Indians maul the Wildcats

TEHACHAPI NEWS - Big plays on defense and an explosive running offense were key for the freshmen attack in a 30-12 victory over Taft last Thursday afternoon.

Thanks in part to untimely penalties, the Indians took their first drive to the endzone a total of three times, eventually coming away with a Phil Rhodes three yard touchdown run. Trevon Harris had a 28 yard run called back, while Harris a two yard scamper, but both phantom scores did little to faze the Indians in a drive that culminated a total of 95 yards rushing.

After a Harris two-point PAT, Tehachapi was up in the first quarter, 8-0.

Taft (5-3; 1-1 SSL) answered with two straight touchdowns in the second quarter to go up 12-8, but from there it was all Tehachapi.

With less than a minute remaining before halftime, the Indians turned the game momentum in their favor for good when Colt Murrow intercepted a Wildcat pass at the Tehachapi 36-yard line. Murrow, a defensive tackle for Tehachapi, rumbled all the way into Taft territory before he was chased down by the opposition.

Before Murrow went down however, the alert lineman lateraled the football to a trailing Travis Farewell, who took the pigskin to the endzone for a touchdown. Trevon Harris again connected on the two-point PAT to give Tehachapi a four point lead at half, 16-12.

The Indians struck again in the third quarter when Brandon Brown recovered a fumble deep in Wildcat territory and ran in an eight-yard touchdown run. Harris connected on his third-straight two-point attempt to put Tehachapi up 24-12.

The final nail in the coffin came on the Indians’ next drive that was set up by a Brandon Brown fumble recovery on a kickoff return. Tehachapi quarterback Levi Garrett found a wide-open Travis Farewell in the flat for a 22-yard touchdown reception to mark the eventual final count of 30-12.

For the game, Trevon Harris paced the Indians with 140 yards on 20 carries, while Michael Lowder had seven carries for 46 yards. On defense, Phil Rhodes and Gabe Goodwin had six tackles, Tanner Etherton and Cameron King had five tackles each, while Ricky Johnson had a couple of touchdown-saving tackles in the fourth quarter.

As a team, Tehachapi (2-0 SSL) rushed for 222 yards.