Tehachapi at Garces (Bakersfield)
September 9, 2011
Warrior running back Wyatt Vance #34 struggles for yardage against the Garces defense Friday night. Garces defeated the Warriors
in a a thriller, 34-28, in Bakersfield. Photo by Henry A. Barrios, The Bakersfield Californian.
Posted by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News on Sep. 12, 2011 Garces Upsets Tehachapi
Turnovers Costly In Warrior Loss, 28-34
Tehachapi and Garces squared off in an early pre-season thriller last Friday night, with the Warriors falling short in the fifth annual Ogilvie Bowl, 34-28.
It was a game billed as a battle between two evenly matched teams. For the defending CIF champion Warriors, turnovers proved to be the difference in the defeat.
Mountain Football lost three fumbles in the contest, two of which helped the Rams build an early 20-7 lead in the first quarter.
The Warriors would recover from the early miscue with two touchdown runs by Marcus Curiel to cut the lead to 27-21 going into halftime, but the Rams would answer with a touchdown after the intermission.
Down 34-21, Wyatt Vance helped Tehachapi cut the lead back down to six points with a six-yard touchdown run with just over four minutes left in the game. However, the Garces defense would stiffen to pull out the win.
Curiel finished the night as the leading rusher with 95 yards on 17 carries, while Vance, David Lara and Brian Castaneda each had 49 yards rushing. Adam Bullard also had 47 yards rushing, including the game's first touchdown.
Bobby Howell finished the night with 103 yards passing, connecting on all three of his receptions with Cory Lange.
On defense, Bullard led with five tackles, followed by Troy Mathews with five tackles and a sack, Jack Blewett, Logan Smith, Miles Villareal and Cory Lange each with four tackles, and Ty Curry, Kris Kapitzke, Blake Delwisch, Ian Neufeld and Lange logging three tackles apiece.
Tehachapi (1-1) will look to bounce back this week against North-Bakersfield, who defeated Mira Monte last week 26-7 in their season opener. The game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. this Friday night.
Tehachapi's Marcus Curiel #21 celebrates after going in for a touchdown to end the 1st quarter in the game
against Garces. Photo by Henry A. Barrios, The Bakersfield Californian.
Posted by Zach Ewing, The Bakersfield Californian on Sep. 9, 2011 Garces Turns Back Late Charge by Tehachapi
To Prevail In 34-28 Thriller
It's Week 1, and here's a game this season will have a hard time topping.
Garces 34, Tehachapi 28, and the Ogilvie Bowl had about everything you'd want in a rivalry game: Twists, turns, a bit of controversy and some late heroics.
"It was a hard-fought football game," Garces coach John Roberts said. "Both teams played well, and we just came out with the win at the end. It's always an honor to play Tehachapi, and when you can beat them, that makes it even better."
Garces senior Dan Rector intercepted a Bobby Howell pass with three minutes to play, allowing the Rams (2-0) to run all but 15 seconds off the clock, and Tehachapi (1-1) could do nothing with them.
It avenged Garces' 34-21 loss to Tehachapi at Sam Tobias Field in last year's Central Section Division II semifinals.
"We're super-excited about that," Roberts said. "Any time you can beat a great Tehachapi team, it's real good."
The game started as a shootout, with the teams combining for 34 points and 316 yards in the first quarter alone. But the Warriors fumbled twice in the quarter, too, allowing Garces to score on short fields both times and giving the Rams an edge they never relinquished.
"You can't turn the ball over four times against a good team," Tehachapi coach Steve Denman said. "We gave them good field position, they scored twice and we never overcame that."
Nick Vehlewald ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns, and Philip Anspach 7-of-12 passing for 117 yards and a TD. He also ran for 42 yards and another score.
"The offense was fine," Roberts said. "We threw the ball well early and then tried to run the ball more just to control the clock."
But Garces was having serious trouble with Tehachapi's wing-T. The Warriors, who had four players eclipse 50 yards rushing, gained big chunks of yards on a play in which they faked a run up the middle and then ran a sweep to the outside.
In the second half, Garces had defenders waiting.
"Coach (Jim) Maples, my assistant head coach, made some adjustments at halftime," Roberts said. "It changed the whole complexion of the football game. My hats off to Jim, and our defense played a whole lot better in the second half."
Still, when Garces missed a field goal with 7:04 left, it led just 34-21. And Tehachapi struck immediately, with an apparent 80-yard touchdown pass from Howell to Cory Lange. But the play was shortened because of a block in the back at the very end of Lange's run.
Instead of a quick touchdown, Tehachapi had the ball on Garces' 20. The Warriors converted a fourth down with a pass interference call and then a fourth-and-goal on Wyatt Vance's 6-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to six.
"Hey, it was a good game," Denman said. "We're proud of our kids. They never quit; they just couldn't quite get over the hump."
Tehachapi forced a Garces punt, but then Rector came up big. It gave the Rams, who opened with a 37-20 victory at Cypress in the Mission Viejo Football Classic, a 2-0 start with wins over teams who were a combined 22-3 last year.
"This team is very good," said Roberts, motioning over his shoulder at his players. "We've got a bunch of talented athletes, they play hard, they love the game, and I look forward to watching them for the rest of the season. It's gonna be a lot of fun."
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 14 7 0 7 28 Garces 20 7 7 0 34
The Scoring:
First Quarter:
Teh -- Bullard 11 yard run (Scaggs kick) 9:06
Gar -- Vehlewald 21 yard run (Kick Failed) 7:21
Gar -- Vehlewald 3 yard run (Robertson kick) 3:41
Gar -- Bellue 24 yard pass from Anspach (Robertson kick) 2:42
Teh -- Curiel 9 yard run (Scaggs kick) 0:00
Second Quarter:
Gar -- Vehlewald 4 yard run (Robertson kick) 8:47
Teh -- Curiel 12 yard run (Scaggs kick) 3:15
Third Quarter:
Gar -- Anspach 1 yard run (Robertson kick) 5:48
Fourth Quarter:
Teh -- Vance 6 yard run (Scaggs kick) 4:36
THS vs GHS STATS
THS GHS First Downs 15 14 Rushes-Yards 38-295 43-226 Passing Yards 103 117 Comp-Att-Int 3-10-1 7-12-0 Total Yards 398 343 Punts 2-35.5 3-44.5 Fumbles-Lost 4-3 0-0 Penalties 6-60 2-13
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING - Tehachapi: Curiel 17-95, Lara 1-49, Castaneda 2-49, Vance 12-49, Bullard 2-47, Lange 4-6;
Garces: Vehlewald 23-107, P. Anspach 7-42, J. Anspach 6-36, Frasch 5-30, Hellman 2-11.
PASSING - Tehachapi: Howell 3-10-1; Garces: Anspach 7-12-0
RECEIVING - Tehachapi: Lange 3-103; Garces: Sweaney 3-67; Vehlewald 2-20; Bellue 1-24; Hellman 1-6.
Varsity – Tehachapi (1-1), Garces (2-0)
Junior Varsity - Tehachapi 21 Garces 22
Frosh - Tehachapi 16 Garces 35
