WARRIORS DEVELOPING A WINNING CHEMISTRY
Posted 08-25-02
Play calls, two-a-days, blocking assignments, hard running, sweat, and tackling. Seeing students at Tehachapi High School participate in activities such as this during the summer months can only mean one thing, football season is here again!
During the spring and the past couple of weeks, the Warriors have been working hard to polish their plays and learn from their coaches on how to become productive football players for this upcoming season.
“We’ve been going at each other all summer. We’re ready to get this season going…we’ve been working together pretty good on both sides of the ball. We like our system and we think we can be successful against other teams,” said returning Warrior Willie Greenan.
Probably the greatest asset Tehachapi has built over these summer months is team chemistry. On practice Thursday, players were hitting and flying all over the field, but individual accolades can only contribute to the team if the players buy into the system that is taught to them by the coaching staff.
“Each one of the players has a purpose on the football team,” Assistant Coach Pat Snyder explains. “If one player goes down, somebody has to come in and fill that gap. Even the players that don’t see a lot of playing time might have their number called to come into the game if needed. Everybody needs to be ready.”
Some of the notable performances during practice this past Thursday included a nice run by David Lara on a couple of reverses and Tanner Hutchinson on a misdirect play that went for a big gain against the first string defense. The Warriors also worked on their passing, with Greenan and Greg Sanchez taking a majority of the snaps. Sanchez’s arm looked crisp in some fade drills toward the middle of practice, with Jeremy Clark showing nice hands over Philip Altieri on a diving grab.
On defense, All-Area honorable mention Josh Christy was back to his old ways causing havoc at his linebacker position.
“We know that West has a big fullback that we’ll have to contend with,” said Christy. “The Vikings will be a good test for us. We got a tough pre-season so we definitely need to perform well against West so we can start the season off like we want to.”
Players also performing well during practice was Bob DiRado and Tyson Schmidt, who both got in the backfield a couple of times for what would have been sacks in a real game situation.
“Our kids have done an outstanding job coming together…great team. Their listening and working hard and we’re optimistic about the season coming up,” said Head Coach Steve Denman.
If Thursday’s practice is any indication, the Warriors should have the talent and chemistry to turn that optimism into a reality.
WEEKLY WARRIOR NOTES
--Saturday the Warriors had their inter-squad scrimmage on Coy Burnett Field. The Offensive line looked good in their blocking assignments with Ryan Smith and Jedd Ingraham netting a couple of pancakes on some of their teammates on the opposing side of the ball. Tim Wilson, Brandon Lykins, and Andy Grantham also contributed to give big gains for wingbacks Nick Booker and Hutchinson. On defense, Lykins and Ingraham combined for a lot of stops, including a sack by Ingraham on Greenan toward the end of practice.
On offense Greg Sanchez did a lot of good things in the quarterback position, connecting with Brian Avila on a 21 yard gain and a slant pass to Booker for another 14 yards. Sanchez also made a lot of good, quick decisions with the football, keeping the football when he needed to and darting for first down yardage. Josh Lange and Tony Troffer also made some running plays for big gains as the morning came to a close.
--This Wednesday, is “Meet the Warriors” night at the High School Cafeteria at 6:00pm. Cost is $10, which includes dinner and a brief introduction by each player on this year’s freshman, junior varsity, and varsity squads.
--The scrimmage against West High of Bakersfield is set to start at 3:30pm for the freshman, 5:30 for JV, and 7:30 for the Varsity on Coy Burnett Field Friday. Hope to see you all there!
