Tehachapi at Taft Wildcats
September 1, 2023
Warrior running back Wade Brooks #31 runs for big yardage Friday night at Taft. Brooks ran for 85 yards rushing on four carries.
The Warriors will now host Wasco Friday night at Coy Burnett Stadium. Game time is 7:30 pm. (Photo by Vicky Shea.)
Posted by The Tehachapi News Sports Staff on September 3, 2023. Warriors Overwhelm Wildcats In Shutout Victory
Mountain Football had a very impressive showing on the road at Taft, racking up 443 yards of offense and scoring
on their first five offensive possessions en route to a blowout 60-0 win.
AJ Anderson had 153 total yards, collecting 92 yards rushing with a pair of touchdown runs and 61 yards
receiving that included a touchdown reception from quarterback Jacob Root.
Root finished the game with 84 yards passing on six completions, connecting with Anderson and Andrew Aguirre
on touchdown strikes, chipping in a touchdown run with a quarterback keeper in the first quarter.
Adding to the offensive onslaught was Karson Tiewater with 120 yards rushing and Adrian Pina with a touchdown run.
Wade Brooks also had 85 yards rushing and two touchdown runs in the second half.
On the offensive line, MJ Nicholson recorded four pancake blocks, followed by Kenny Pitt with three pancake
blocks and Alex Leon, Hayden Michael and Travis Mason each recording two pancake blocks apiece.
Other highlights included Jacob Betancourt leading the team with 168 all-purpose yards, eight yards receiving,
69 yards on special teams and a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown. Betancourt also had a
touchdown reception at the end of the second quarter, but the play was called back due to a penalty.
On defense, Mike Jones had a strong performance at linebacker with a team-leading 12 tackles and a
fumble recovery. Other standouts included Aguirre (11 tackles, fumble recovery), Tiewater (seven tackles),
Adrian Navarro (seven tackles, sack), Leo Gonzalez (six tackles, punt block), Adrian Pina (six tackles,
fumble caused), Michael Short (six tackles, sack) and Tanner Gary (six tackles, sack).
Tehachapi (3-0) will have a strong test this week in Wasco, which is a run-heavy team that runs primarily
out of the double-wing. The Tigers are coming off a victory last week
over Porterville-Monache, 23-21.
The varsity game against Wasco will be at Coy Burnett Stadium this Friday night. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m.
Junior Varsity Offense Runs Away From Taft In Win
The Junior Varsity Warriors were a scoring machine last week, amassing 536 total yards along the way in a
runaway 69-18 victory over Taft.
Leading the way was quarterback Colton Michael, who had six completions for 161 yards and three touchdowns.
Cayden King had two of those touchdown receptions and also finished with 88 yards rushing.
The other touchdown reception was recorded by Thaddeus Dyer.
Other offensive leaders included Kaidon Hagerty finishing with 100 yards rushing and three touchdown runs and
Conner Rothermel, Tylere Lombardi, Austin Tropodi and Michael also recording touchdown runs. Rothermel also had a
two-point conversion completion from Michael at the end of the fourth quarter.
On defense and special teams, Ruben Sedano and Lombardi both finished with eight tackles apiece, followed
by Jacob Meza with six tackles and King with five tackles. JR Alaniz also had four
tackles and a fumble recovery and Tripodi had three pass deflections. Additional highlights included Sedano with an
extra point block and 40 yards on kickoff returns and Ethan Cardenas with five
points and Adrian Anaya with two points in successful point-after-attempts.
In frosh-soph action, the Warriors took on Bakersfield Christian and fell to the Eagles in a competitive 22-8 defeat.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Tehachapi 27 14 6 13 60 Taft 0 0 0 0 00
Tehachapi vs Taft Statistics
THS Taft First Downs 13 Rushes-Yards 27-359 Passing Yards 82 Comp-Att-Int 6-10-1 Total Yards 441 Punts Penalties 8-79
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING — Tehachapi: AJ Anderson 6-92, Tiewater 6-120, Gonzalez 1-5, Jones 2-10, Pina 2-7, Brooks 4-85, Aguirre 2-12, Root 4-28.
Taft: .
PASSING — Tehachapi: Root 6-10-82-1 Taft:
RECEIVING — Tehachapi: AJ Anderson 3-61, Aguirre 1-6, Betancourt 1-8, Pina 1-7.
Taft: .
Varsity Records: Tehachapi 3-0 Taft 1-2
