The Warriors will play host to the Wasco Tigers this Friday night in Tehachapi. The Warriors defeated the Tigers last year in Wasco (above) by a final 34 to 7 count.
The last Wasco win over a Tehachapi team occurred in 1995 by a final score of 2-0. Photo by Michael Duffy, The Tehachapi News
Posted by thswarriors.com on November 4, 2008 SSL Ramblings ...
Warriors Back In The SSL Hunt
After Lopsided 41-13 Win In Taft
The Warriors played their finest game of the season in defeating the Taft Wildcats last Friday night in the oil town, 41-13. It truly showed "what could be" the rest of the season. Warrior fans have been waiting for this kind of dominating performance all season long. What's baffling to most Warrior fans is the majority of this team is BACK from last year's championship team --- and its hard to figure out what's been missing? Let's hope the team has found their magic potion and keep the momentum going the rest of the season.
It was also good to shake the jinx of not being able to beat Taft in Taft since 1999. Great job Warriors!
And this from Bakersfield Californian high school prep sports beat writer Zach Ewing in his weekly blog:
"Tehachapi walloped Taft 41-13, the first road win in the series this millennium. What a great feat for the Warriors after their comeback fell achingly short against Bakersfield Christian last week. It might say even more, though, about how far BCHS has come since losing lopsided games to both Tehachapi and Taft last year. If the Eagles can go to Taft in Week 10 and win, they'll be league champions by their lonesome — and heavy favorites to win a second straight section title."
Wasco Comes To The Mountain Friday Night ...The Warriors should be a heavy favorite over Wasco this Friday night. And that's the problem --- hopefully the Warriors will not overlook Wasco enroute to the season finale against Arvin and the upcoming playoffs.
For Wasco to be successful, they need to establish the running game. Carrying the load for the Tigers are running backs #5 Jon Wimberly (1,063 yards, 12 TD's) and #9 Quentin Cheatham (798 yards, 4 TD's).
Wasco comes into the contest with a 3-5 overall record, and an 0-3 record in league play. However, the Tigers are improving. Last Week Arvin needed a last second touchdown to narrowly defeat Wasco 21-15. The week before, Wasco played Taft tough in a 28-7 loss.
Having said that, Wasco's three wins this year were against McFarland, Lindsay, and McLane-Fresno. Combined, these three teams have a 5-19 record.
The Warriors have defeated Wasco 12 straight years and 19 times in the past 20 seasons. That one loss was in 1995 by the score of 2-0. That's not a misprint, as in one safety, 2-0.
Mullen Making His Mark In Warrior Folklore ...Senior Adam Mullen scored 4 rushing touchdowns last week against Taft giving him 14 TD's for 2008, and a two-year varsity career total of 33 TD's. He now ranks #7 all-time and sits behind #6 Patrick Snyder (1984-85) who scored 35 TD's.
Mullen leads the Warriors in touchdowns scored and points scored --- all in just 5 games played. The stocky 5' 8" Warrior running back has missed several games earlier this season due to injuries.
Mullen's Varsity Career Statistics
G Car Yds TD Pts 2006 1 1 6 0 0 2007 13 120 971 19 120 2008 5 68 659 14 84 Totals 19 189 1,636 33 204
Around the SSL This Week ...The high flying Eagles of Bakersfield Christian will take their version of showtime into Arvin this week. It will be interesting to see the Arvin game plan as they try to stop the pass-happy scheme of quarterback Derek Carr. Arvin, sitting at 2-1 in league play, could send the SSL into a four-way tie if they can upset the Eagles (assuming Tehachapi and Taft can win their games). Arvin has played very well this season against quality pre-season competition, and their lone league loss was against Taft.
Taft will visit Shafter this week and should get back on the winning track against the hapless Generals.
Playoffs Looming For The Warriors ...Warrior fans are naturally optimistic that Tehachapi will run the table and finish out the 2008 regular season with a 6-4 record. But even if the Warriors fall short of that goal, they will most certainly be in the Central Section Division III playoffs. The question will be where?
There will be a maximum of 15 teams eligible for the Division III tournament this year and the front-runners include Hanford (8-0); Highland-Bakersfield (6-2); Foothill-Bakersfield (5-3); Delano (5-3); and Yosemite (5-3). The Warriors join four other teams that currently have 4-4 marks, and five teams have losing records.
The truly scary team of the bunch is Hanford, who along with Hanford West dropped down to DIII this year from DII. Hanford will have their toughest game of the season this week when they travel to Visalia to play El Diamante in a West Yosemite League showdown. The defending DII champion Miners are 7-1, but undefeated in league play.
Aside from Hanford, the Warriors will be very competitive against the rest of the field. Of course, we're rooting for a Tehachapi-Hanford championship game.
You can e-mail the webmaster regarding this column at bigesports@yahoo.com