Player of the week honors for the Paraclete game go to, of course, Sean Finley, and on defense Lance Lange.

WEEK 2 GAMEBREAKERS - Tehachapi's Lance Lange (#6) and Sean Finley (#32) get the nod for players of the week against Paraclete

Lance was selected based on his contributions in getting constant penetration in the backfield on the Spirit's QB Corey James, helping to contribute with five tackles and a sack in the win.  Lange also played a big part in nullifying a Paraclete field goal attempt in the early stages of the game, setting the tone for a break of serve that eventually had the Warriors on top in a big way.  Lance's contributions in the game are no surprise when looking at the background of the Lange's lineage in the Warrior program, and his stake should serve notice to the Tehachapi opponents this year and next.

As for Finley, the results speak for themselves....with Sean now fourth on the all-time single game rushing list with 269 yards on the ground.  But along with performance, perseverance to set a leadership role by example was inspiring for both his teammates and those who watched in the stands. 

Great job this week to you both!  For complete results on all the Warriors, you can visit their maxpreps site by clicking here.

WEEK 3:  TEHACHAPI (1-1) @ FOOTHILL (0-2)

The Trojans may be coming into their week three contest with the Warriors with a losing record, but when you play North-Bakersfield and West-Bakersfield in your first two games, victories never come easy.

Foothill has struggled so far on the young season with a 41-14 loss to North and a 33-24 loss to West, but they have received solid play on offense from returning runningback Eric Valez (#20), who has recorded 304 yards and 3 TDs on the ground so far this year, with his best game coming last week with a 168 yard, 2 TD performance against a stout West defense.  In the receiving game, Matt Alvarez (#5) leads the Trojans with four catches and 102 yards.

The Trojans will miss some players from seasons-past this year, with the most notable loss being blue-chip Foothill Quarterback Dan Ingle, who has made his way off the prep-football scene to graduation and is currently playing for the Bakersfield Junior College Renegades. Much to the dismay of Foothill, they didn’t receive the output they were hoping for in the three-year starter. 

I-Spy:  Warrior Mike Faulkner eyes the Foothill backfield...looking to make a play in the 2003 contest.  Tehachapi took a commanding 35-0 lead to coast in the win, 49-13.

By most standards, Ingle did produce two solid years as a junior and senior, connecting on 75 passes for 1,190 yards and four TD’s his junior season and 68 passes for 1,048 yards and eight touchdowns his senior year, but it still equated to a 2-18 overall record for a program that was desperately looking to get back into the winning picture.

Also gone is Manuel Martinez for the Trojans, who was set to be a star player for Foothill this year as a senior.  Against the Warriors a season ago, the then-junior enjoyed a solid day against the Tehachapi secondary, with seven catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Back for Foothill is second year Head Coach Scott Douglas, who has found his tenure trying after taking over for legendary head coach Ned Permenter, who compiled an astounding 220 win record from 1965-2001 before giving way to assistant Douglas. 

Foothill will have some talent to work with in 2004, with the centerpiece being Valez on offense, who almost single handedly helped Foothill with their only two wins a season ago, rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns in a 16-7 win over Highland-Bakersfield and 176 yards and a score in a 14-0 win over Ridgeview-Bakersfield.

Defensively, Foothill boasts one of the best defensive fronts in the entire valley in All-Southeast Yosemite League lineman Issac Quiroz (#64) returning, along with Rayland Rice (#54), and Dario Arrendondo (#53).  Also look for linebackers Hurman Williams (#42), Ivan Quiroz (#51), and Ruben Servin (#44) to help contribute in attempting to stop the Warriors Wing-T attack.

Even though Foothill is the closest high school to Tehachapi distance-wise as far as Bakersfield schools go, the two teams have alarming only hooked up four times in 75 years, with all four contests occurring recently from 2000-2003.  Tehachapi leads the overall series 4-0, averaging 36 points a game on offense in the victories. 

Last season, the Warriors defeated Foothill 49-13 on the Mountain.

No need to worry Hutch, the record's safe.  In jest, Hutch did say during the game, "When the game was out of hand when I was playing, Coach (Denman) would take me out, he better take out Finley too."

In the closing minutes, Denman did just that.

As for the other teams, the ratio of won/loss by SSL/Division III opponents was 11:6.

Here's a look at how the rest of the SSL/CIF Division III teams did: