The Warriors and Garces have a rivalry that dates back to the 1940's with the Rams leading the overall series 25-20-2.
Pictured is a Warrior running back from 1953 struggling for yardage against the Rams. Garces won the 1953 contest, 25-0,
behind the play of quarteerback Gary Ogilvie. Photo from the ths.warriors.com archives.
Posted September 16, 2018 by Corey Costelloe, The Tehachapi News Xs and Arrows: We Can't Let
This Rivalry Slide Into
Just Another Game
The term “rivalry” gets thrown around far too much in sports. Most of the time its misuse is credited to one team being very good, and the other simply having a desire to beat them. That doesn’t constitute a rivalry.
Even in my career, I was often pressured during my time at Cal State Bakersfield to use the term “rivalry” when we faced certain teams. Although futile, I would often present resistance to that request, especially since the team we wanted to be our “rivals” usually defeated us handily. That’s not a rivalry.
The Tehachapi-Garces football rivalry certainly lives up to the claim of a rivalry. As far as I’m concerned, rivalries need three things to be defined as such: history, tradition and results.
First is history. Tehachapi and Garces have played football against one another since 1946 (although Garces refuses to claim that loss since they changed the school’s name the following year). See, that’s history. There was a 28-year lapse from 1954 to 1982, but since then the schools have played nearly every year, sometimes twice a year and for awhile as members of the South Sequoia League, where the title was most-often on the line.
When the CIF deemed it necessary to shake the leagues up, Garces and Tehachapi were separated. There were a few seasons when the teams didn’t play. Then the tradition was reinstated thanks to the creation of the Ogilvie Trophy in honor of a coach near and dear to both programs’ hearts and a cause worth playing for in perpetuity.
So here we are today, playing based on tradition and history, continuing what I believe is the best rivalry in Kern County football. With the greater Bakersfield area opening a new high school every few years, the “rivalries” are watered down and meaningless. When Liberty and Centennial have played each other nearly 50 times, then they can claim “rival” status.
Then there’s results. A proper rivalry requires an evenly-dispersed bag of results. If one team is winning nearly all the match-ups, it isn’t a rivalry. It goes back to my initial point of one team simply being envious of another. Disdain cannot be the only supportive trait of your claim to rival status.
The results have been mixed in this series. Garces leads 25-20-2. That’s pretty even in a 47-game series. Some years are epic, like last season’s 28-27 THS win in overtime, and some lack drama, like this year's 35-7 Garces victory. They can’t all be Warrior wins as the defeats help the definition of this rivalry.
I am concerned about one aspect of this rivalry, one that isn’t listed in my original terms. It’s the people.
Attendance at Sam Tobias Field on Friday night was anemic for a rivalry of this magnitude. Fault is to be evenly split between the home crowd and the visitors. Tehachapi didn’t travel well and Garces must have been too exasperated with their team's then 0-4 start to care to show up.
I understand the combined 1-7 record between the two teams entering the contest might have turned off the casual fan, but that is why rivalries are supposed to be different. Records-be darned, this one should mean something to everyone.
While talking to a few coaches and former teammates of mine (some working both the Garces and Tehachapi sides), we shared the same thought, that this used to be a standing-room-only game. We can’t let it slide into just another game on the schedule. There’s too much history, tradition and pride on the line.
The season will continue now that one’s behind us. I’ll hope for a better showing from both sides next season when Garces visits Tehachapi. Hopefully the records for both squads are better and the fans can support what I’ve been touting for years. This is the best rivalry in Kern County high school football. It would be nice to prove it.
Corey Costelloe has covered the NCAA, professional and local sports for more than 20 years
as a reporter and broadcaster. A THS graduate, he now resides and works in Tehachapi.
He can be reached at corey.costelloe@gmail.com.
