South Bakersfield at Tehachapi
Friday, November 1, 2024
Warrior running back Cayden King #1 runs for yardage Friday night against South Bakersfield.
The Warriors defeated South Bakersfield 24-21 to win the championship of the South Yosemite Mountain League.
The Warriors now travel to Fresno in the first round of the valley playoffs to play
Sunnyside-Fresno. Game time is 7:00 pm. (Photo by Jenn Michael.)
Posted by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News, on November 3, 2024. Mountain Football Secures Third Straight SYML Title
For the third year in a row, the Tehachapi Warriors are the South Yosemite Mountain League champions, clinching this
year’s outright title after a 24-21 comeback victory over South.
Tehachapi (8-2; 4-0 SYML) found themselves in a sizeable deficit in the first half, with Spartan quarterback Josh Encinas
guiding his team to three touchdowns and a 14-point lead. The Warriors were able to keep the game close
with a short touchdown run by Andrew Aguirre and a 39-yard field goal by Carter Kolesar, but a
second-half surge would be needed to win sole possession of the league title.
Mountain Football was able to do just that, creating a big momentum shift in the third quarter when Leo Gonzalez leaped in
the backfield to secure a field goal block on South’s first drive of the second half.
Along with that big play, Gonzalez was brilliant on the defensive edge
all night long, recording a season-high 14 hurries.
“We wanted to (get after) the quarterback and keep him on his toes, always having our hands on him,” said Gonzalez.
“In that first half we had some personal fouls and unnecessary stuff. We just wanted to keep
our heads on straight (in the second half) and just play our game.”
The offense took over after the field goal block, orchestrating an 80-yard drive and capping it with a 14-yard Aguirre touchdown run.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Warrior offense went to work again to try and take the lead. Tehachapi was faced with
third and 28 on the drive. On the ensuing play, they dialed up Cyler Hoofard, who leaped skyward to nab
a 35-yard reception down the left sideline and give the Warriors a first and goal.
The fact that the big play even happened was the culmination of hard work by Hoofard to get back on the football field.
During the offseason, the senior had surgery for a torn labrum and was told it would take approximately six months
to recover. However, Hoofard was committed to post-surgery physical therapy and was able to shorten the recovery time
to four months, just in time to participate this football season and make himself available when
he was needed the most. The rest is now history.
“I knew when I had my surgery it was going to be tough to get back to football. I worked as hard as I could because I
wanted to play for this town. Nothing beats Mountain Football,” said Hoofard. “I knew the ball was probably
coming to me and I was ready for it. Colton (Michael) put the ball in a great
spot and it was just perfect.”
Two plays after the Hoofard reception, Aguirre struck paydirt with a four-yard, game winning score.
“To be down as many points as we were and to be able to come back, that feels good,” said Aguirre. “Games like this shows
that it can get rocky at times. As long as we talk to each other, communicate and come together
we can overcome anything.”
Aguirre finished the night with 110 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Other standouts included Kaidon Hagerty and Adrian Pina,
who both combined for 49 yards rushing.
In the passing game, Michael had seven completions for 83 yards, with his favorite target being Hagerty with three receptions
for 33 yards. Anthony Cerbantez also had a 17-yard reception.
Defensively, Pina had a diving interception late in the fourth quarter. He also had seven tackles and a pass defensed.
Other leaders included Wade Brooks (11 tackles, pass defensed), Tylere Lombardi (11 tackles), Mason Rothermel (eight tackles, pass defensed),
Aguirre (eight tackles, three passes defensed), Gonzalez (11 hurries, three tackles, sack), Jacob Meza (five hurries, two tackles),
Cerbantez (three tackles, three passes defensed), Cayden King (three hurries, sack),
Kolesar (three passes defensed) and Hayden Michael (sack, two tackles).
On special teams, Kolesar had three touchbacks, Aguirre had two punts land inside the 20-yard line and King and Roland Pina
combined for 82 yards on kickoff returns.
“It’s crazy, I can’t believe it. We worked our tail off over the summer and it has been a grind this season, but we wanted to
be great,” said Hagerty. “I’m proud of our guys that we could fight back together and it’s just an amazing, incredible feeling.”
The championship is the 33rd football league title in school history.
