Tehachapi at Taft Wildcats
Friday, October 18, 2002
Warrior defenders scramble to contain potent Taft High offense.
Taft Hands Warriors Its First Loss, 34-14
Posted Saturday, October 19, 2002, by Scott A. Mayes, Bakersfield Californian
TAFT -- For all the things that Teddy Patterson accomplished, the Taft High wide receiver was underused Friday night in one area -- as the team's punter.
That's because the Wildcat football team rarely punted in upsetting Tehachapi -- ranked No. 3 in the Central Section among Sequoia Division schools -- 34-14 at Taft High. Taft improved to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the South Sequoia League while Tehachapi fell to 5-1 and 1-1.
Patterson punted just once on the night, but got plenty of other action, catching four passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, rushing twice for 22 yards and setting up a Taft touchdown with a 62-yard punt return.
"The difference was, we executed when we had to," said Patterson, referring to last week's loss to Garces. "Last week, we just didn't come through, but the guys came to play tonight."
The Wildcats were in control from start to finish, converting 8 of 12 third-down opportunities, including 5 of 6 in the opening half.
But to say that Patterson was the lone star would be an understatement.
Patterson's counterpart at wide receiver, Aaron Harlan, caught six passes for 144 yards and a touchdown, quarterback Brandon Carlton completed 14 of 22 passes for 212 yards and running back Dee Griffith ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns.
"You can't make mistakes against a good football team," Tehachapi coach Steve Denman said. "That's the bottom line. They executed well and we did not keep their offense off the field with our offense. It just wasn't our night."
Tehachapi running back Tanner Hutchinson ran for 154 yards on 21 carries, quarterback Greg Sanchez threw for 122 yards and Willie Greenan caught four passes for 66 yards. Both Hutchinson and Greenan scored touchdowns.
"This is probably the best game I've ever played," Harlan said. "The offensive line played great and gave Brandon (Carlton) tons of time."
Carlton was not sacked in the game.
With defenses targeting Patterson, the Patterson-Harlan duo is quickly becoming a force through the air.
"It doesn't really bother me if they focus on me," Patterson said. "Aaron comes through all the time and we have lots of guys who can step in and play, too. This was a great team effort."
The Taft offense had a dominant first half, outgaining Tehachapi 257-131 in total yardage while building a 21-0 lead.
Taft went ahead 7-0 just 41 seconds into the second quarter on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Carlton to Patterson. The three-play scoring drive was set up by Patterson's 62-yard punt return.
After the Wildcats' defense held Tehachapi on its next possession, Taft put together a 7-play, 69-yard drive, going ahead 14-0 on a 3-yard run by Griffith. The score was set up by a play straight out of the football bag of tricks.
On a third-and-four, Carlton handed the ball to Griffith, who handed off to Jason Wade -- the backup quarterback -- on what would turn into a reverse pass. Wade hit Harlan on a 44-yard strike to the Warriors' 3-yard line.
Harlan was heard from once more in the second quarter, putting the Wildcats up 21-0 with 3:16 to go in the half on a 61-yard touchdown reception from Carlton. But Tehachapi made a defensive stand and cut the lead to 21-7 with 7:19 to play in the third quarter. On the opening possession of the second half, Taft went for it on a fourth-and-inches play from its own 34-yard line. After stuffing Frank Seiuli for a 1-yard loss on the play, the Warriors drove the ball in on seven plays as Hutchinson scored on a four-yard run.
But the momentum was short lived as Taft went 63 yards on the ensuing possession for a 28-7 advantage. The drive was capped by a 3-yard run by Griffith, his second score of the night.
Tehachapi made it 28-14 with 10:06 to play in the game on a 13-yard touchdown reception from Sanchez to Greenan. Griffith scored his third touchdown -- all of them three-yard runs -- with 3:19 remaining.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 0 0 7 7 14 Taft 0 21 7 6 34
The Scoring:
Ta--Patterson 8 pass from Carlton (Garrison kick)
Ta--Griffith 3 run (Garrison kick)
Ta--Harlan 61 pass from Carlton (Garrison kick)
Te--Hutchinson 4 run (Sullivan kick)
Ta--Griffith 3 run (Garrison kick)
Te--Greenan 13 pass from Sanchez (Sullivan kick)
Ta--Griffith 3 run (kick failed)
TAFT vs THS GAME STATISTICS
Taft THS First Downs 17 14 Rushes-Yards 41-149 29-202 Passing Yards 256 122 Comp-Att-Int 15-23-0 9-20-1 Total Yards 405 324 Punts 1-30.8 5-31.2 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0 Penalties 4-30 3-20
RUSHING--Tehachapi: Hutchinson 21-154, Troffer 5-37, Lange 3-11. Taft: Griffith 29-109, Patterson 2-22, Carter 7-18, Seiuli 3-0.
PASSING--Tehachapi: Sanchez 9-20-1-122. Taft: Carlton 14-22-0-212, Wade 1-44.
RECEIVING--Tehachapi: Greenan 4-66, Christy 2-34, Lange 2-18, Altieri 1-4. Taft: Harlan 6-144, Patterson 4-83, Peters 1-23, Griffith 1-6.
Records--Tehachapi 5-1, 1-1 SSL; Taft 4-3, 1-1 SSL.
JV--Tehachapi 40, Taft 22