The Warriors crushed the Generals 41-12 in 2007 in Shafter (above), making it four wins in the past five years over the San Joaquin Valley team. Tehachapi will host Shafter this Friday night at Coy Burnett Field in the annual Homecoming game. Photo by Michael Duffy, Summit Photo.
Posted by thswarriors.com on October 15, 2008 SSL Ramblings ...
Warriors Begin SSL Play This Week
Shafter Invades The Mountain For Homecoming Game
All six South Sequoia League teams will begin league play this Friday night with Tehachapi, Bakersfield Christian, and Taft labeled as the pre-season favorites to win the league title.
The Warriors will try to improve on their 2-3 season record against the Shafter Generals who come into the game with a dismal 1-4 record. The Warriors are the defending SSL and CIF Central Section Division III champions.
Tehachapi may be the best 2-3 team in Kern County football at this point. They have suffered heartbreaking losses to Garces in overtime, a 1 point loss at Frontier-Bakersfield, and a last second loss to Burroughs on a 98 yard TD kickoff return.
If the Warriors can stabilize their offensive attack, they could return to their winning ways in SSL play.
The Warriors and Generals are very old rivals. The two schools have met 43 times and the overall series is tied 21-21-1. The only other school the Warriors have played more times than Shafter is Bishop High School with 48 previous meetings.
Amazingly, the two schools first played each other in 1930. Between 1930 and 1949, Shafter dominated play winning 14 of 15 contests. After a 32 year break, the two schools resumed playing each other in 1981. Since that time, the Warriors have won 20 of 28 games, including one tie game.
Shafter opened its doors in 1928, and has a student population of roughly 1,500 students --- the same size as Tehachapi.
Around the SSL This Week ...
The game of the week in the SSL will be Taft visiting Arvin. Taft has been impressive in compiling a 4-1 record in pre-league play. However, Arvin may be the darkhorse of the 2008 season. Arvin, the biggest school in the league, has had a very tough pre-league schedule earning wins over Foothill and Burroughs --- and playing close competitive games with Highland, South, and Garces in a losing cause.
Bakersfield Christian (BCHS), which features an outstanding offense, will travel to Wasco. BCHS is 4-1 so far, dropping their season opener in the much publicized game to the star-studded Oaks Christian team of Westlake Village. Oaks Christian is currently 5-0.
Wasco is 3-2, with wins over McFarland, Lindsay, and McLane-Fresno, teams predicted to have losing records this year. Wasco lost to Porterville and undefeated Corcoran.
Look for the BCHS offense, behind future Division I quarterback Derek Carr, to score early and often against Wasco. The question mark is how Wasco's offense stacks up against the BCHS defense?
HOMECOMING 1968 --- After the traditional Friday night bonfire and pep rally, the annual Homecoming game was played on a lazy Saturday afternoon at Coy Burnett Field. Warriors Ken Perry (left) and Tom Dineley (right) emerged from the locker room at halftime to crown Robin Kragenbrink as the 1968 Homecoming Queen.
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