IMPROBABLE!
Posted 10-18-03

The Blur: Tanner Hutchinson turns the corner around Taft tacklers in the comeback win

The Yokut Indians (one of the native Tehachapi tribes) probably would have a little concern over today's Tehachapi Warriors, believing in a tribe philosophy to face their aggressors head on, taking advantage of the element of surprise, should an intruder serve as a threat in the land they resided.

For the Yokuts, survival was of the utmost importance.  Should a battle have to ensue with an outside entity, they knew that winning assured survival.

For our Yokuts of today (our Tehachapi Warriors) the aggressors (opponents) may have a little bit more time to roam the land, pillage the tribe, and tap into the natural resources...but in the end...

The war bonnets come on, the face paint is applied, and scalps are taken.

It's kind of moot to compare history with the great game of football, but like all history lessons, Yokuts taught us an important one, strike...or be striked.

Taking that into consideration, you would hope that in today's day-and-age that the Warriors would not allow their aggressors to post an early 18-0 advantage in a football game (i.e. roaming land, pillaging, and tapping natural resources), but if that's what it takes to get motivation to score 23 unanswered points in the second half and run the threat out of town...

then I guess you take what you can get.  I mean, they are today's Yokuts after all.

Last Friday's game was one of those gems that will probably go down in the lore book as one of the great ones.  I mean, how could you have figured Tehachapi to score three touchdowns in the second half against a team that didn't relinquish more than two a game all season long?

Luck? A little.

But 23 points?  The second closest to that score against Taft before Tehachapi was Hanford West in week 1, squeaking by Taft 14-13 in a game that probably should have had the Huskies on the losing end of the scoreboard.

In the game itself, you have to wonder what the Warrior players felt like at the half, giving up six points with four seconds left before intermission to go in down by 18.

18 points.  How do you come back from that against the best defense in the valley...a team that averages only 172 yards given up a game?

Well...the best way to do that is to give the ball to Tanner Hutchinson, who arguably had the most scalps in last Friday's battle against Taft, registering third on the rushing yards list for the night in the entire valley with an impressive 156 yards on 25 carries, three touchdowns, and two two-point conversions.

Tanner probably was the spark that started the scoring for Tehachapi, reeling off an impressive 50-yard run with just over four minutes left in the third quarter to contribute to the first Warrior score of the night.

On Tehachapi's fourth possession of the second half, Josh Lange made sure that Tehachapi would not be denied a second score, catching an 18-yard pass from Kris Haycock on fourth-and-six with just over six minutes left in the game.  The zebras on the play would make a questionable call on Lange's catch, denying the talented fullback a touchdown after it seemed that he broke the plane of the endzone before getting brought down out of bounds, but it didn't matter as Hutch recorded his second TD of the night with a one yard plunge up the middle.  The drive was set up by a blind-side sack by Sean Finley that stripped the football loose on the Wildcats' previous possession.  The fumbled pigskin found the hands of Jeremy Clark, who raced to the Taft 25-yard line to set up the second score.

With the Taft dyke leaking profusely, David Gonzalez chiseled another gash in the Taft hope of a win with an interception at the Taft 18-yard line on the Wildcat's next possession.  The costly turnover was crucial for Tehachapi's victory hopes, as Hutchinson seemingly put the nail in the coffin with a 14-yard scoring run three plays later to help put the Warriors up by five with 4:11 remaining in the game.

On Taft's next possession on offense, David Gonzalez made another key play when he broke up a pass play in the middle of the field to force a turnover-on-downs a the Wildcat 48-yard line.  With only 2:30 left, Tehachapi ran four straight times to eat the time away to post the improbable victory.

For the reasons mentioned above, four players were worthy of player of the week honors for game 7.  Congratulations guys, great win!

Josh Lange (#5), Tanner Hutchinson (#21), Sean Finley (#32), David Gonzalez (#81)
WEEKLY WARRIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Other players that turned in solid games included Mike Faulkner with nine tackles, including four for a loss, Dan Haycock with eight tackles and three pressures, Anthony Scott with eight tackles, Jeremy Clark with six tackles and a fumble recovery, Zack Harris with five tackles and two pass plays broken up, Vincent Flores with four tackles, and Jon Anderson with three tackles and a sack.

