 1-9. Garces: Cook 2-36, Hensley 1-21.
