Tehachapi at Golden Valley (Bakersfield)
Friday, November 12, 2004
Warrior Sean Finley scored all four touchdowns in Tehachapi's 28-7 victory Friday in Bakersfield. Finley rushed for 245 yards
on 24 carries and had TD runs of 45, three, 19 and 30 yards. Photo by Mike Duffy, Tehachapi News
Posted by The Tehachapi News, on November 13, 2004 Warriors Comeback To Beat Golden Valley
The Tehachapi High School varsity football team scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to defeat the Golden Valley Bulldogs 28-7 in the South Sequoia League finale played Friday in Bakersfield. The victory put the Warrior record at 6-4 overall and 4-1 in South Sequoia League action. Taft, playing at Arvin, finished the season in first place going 5-0 in the SSL. Arvin finished 7-3, 4-1 with their only league loss on the mountain.
After a dismal first half where the Warriors were inside the Bulldogs redzone twice and failed to score, the Warriors came alive in the third and fourth featuring Sean Finley for all four touchdowns as he rushed for 245 yards on 24 carries. The Warriors finished the game rushing for 329 yards.
"We had a good week of practice heading into this game," Warrior coach Steve Denman said. "We knew that Golden Valley would present some problems for us offensively. We had a great attitude and they just got on top of us early. We went into the locker room and just went over what we did do and what we didn't do," said Denman. "We told the players that this game would be tough and they responded well (in the third quarter)."
Tehachapi began the second half at their own 35-yard line. On the Warriors' first play from scrimmage, Finley who had been limping earlier in the game, was back in his usual form. Finley ran the ball to the Bulldog 45-yard line and on the next play, busted through the middle for the TD at 11:29. Stefan Wulf kicked the Pat to tie the game at 7-7.
Tehachapi started their second drive of third quarter at the Warrior 29-yard line. Sixty-eight yards later, Finley finished off the drive with a three-yard run at 5:07. The PAT failed but the Warriors had a 13-7 lead. A key play in the drive was Hansen's pass to Papac on a third and four at the 35-yard line. The first down conversion kept the drive alive and the Warrior momentum going.
The Warriors iced the game with two more TD's in the fourth, beginning when Finley ran a 10-yard score at 11:51 of the fourth. The drive was set up after Matt Deger blocked a Bulldog punt and Nelson Goldschalk recovered the ball at the Golden Valley 24. Tyler Hansen completed a PAT pass to Dan Haycock to put the Warriors up 21-7.
Finley scored the final touchdown of the game on a 30-yard run at 7:54 in the fourth. Wulf kicked the extra point for the final score of 28-7.
Zach Shalais led the Warrior defense with eight tackles. Key turnovers were credited to Greg Harrod and Nelson Godschalk, who recovered fumbles for the Warriors. "This win was exactly what we needed," said Godschalk. "We proved tonight that when we have a deficit and we have adversity, that we can overcome it and that should help us in the playoffs."
Eric Tercy stopped a would-be Bulldog TD when he snagged a tipped pass to halt Golden Valley's drive at the five. Lance Lange was credited with the first interception in the second half.
EJ Muro had five tackles, Mike Faulkner finished with four tackles, Maurice Sales was credited with five tackles, Paul Abarquez finished with four tackles, while Trenton Pera, Dan Haycock and Mike Barboa had three tackles each. Barboa and Kerstein had a sack each and Chad Johnson had five sacks.
This was Denman's 200th victory as head coach of the Warriors. "Honestly, the win was just like any other game for me," said Denman. "I did have flashbacks back to 1994 when Centennial beat us with just sophomores and juniors, but fortunately that didn't happen this time around. It's a win and that's what's important when it's all said and done."
"I got a bad stinger in my shoulder and it's been bothering me for a while now," said Mike Faulkner who left the game before the half. "We knew that they were a good passing team and young with nothing to lose," said Faulkner. "We might have underestimated them a little, but we got our pass defense going in the second half and that helped us."
Dan Haycock was the Warriors’ only other leading rusher. He had 55 yards on seven carries. Warrior quarterback Tyler Hansen completed two of five passes for 26 yards, both to Mike Papac.
Golden Valley's offense struggled in the second half after getting 223 yards in first half. The Dogs were held to only 83 yards in the second half, giving up a pair of interceptions, and a fumble and rushing for just six yards (net) on the ground.
The Warriors, seeded fifth in Division III, are scheduled to open California Interscholastic Federation playoffs this Friday at home hosting Roosevelt, the 12th seeded team in the bracket. The winner of that game will travel to Delano on Nov. 26 for the quarter-final round. Delano was seeded fourth in Division III. Other SSL teams in the playoffs include Arvin, seeded sixth, and Golden Valley, seeded 10th.
For more CIF playoff information, go to the Central Section Web site at www.cifcs.org.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Tehachapi | 0 | 0 | 13 | 15 | 28 |
| Golden Valley | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Scoring Summary
2nd Quarter
GV -- Bryson Hodges 20 yd. TD run (Hinzo Kick)
3rd Quarter
Teh -- Sean Finley 45 yd. TD run (Wulf Kick)
Teh -- Sean Finley 3 yd. TD run (Kick Failed)
4th Quarter
Teh -- Sean Finley 10 yd. TD run (Hansen to Haycock pass)
Teh -- Sean Finley 30 yd. TD run (Wulf Kick)
| THS | GVHS | |
| First Downs | 00 | 00 |
| Rushes-Yards | 48-316 | 24-81 |
| Passing Yards | 28 | 212 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 2-7-1 | 18-38-2 |
| Total Yards | 344 | 293 |
| Punts | 0-00.0 | 0-00.0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties | 0-00 | 0-00 |
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Golden Valley, Hodges 7-44, Nard 2-15, Avarado 3-12, Hinzo 12-10
Passing: Golden Valley, Hinzo 18-38-2-212
Receiving: Golden Valley, Brown 5-81, Alvarado 2-50, Nard 5-41, Hodges 4-32, Ngo 3-21