Taft Wildcats at Tehachapi
Friday, October 21, 2005
Warrior Jeff Waldram (bottom left) and Mike Barboa, #45, team up to tackle Taft's ball carrier Ben Estill. The THS defense
limited Estill to just 94 yards rushing in Friday's game, down from Estill's average of 275 per game.Photo by Mike Duffy, The Tehachapi News
Posted by Tom Shea, The Bakersfield Californian, on October 22, 2005 Late Tehachapi TD Tops Taft
Tehachapi 30 Taft 29
TEHACHAPI -- Zac Schlais scored on a 2-yard plunge with 3:36 left, and Tyler Hansen ran for a two-point conversion to lift Tehachapi to a dramatic 30-29 victory over Taft in South Sequoia League play Friday night.
The Warriors' Mike Barboa intercepted a Wildcats' pass with 1:47 left in the game to seal Tehachapi's win.
"In the first half we made a lot of mistakes, but with every mistake we made the appropriate adjustments," Warriors' coach Steve Denman said. "The first two quarters didn't start off the way we would have liked, but we were able to bounce back."
Tehachapi (4-3 overall, 2-0 SSL) scored first when Robert Wright ran 14 yards up the middle for the 6-0 lead with only 9:36 left in the first quarter.
The drive started at the Taft 34-yard line, but with the assistance of three off-side penalties, the Warriors were able to punch in the score on only two plays.
Taft (3-4, 1-1) answered with 21 straight points, sparked when Aaron Rolls intercepted a Tyler Hansen pass on the Warriors' second drive of the game. With Tehachapi's defense focusing on Taft's talented running back Ben Estill, Andrew Miller was able to punch in scoring runs of 10 and 11 yards to help Taft secure the early lead.
Estill scored Taft's other first-half TD on a 9-yard run three minutes before halftime. He entered the game as the state's top rusher with 1,065 yards, according to maxpreps.com, but was held to just 94 yards on 22 carries Friday.
In the third quarter, Tehachapi took the lead on a 1-yard Lance Lange scoring run, but the Wildcats responded on their next drive, silencing the home crowd when Dalton Botts ran 71 yards on a keeper on a third-and-9 situation.
"After that run we were a little down, but we weren't going to give up," Warriors' quarterback Tyler Hansen said. "The coaches kept us motivated and we just kept fighting."
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Taft | 14 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 29 |
| Tehachapi | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
The Scoring:
First quarter:
Teh -- Wright 14 run (run failed)
Taf -- Miller 10 run (pass failed)
Taf -- Miller 11 run (Miller run)
Second quarter:
Taf -- Estill 9 run (Schulz kick)
Teh -- Lange 1 run (Hansen run)
Third quarter:
Teh -- Lange 1 run (Hansen to Bressler pass)
Taf -- Botts 71 run (Estill run)
Fourth quarter:
Te--Schlais 2 run (Hansen run)
| Taft | THS | |
| First Downs | 9 | 15 |
| Rushes-Yards | 43-221 | 44-218 |
| Passing Yards | 4 | 70 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 1-2-1 | 2-8-2 |
| Total Yards | 225 | 288 |
| Punts | N/A | N/A |
| Turnovers-Lost | N/A | N/A |
| Penalties | 10-85 | 7-65 |
Individual Satistics:
RUSHING--Tehachapi, Hansen 8-77, Wright 13-71, Bressler 10-31; Taft, Estill 22-94, Botts 4-74, Miller 12-62.
PASSING--Tehachapi, Hansen 2-7-2 70; Taft, Botts 1-2-1-4
RECEIVING--Tehachapi, Lopez 1-47, Muro 1-23; Taft, Carter 1-4
Records--Tehachapi 4-3 (2-0 SSL), Taft 3-4 (1-1 SSL)
JV — Tehachapi (3-3-1; 2-0) 25, Taft 7
Frosh – Tehachapi (5-1; 2-0) 50, Taft 8
Wasco 17 Arvin 14 (OT)
Golden Valley 57 Shafter 15