Mt. Whitney-Visalia at Tehachapi
November 4, 2022
Warrior running back AJ Anderson #4 had another outstanding game versus Mt. Whitney rushing for 143 yards
and scoring two TD's. The Warriors crushed Mt. Whitney, 37-14 to advance in the valley playoffs.
Tehachapi will now host Sunnyside of Fresno Thursday night. (Photo by Vicki Shea, The Tehachapi News.)
Posted by The Tehachapi News on November 7, 2022. Warriors Dominate Mt. Whitney To Open Valley Playoffs
Prior to the start of their first-round playoff game against Visalia-Mt. Whitney, the Warriors got a surprise from a town legend.
Program patriarch Steve Denman paid a visit to Mountain Football, providing words of wisdom and encouragement and emphasizing
that “everyone work together” and successfully “do the little things” on the football gridiron.
The pre-game speech paid immediate dividends, with Karson Tiewater taking the opening kickoff 91-yards for a touchdown.
Tehachapi (10-1) poured it on from there in a 37-14 drubbing over Visalia-Mt. Whitney (4-7) in the first round of the
CIF Central Section Division III playoffs.
AJ Anderson led the offense for Tehachapi, recording 143 yards on the ground and two rushing scores, while Tiewater added
101 yards rushing. Overall, Tiewater led the team with 212 all-purpose yards. Mike Jones also had
a solid night on offense, recording 40 yards rushing and a touchdown run and 16 yards receiving on two receptions.
Defensively, Nick Smith had a monster game despite playing in a cast due to a broken thumb. Smith wreaked havoc on the defensive line
with nine tackles, nine quarterback hurries and two sacks. Other leaders on defense were Jones
with 10 tackles, Wyatt Richie (nine tackles, four hurries), Martin Rodriguez (six tackles), Kaleb Songer (five tackles),
Raul Navarro (four tackles), Mason Rothermel (four tackles), Christian Morse (four hurries, three tackles), Tanner Gary
(three tackles and a sack) and AJ Anderson (three hurries and a sack).
Adrian Pina also had an interception return for 48 yards and Mike Jones had a 10-yard interception return for a touchdown
on the game’s final play.
On special teams, Rodriguez was a perfect 4-4 on PATs and booted a 24-yard field goal through the uprights in the second quarter.
It was the fourth field goal of the season for Rodriguez. Tiewater also had 111 yards overall on kickoff returns, which included the 91-yard kickoff return for a score to start the game.
The Warriors will be at home again this Thursday, Nov. 10, with a game start at 7 p.m. against the No. 11 seeded Fresno-Sunnyside Wildcats.
The game will be played on Thursday this week due to the Veterans Day holiday on
Friday. Tickets must be purchased in advance on the website goFAN. For a direct link
to purchase tickets, please log on to Twitter and search @tehachapisports or the THS Boosters Facebook page early this week.
Playoff Quarterfinal Preview: Fresno-Sunnyside
The game between Fresno-Sunnyside and Tehachapi will be the third-ever contest between the two schools. Coincidentally,
it will mark the third-straight playoff quarterfinal meeting, with the Warriors winning the previous two matchups (28-7 in 2010 and 35-28 in 2011).
Fresno-Sunnyside (9-2) was the North Yosemite League champion with an undefeated league record and just last week upset No. 6 seeded
Tulare Union, 41-22. The Wildcats are led by standout sophomore quarterback Tanner Wilson, who passed
for 3,465 yards and 40 touchdowns during the regular season. According to Central Section Historian Bob Barnett,
Wilson’s passing yards is a new Central Section record for the regular season.
On the receiving end for Wilson is a trio of talented receivers in CJ Jones (1,133 yards, 13 touchdowns), Malachi Barnes (927 yards,
11 touchdowns) and Sonjay Burton (827 yards, 11 touchdowns). On defense, the Wildcats are led by Noah Gonzales (82 tackles) and Daequan Jones (75 tackles).
The winner of the quarterfinal match-up between these two schools will take on the victor of No. 7 seeded Tulare-Mission Oak
and No. 15 seeded Bakersfield-Independence in the playoff semifinals.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Mt. Whitney 0 7 0 7 14 Tehachapi 14 3 7 13 37
Mt. Whitney High vs Tehachapi Statistics
MWHS THS First Downs Rushes-Yards 50-311 Passing Yards 16 Comp-Att-Int 23-8-2 Total Yards 327 Punts 2-27.5 Penalties
Individual Statistics:
RUSHING — Mt. Whitney High: .
Tehachapi: Anderson 16-143, Tiewater 9-101, Jones 13-40, Root 2-(-06), Aguirre 4-13, Hart 4-18, Pina 3-2.
PASSING — Mt. Whitney High: . Tehachapi: Root 2-8-2-16.
RECEIVING — Mt. Whitney High: .
Tehachapi: Jones 2-16.
