West Bakersfield at Tehachapi
November 9, 2012
Tehachapi's Ty Curry looks for some running room on this second quarter play, but West's Josh Ramos (19) is in place to make the tackle.
Photo by John Harte, The Bakersfield Californian
Posted by Tom Shea, The Tehachapi News on Nov. 12, 2012 Season Concludes for Warriors
West Upsets Tehachapi on the Mountain, 31-13
With revenge on their minds from an early season loss and a healthy dose of speed from multiple athletes, West defeated the Warriors 31-13 last week to record the central section’s first upset of the playoffs.
Tehachapi (8-3) got on the scoreboard first in the contest, taking a 75 yard drive the length of the field for a quick 7-0 first quarter lead.
The drive was capped by a Jorge Garcia four yard touchdown run, with the talented back recording 46 yards overall on the drive and Ryan Flick recording a 19 reception to give the Warriors the early advantage.
On the ensuing drive by West, a key 17 yard screen pass completion on third and 15 kept a Viking drive alive and the eventual tying score, 7-7 early in the second quarter. West would take the lead on their next drive on a long touchdown run off a bootleg rollout, and convert on a fourth and eight with a touchdown reception just before halftime.
The Warriors would answer the second West score with one of their own, with Garcia punching in a one yard touchdown, set up off his longest run from scrimmage on the night on a 42 yard run.
It would be the last time that Tehachapi would reach the endzone on the evening, with West scoring two more touchdowns in the second and third quarter and a field goal in the final period for the upset 31-13 victory.
Bobby Howell finished the evening with 64 yards on five completions, with Flick hauling in three receptions for 46 yards, Dakota Medovitch a 10 yard catch and Garcia a reception for eight yards.
Garcia finished the night with 165 yards on 21 carries, finishing his season with 1,425 yards and 19 touchdowns. Garcia’s rushing mark is the 11th most rushing yards in one season for a THS running back in 83 years of mountain football, according to thswarriors.com.
With the season concluded, the Warriors will say goodbye to senior football players Dalton Scaggs, Michael Contreras, Anthony Napolis, Rodrigo Garcia, Bobby Howell, Jeremy Duff, Bryan O’Donnell, Andrew Garber, Jose Meza, Logan Smith, Michael Llamas, Kyle Parks, Blake Panek, Ryan Flick, Chris Perez, Jorge Garcia, Barry Jones, Ian Neufeld, Austin Riddle, Kiefer Fincher and Andrew Jimenez.
Tehachapi selections to the first, second and honorable mention team in the Southeast Yosemite League will be announced in a future edition of The Tehachapi News.
West's David Ross is tackled by Tehachapi's Ty Curry (42) and Bobby Sharp after making a reception in the first half.
Warrior defender Blake Panek (54) also moves in on the play. Photo by John Harte, The Bakersfield Californian.
Posted by Tom Shea, The Bakersfield Californian on Nov. 9, 2012 West Upsets Tehachapi On The Mountain
Tehachapi -- West scored on their final three possessions in the second quarter to take a halftime lead and finished with stout second half defense to reel off a shocking 31-13 upset over Tehachapi on the mountain.
Tehachapi (8-3) opened up the scoring in the game with a 75 yard drive, capped by a Jorge Garcia 4 yard touchdown run to take an early advantage.
But after a huge momentum shift, it was all West to close out the first half. Patrick Marzett helped bolster West’s confidence with an 18 yard catch off a screen on third and 15, setting the stage for the first of three consecutive Vikings touchdowns.
“As a team, any time we seem to get that early momentum and that big play, we get on fire and that helped us in that second quarter,” said head coach Mark Camps. ”When we get a big play in the passing game the kids get excited about it.”
Javaundre Howington capped the first West touchdown with a 12 yard end-around, while Micah Mitchell added an 89 yard bootleg pitchout on the Vikings next drive to give West a lead they would never relinquish.
“Mitchell has been a real determined player for us all year long,” added Camps. “He does a lot of the little things for us so it was nice to see him get the big play. He’s been our all-around guy. He was huge (tonight).”
At the start of the third quarter, the Warriors fumbled on their first play from scrimmage after the opening kickoff, setting up another Mitchell big play. This time, Mitchell scored on a 33 yard catch from West quarterback Enrique Salazar, crawling the final 10 yards to reach the endzone.
Sporting a two touchdown lead, West (5-6) switched gears and focused on their defense, forcing three turnover’s on downs and two fumble recoveries to ice the victory.
“We were on our kids all week about just playing good sound fundamental football,” Camps said. “The last time we played Tehachapi, we felt that we had guys in the right spots but we tackled much better tonight. Ultimately, that was the difference.”
Salazar would finish the night with 172 yards on 10 completions, with his favorite target being David Ross, who had 111 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Ross’s score was a 38-yard touchdown catch in stride on a pass from Salazar on fourth and eight late in the second quarter, diving into the endzone to give the Vikings an eight-point halftime lead.
Millan Brian also had 36 yard field goal in the fourth quarter for the Vikings.
Garcia led Tehachapi’s ground attack with 165 yards on 21 carries, scoring both Warrior touchdowns.
“We didn’t deserve to win and they did,” said Tehachapi head coach Steve Denman. “We made too many mistakes against a good football team tonight.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final West 0 21 7 3 31 Tehachapi 7 6 0 0 13
The Scoring:
First Quarter:
THS – J. Garcia 4 yard run (Duff kick)
Second Quarter:
WHS – Howington 12 yard run (Brian kick)
WHS – Mitchell 89 yard run (Brian kick)
THS – Garcia 1 yard run (Run failed)
WHS – Ross 38 yard pass from Salazar (Brian kick)
Third Quarter:
WHS – Mitchell 33 yard pass from Salazar (Brian kick)
Fourth Quarter:
WHS – Brian 36 yard field goal
West vs Tehachapi Stats
WHS THS First Downs 11 13 Rushes-Yards 37-171 37-224 Passing Yards 189 64 Comp-Att-Int 11-17-0 5-12-0 Total Yards 360 288 Punts 4-30.8 3-37.3 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-2 Penalties 9-46 3-15
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING -- Tehachapi: Garcia 21-165, Curry 10-75, Jones 1-6, Valencia 1-4, Howell 4-(-26).
West – Mitchell 1-89, Dubard 23-59, Howington 3-19, Marzett 4-6, Starr 2-4, Salazar 4-(-6).
PASSING -- Tehachapi: Howell 5-12-0 64. West: Salazar 10-16-0 172, Mitchell 1-1-0 17.
RECEIVING -- Tehachapi: Flick 3-46, Medovitch 1-10, Garcia 1-8. West: Ross 6-111, Mitchell 1-33, Howington 2-26, Marzett 1-18, Dubard 1-1.
Varsity – Tehachapi (8-3), West Bakersfield (5-6)
