The Warriors have been led this season by senior #26 Jesse Olofson as the featured back out of the infamous Wing-T.
Olofson has rushed for 1,543 yards and 21 TD's in 2009.

SSL Ramblings ...
Warriors Enter Valley Playoffs vs Mira Monte
Three-Peat! Three-Peat!

Posted by thswarriors.com on November 19, 2009

The mighty Warriors got back on the winning track last Friday night defeating Arvin, 34-7, to earn a share of the 2009 SSL crown. The Warriors will now enter the Division III playoffs hoping to defend their back-to-back CIF championships of 2007 and 2008.

The Warriors will now play host to the #15 seeded Mira Monte Lions this Friday night at Coy Burnett Field in Tehachapi. Game time is 7:00 pm.

Historically, the Warriors have had a decisive advantage playing at home during the playoffs in late November - early December. Tehachapi has won 34 of 41 post-season playoff games at home dating back to 1958, when Coy Burnett Field was first dedicated.

A Look at the D-III Brackets

The Warriors earned a #2 seed by virtue of their outstanding season. There are 15 seeded teams in the Division III tournament, and the Warriors will have to win four straight games to earn another CIF sectional title.

If the seedings hold true, the Warriors would have to defeat #15 Mira Monte, #7 South High of Bakersfield, and #3 Porterville, and finally, #1 Dinuba in the championship game.

For Warrior fans without a sense of history regarding the seedings, it always seems as though the schools in the north valley (Fresno area) always catch a break come seeding time. Seeding is very important. When two teams meet in the playoffs, the lowest seed is the home team.

Many prep beat sports writers predicted the Warriors to be the #1 seed in the tournament, even the Fresno Bee, but here's a case where the Warriors might have caught a break being seeded #2. Dinuba (8-2 overall; and 3rd place in their league), will have to get by Hanford or Delano to make it to the finals. Hanford plays in a very tough league with larger Division II schools and could be the "sleeper" in the tournament.

But first things first, the Warriors need to take care of business Friday night against Mira Monte.

Sophomore #7 Timothy Harris
1,449 yards rushing, 15 TD's

Meet the Mira Monte Lions

Mira Monte, a new high school, finished the season with a 5-5 season record and were members of the South Central Sequoia League with other new schools Independence-Bakersfield, Mission Oak-Tulare, and John F. Kennedy-Delano.

Mira Monte is the co-champion of the South Central Sequoia League with a 5-1 record. In the pre-league season, Mira Monte lost four straight games. The only common opponent between Tehachapi and Mira Monte was Shafter. The Warriors defeated Shafter 28-0, while Mira Monte lost to the Generals, 30-11. Mira Monte, as a new high school, does not have a senior class this season, nor do any of the other schools in their league.

The Lions are led by junior quarterback #5 Anthony Rios, who is 39-90 passing with 7 TD's and 667 yards through the air. His favorite target is wide receiver #2 Bryant Guyton with 17 receptions. Sophomore #7 Timothy Harris leads the Mira Monte ground game with 1,449 rushing yards in 193 carries, scoring 15 TD's. Two sophomores lead the defense in tackles as #52 Jordan Olgin has 57 tackles and #44 Miguel Ortega has a team leading 65 tackles.

Before Warrior fans get ahead of themselves thinking this senior-less team will be a walk in the park, keep in mind that a senior-less team from Clovis East came to Tehachapi in 2001 and upset the Warriors in a first round playoff game. In 2008, a senior-less Frontier High School also defeated the Warriors, 19-18, in a non-league game.

Around the SSL ... Taft, Wasco, and Bakersfield Christian

In the eleven-team Division IV tournament, undefeated Kingsburg (10-0) earned the #1 seed while Washington Union-Fresno (8-2) was seeded #2. Both schools have a first round bye.

Taft High School received a #3 seed in the D-IV tournament, and also has a bye. Taft will meet the winner of the #6 Dos Palos - #11 Central Valley Christian-Visalia winner.

Wasco High School (8-2), who won their first SSL title since 1961, was seeded #4 and plays #5 Exeter (6-4) in the second round.

In Division V, Bakersfield Christian (3-7) was seeded #9 and will travel to #8 Mission Prep-SLO in the first round. Corcoran (8-2) earned the #1 seed in Division V and has a first round buy.

Warrior fans can view all of the playoff bracketing for Division III if you follow this link to the CIF offices in Porterville:

http://www.cifcs.org/division_iii_football___presente1.htm

You can e-mail the webmaster regarding this column at bigesports@yahoo.com