5-0

BRAVES HOLD OFF THE RAMBLERS; FINISH PRE-SEASON UNDEFEATED

TEHACHAPI NEWS - The battle of the undefeated teams was the perfect end of a non-league schedule as Tehachapi and Garces, both 4-0, met Friday in Bakersfield.

At the end of the game, it was Tehachapi who scored once in each of the first three quarters to defeat the Ramblers 18-13 to remain undefeated.  "It was tough with all the injuries," said Braves Head Coach Ryan Grimes.  "But this team is full of surprises."

Adding to the Ramblers troubles, nine members of the Garces jayvee squad were missing from the sidelines after being suspended for an alcohol incident earlier in the week.  The fallout to the Ramblers included head coach Victor Garcia, who sat out the game.  Retired varsity coach John Fanucchi was called back into action for the game.

Tehachapi got off to a good start scoring on their first possession of the game.  The Braves took the opening kick-off 42 yards and in five plays THS quarterback Levi Lantz dished the ball to Josh Mendez, Ronnie Overturf, and Jake Harris, with Mendez finishing off the drive with a 2-yard scoring run.  After the missed PAT, it was 6-0.

Mendez finished the game as the Braves leading rusher with 93 yards on 11 carries.

The second quarter found Garces deep in their own territory, having to punt from their own 10-yard line.  Stefan Bekker took the ball to the Ramblers 35-yard line off the punt return.  Overturf and Lantz then connected on a 10-yard pass, and three plays later, Mendez scored his second TD of the game from the 11 to put the Braves up 12-0 with 4:43 left in the first half.

Garces quickly responded to the score with a big play of their own on their next series, hitting on a 43-yard TD pass to cut the lead in half, 12-6.

In the third quarter, Bekker recoverd a fumble at the 34 yard line to give Tehachapi another scoring opporutinty.  Tehachapi then mounted their longest drive of the game that featured Jake Harris (four carries for 17 yards) and Alek Taliulu (four carries for 32 yards) before Lantz scored on a QB keeper from teh 11-yard line to increase the THS lead to 18-6.

Harris finished the game with 30 yards rushing while Taliulu had 68 yards on 13 carries.

The Braves' defense limited Garces to just 90 yards rushing and 90 yards passing.  Tehachapi rushed for 245 yards and completed a pass for 10 yards.

Leading the THS defense, Stefan Bekker was credited with eight tackles.  Brad Tayler logged a scak for an eight yard loss while Jake Harris recorded a sack for a 12-yard loss  Other Braves defensive standouts were Vincent Saavedra and Taliulu.

The Braves are scheduled to open the homecoming festivities this Friday hosting Wasco in the first SSL game of the season.