“It feels great to be a part of this team and for us to do this as brothers,” added Aguirre.
With the regular season concluded, the Warriors will move on to the CIF Central Section Division II playoffs starting this
Friday evening. Tehachapi will enter the playoffs as the No. 12 seed and travel to No. 5 seed Fresno-Sunnyside.
The game will start at 7 p.m. in Fresno.
“We had some doubters this season, but it feels great to come out on top. It is an unreal feeling and nothing can replace it,”
Gonzalez added. “We want to keep that going in the playoffs.”
JV Warriors Win SYML Championship
The JV Warriors concluded an impressive year with a 48-0 victory over South, recording the 25th league championship in
school history for junior varsity football.
Quarterback Conner Jenkins was the leading rusher with 86 yards and also scored early in the first quarter on a 46-yard run.
Connor Craig also had two rushing scores and Jorge Garcia, Kaston Carothers and Austin Rolow also had rushing touchdowns.
Defensively, Daniel Lambrecht had a fumble return for a touchdown and three tackles and Will Larsen had six tackles,
two sacks and a fumble recovery. Other leaders were Isaiah Bachara (six tackles), Julian Navarro (five tackles),
Kane Harding (five tackles), Kyle Shipp (four tackles, interception, fumble caused), Owen Schneider (four tackles),
Caiden Ferguson (interception), Jackson Robinson (fumble recovery) and Holden Syverson (sack).
On special teams, Ivan Madueno was a perfect six-for-six on point after attempts.
In four league games this season, the Tehachapi (6-3-1; 4-0 SYML) junior varsity was dominant, outscoring their opponents by
a staggering 194-15 (East 56-8, North 41-0, West 49-7, South 48-0) points.
Posted by The Bakersfield Californian on Nov. 2, 2024. Warriors 24 South Bakersfield Spartans 21
The Warriors mounted a second-half comeback to claim the outright SYML championship with a 24-21 victory over South.
It marks the third-straight league title for Tehachapi (8-2, 4-0 SYML) and the 33rd league championship in football
for the Warriors in school history.
Andrew Aguirre was the workhorse for the Warriors, rushing for 110 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Cyler Hoofard also
had a leaping 35-yard reception in the fourth quarter on third and 28 during the
Warriors’ touchdown-winning drive.Quarterback Colton Michael finished the evening with seven completions for 83 yards, with three completions to Kaidon Hagerty
for 33 yards and a reception to Anthony Cerbantez for 17 yards.Adrian Pina secured the victory for Tehachapi late in the fourth quarter with an interception.
On special teams, Carter Kolesar had a 39-yard field goal just before halftime and Leo Gonzalez blocked a field goal
attempt by South early in the third quarter.
South (7-3; 2-2 SYML) opened the contest with three impressive scoring drives to take a commanding 21-10 halftime lead.
Spartan quarterback Josh Encinas finished the evening going 19-40 for 209 yards and three touchdowns. Gyrell Hasley
finished with five receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns and Marvin Parra had
a two-yard touchdown reception on a shovel pass.
Encinas also had a strong night on the ground with a team leading 51 yards rushing, followed by Parra with 31 yards rushing.
Anthwone Jones was the leading receiver with seven receptions for 100 yards. Tomas Encinas also had six receptions for 44 yards.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 0 10 7 7 24 South High 7 14 0 0 21
Tehachapi vs South High Statistics
THS SHS First Downs 12 16 Rushes-Yards 35-176 18-113 Passing Yards 83 217 Comp-Att-Int 7-10-0 17-35-1 Total Yards 259 330 Punts 1-35.0 3-30.0 Penalties 7-73 5-51
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING — Tehachapi: King 1-(-1), Hagerty 5-23, Aguirre 4-6, Michael 1-14, Pina 6-26, Brooks 2-7.
South High: Encinas 8-72, Robles 1-3, Parra 9-38.
PASSING — Tehachapi: Michael 7-10-0-83. South High: Encinas 17-35-1-217.
RECEIVING- Tehachapi: Hoofard 2-35, Haggerty 3-33, Cerbantez 1-17, Pina 1 (-2).
South High: Jones 6-104, Encinas 6-44, Hasley 5-69.
Varsity Records: Tehachapi 8-2 South High Bakersfield 7-3
