You had Frasier Mountain transfer Dan Hoff at quarterback...three-year varsity starting tailback Francis Ojukwu (#32), the fastest wideout in the county in Garrett Anthony (#20), and three returning All-Area lineman in Ben Ossai (#75), Anthony Phillips (#73), and Ryan Hernandez (#61).

This was Bakersfield's dream team, folks...and they played like it the first twelve games of the year, cruising through the pre-season, the southwest yosemite league, and two playoff games to mount a 12-0 record heading into the highly-anticipated CIF Division I Central Section title game against Clovis West.

It was destiny vs. tradition.

As in most cases in high school football, tradition reigned supreme...

big time, 40-10.

Despite the big disappointment in not winning the CIF championship, Tehachapi still gave the Mustangs their due after taking their worse loss of the year 30-6.  As far as the Warriors were concerned, this team was good enough to go all the way.

For Stockdale, gone are most of the back-pieces on their impressive chess board, with the previously mentioned Ossai, Philips, and Hernandez lost to graduation and the departure of Hoff, Ojukwu, and Anthony in the utility slots.

Other players that will be missed include FB/LB Sergio Hernandez (#34), kicker Scott Lynch (#1), offensive lineman Chris Montgomery (#70) and Allen O'Brien (#77), defensive lineman Aaron Nadal (#44), RB/LB Jarrod Massey (#33), and secondary specialist Mitch Farley (#17) and Josh Lopez (#7).

But don't think it's a down year, Warriors.  Two years ago, the Mustang freshman reeled off a 10-0 season, blasting through their schedule, and countering with a 5-5 (4-1 SWYL) road this year to make for formidable competition on the horizon. 

Tehachapi may have beaten the JV's last season 20-7, but trust me...the game was closer than the score indicated and Dave Boyt only needs to fill holes to make another successful push in emulating last season's glory.

It's STEP UP Time - Players like Gabe Bressler (#34) will hopefully bring with them a winning attitude from last year's JV ranks in hopes of knocking off the 2005 Mustangs, which look to be Tehachapi's toughest opponent this pre-season.

Tehachapi will need to respond to Stockdale's depth with some of their own, with Gabe Bressler (#34) leading the charge in the backfield along with Robert Wright (#21), Zack Shalais (#5), Paul Abarquez (#32), Ronnie Overturf (#30), and possibly Paul Castro (#20).

Back for the 'Stangs this season is Kenny Shanahan (#15), Omar Garza (#81), and Justin Hedrick (#6), who helped Stockdale to over 3,000 yards rushing and receiving in 2004.  Also coming up is a talented junior class that had impressive wins last year over the likes of South 33-0, Ridgeview 27-6, West 28-6,  Foothill 21-6, and North 32-12.  The Mustang JV losses included let-downs against Atascadero 20-14, Tehachapi 20-7, Bakersfield 26-15, Clovis 20-12, and Centennial 30-12.

Despite the .500 record in JV, many of Stockdale's sophomores were learning in the varsity ranks, with the list including wideout Tim Armstrong (#12), Shanahan, and two-way linemen Bryan McConnell (#54) and Soonjo Hong (#77).

Overall, despite the overwhelming losses that Stockdale faced this off-season, expect the Stockdale game to be Tehachapi's biggest test heading into their SSL season.

Tough Enough? - Players like Ryan Moran (#76) and Dan Haycock (#40) may be gone, but Tehachapi's depth in defense this year should help favor a reduced score from last season's 30 points scored by Stockdale.

Tehachapi owns an overall 5-2 record over Stockdale.  For a brief history of each of the games that the Warriors and Mustangs have played each other, click here.  You can also view 2004 Weekly Warrior analysis and 2004 game stats of the last meeting between these two teams.