Above: Action against the Taft Wildcats

I'm sure everyone has been watching the baseball playoffs off and on these past few weeks, with some probably a little down that the cubbies (Chicago Cubs) didn't pull off a game 7 win over the Marlins to reach their first world series in 50+ years. You know how it goes in this country, everyone roots for the underdog. Well Warrior fans, if the SSL had a perennial underdog in it's ranks this year, that team would have to be Arvin. You got to hand it to third year Coach Edgar Mares and his staff.  In all, you take a team that has just come off an 0-9-1 season, and a winless SSL regime, and what have you got this year? A 2-0 SSL run so far, and a 4-3 record overall.  Are you kidding me? That's right, the same record as Tehachapi.  By all accounts and purposes in week 8, this game is for first place...whether you want to believe it or not. The way Arvin has been playing this year, the Bears will convince you that the pendulum should swing more to the believing side, with losses to Bakersfield ballers West, Highland, and East, but impressive wins over South, Ridgeview, Shafter, and Wasco. In fact, those pesky Bears were able to conjure up 20 points against the Generals, 13 more points than Garces could muster in week 7, and an identical point margin differential in 7. Now, I know many of you out there say that might not mean much, but after coming off of a 0-9-1 season, I think Coach Mares can official cast the term "moral victory" out the window with his squad this year....they have the ability to get actual wins. They're here to play this season, and poised to do some damage. Last week against Wasco, Arvin one-upped Tehachapi in their performance against the Tigers by scoring 30 first half points behind the running of Joey Ugues, who had 241 yards rushing before his two-TD performance this past week. Remember Warrior fans, Tehachapi could muster only 14 points in the first half against that same Wasco team. It would be easy if Joey Ugues was the only weapon that the Warriors had to contend with in the contest this week, but the running buck stops on another talented back in junior Hector Velasquez, who has 687 yards and 12 TD's so far this year. Tehachapi will also have to watch out for the solid passing from Jose Tamayo, who's 626 yards and five TD's is bested only by the numbers of Taft's Jason Wade in the South Sequoia League. On the defensive front, the Bears are led by a vested returning front unit that has run-stuffers Josh Mendoza, Juan Villapando, Eduadro Montes, and Daniel Villanueva.  Mendoza, Montes, and Villapando also see significant time on offense, with Mendoza anchoring an offensive line that features offensive tackle Freddy Moran, Montes fullback duty, and Villanueva receiving chores. The receiving corps features Jose Diaz, Walter Lopez, and Randy Jones.  Jones is probably the one-to-watch through the air, catching four of Tamayo's five touchdowns in '03, and over 400 yards receiving, but keep a close eye out for the other two speedsters in Diaz and Lopez. My message this week for the Arvin game is simple:  Don't take this team lightly.  Remember, in the great atmosphere of football, every dog (or Bear in this case) has their day.  Stay focused, and let the Bears' day come in another week of the season. Above: Hutchinson outraces Arvin on the Mountain in '02, collecting 147 yards and 4 TD's

If the Tehachapi underclassmen have anything to say about their 2003 dates with Taft, the future may not be bright for Coach Mash and the Wildcat faithful.  The Indians' put together one of their best games of the year behind Brad Taylor and Vince Saavedra, connecting for 154 yards through the air in a 36-0 blowout.  For the Braves, Robert Wright looked like a man among boys in five rushing touchdowns en route to a 46-0 pummeling.  The Indians are 4-3 (1-1 SSL) and the Braves are 6-1 (2-0 SSL).

Notable games showed Washington creating more ripples in the sequoia ranks with a 20-16 win over #1 Dos Palos, Shafter put up a good defensive fight against Garces before falling, 7-0.  Yosemite took care of Selma, 24-10, and Dinuba shows more and more that the East Sequoia League might be theirs for the taking with a 41-13 thrashing over Lindsay Notable match-ups in week 8 San Joaquin Memorial @ Yosemite Corcoran @ Dinuba Washington @ Chowchilla Dos Palos @ Coalinga