North Bakersfield at Tehachapi
November 15, 2013
Tehachapi’s Skylar Valencia #10 rushed for a season high 207 yards and scored four touchdowns in a CIF first round playoff win over North last week.
Tehachapi beat the Stars 33-7 and will play Garces in the quarterfinals this Friday night. Photo by David Schoenberg, The Tehachapi News.
Posted on November 18, 2013 by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News Playoffs Bring Second Chances
THS Defeats North 33-7 To Setup Garces Rematch
The league seeding committee elected to let the SEYL play each other in the early rounds of the playoffs, with North getting a second chance at Tehachapi and the victor another crack at SEYL champion Garces.
Although North came to the mountain with fight and heart, the Warriors made good on another victory. Mountain Football defeated the Stars for a second time this season, 33-7, in the CIF Division II playoffs first round.
Skylar Valencia ran for a season-high 207 rushing yards on 25 carries, scoring four touchdowns in the romp.
After forcing North on a three-and-out on their first possession, Tehachapi (8-3) needed only six plays to drive 58 yards, scoring on a Valencia 34-yard touchdown run at the 8:58 mark of the first quarter. Valencia added three 11-yard touchdown runs the rest of the contest to help put the game on ice.
David Carter also had a first quarter goal line touchdown, with other rushing leaders including Ray Hackleman pounding through the middle of the line of scrimmage for 55 yards rushing and Chris Rhodes adding 41 yards rushing. Carter, Trent Reynolds, Ty Curry, Chris Llamas and Keyron Scott also combined for 47 yards rushing to round out the rest of Tehachapi’s offensive output.
Defensive highlights included Carter and Micah Fjeld recovering fumbles. On special teams, Abraham Katona had four touchbacks on kickoffs, Victor Rodriguez connected on three PATs and Dakota Medovitch returned a punt 28 yards.
With the first round complete, Mountain Football can now firmly set their sights on Garces in this Friday night’s quarterfinals. The Rams defeated the Warriors 24-14 earlier this month in the SEYL championship, but seeding fortunes have allowed No. 6-seeded Tehachapi the opportunity to get a rematch.
The game will be in Bakersfield (Sam Tobias Field - Garces) this Friday night, with the kickoff slated for 7 p.m.
David Carter #9 scored Tehachapi’s second touchdown of the evening, punching in a 1-yard goal line score.
Photo by David Schoenberg, The Bakersfield Californian.
Posted on November 16, 2013 by Tom Shea, The Bakersfield Californian Valencia Guides Warriors Past North in DII Playoffs
TEHACHAPI – The No. 6 seeded Warriors scored four unanswered touchdowns to open the game en route to a 33-7 victory over No. 11 seeded North in the Division II playoffs.
Skylar Valencia had 171 yards rushing before halftime, finishing with 207 yards on 25 carries and four touchdowns to set up a rematch with SEYL champion Garces in next week’s quarterfinals.
“We came out ready to play. We had confidence and we were prepared, but now we have to get ready for next week,” said Valencia.
Tehachapi (8-3) rushed for 350 yards overall, with Ray Hackleman contributing with 55 yards and Chris Rhodes 41 yards on the ground. David Carter also had a 1-yard touchdown for the game’s second score.
On defense, the Warriors had two fumble recoveries to help set up scoring drives. One of the turnovers was recovered by David Carter in the first half and the other by Micah Fjeld in the second half.
“North is a good football team. We were able to get some turnovers and some defensive stops, and fortunately, we were able to capitalize on that,” Tehachapi head coach Steve Denman said.
North (4-7) was the victim of misfortune on its first series of the game when standout running back David Reyes, the Stars leading rusher this season, went down with a leg injury on his second carry. Reyes did not return.
Standout tackle Jarred Dorton and quarterback Steven Twiss also had injuries that hampered North’s offensive efficiency, but both players fought through the pain to finish the game.
“We were banged up in this one. Not having David hurts us because he is dynamic on both sides of the ball. But we had some guys step in and go to work,” North head coach Chad Brown said. “The scoreboard doesn’t show how hard our guys came out and played. We were dramatically better than the last time we played (Tehachapi) and we came out with a different attitude.”
The Stars put together an impressive series on their final drive of the second quarter when Twiss threw a five yard strike to Michael Zuniga in the endzone.
The drive was set up off a 26-yard reception from Kyle Hood and a 17-yard run by Anthony Lazcano to put the Stars deep in Warrior territory.
Lazcano finished as the leading rusher for North with 104 yards on 24 carries.
“I had a special group of seniors this year and this team worked very, very hard,” Brown said. “They had a good year and put up a good fight against a good Division II team. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final North 0 7 0 0 07 Tehachapi 12 14 0 7 33
The Scoring:
First Quarter:
T – Valencia 34 run (kick failed)
T – Carter 1 run (run failed)
Second Quarter:
T – Valencia 11 run (Rodriguez kick)
T – Valencia 11 run (Rodriguez kick)
N – Zuniga 5 pass from Twiss (Lopez kick)
Fourth Quarter:
T – Valencia 11 run (Rodriguez kick)
North at Tehachapi Stats
NHS THS First Downs 12 17 Rushes-Yards 43-208 50-350 Passing Yards 81 0 Comp-Att-Int 8-16-0 0-4-0 Total Yards 289 350 Punts 3-30.0 1-35.0 Fumbles-Lost 4-2 0-0 Penalties 11-70 2-20
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING:
Tehachapi: Valencia 25-207, Hackleman 9-55, Rhodes 6-41, Carter 3-14, Reynolds 3-14, Curry 2-10, Scott 1-6, Llamas 1-3;
North: Lazcano 24-104, Twiss 16-14, Reyes 2-9, Ramos 1-0.
PASSING:
Tehachapi: Llamas 0-4-0-0. North: Twiss 8-15-0-81, Hopkins 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING:
Tehachapi: none; North:Hood 2-33, Zuniga 3-31, Flores 2-19, Lazcano 1-(-2).
Varsity – Tehachapi (8-3), North (4-7)
