Tehachapi News

Rising to the top

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Taft had all the momentum coming into a pivotal South Sequoia League match-up with the Warriors, including the nod as the favorite to win the game by various media outlets.

But when you factor in the mystique of playing football on the mountain, you can never count out Tehachapi.

The Wildcats came into the contest with one of the top rushers and defenses in Kern County. But in the end, Tehachapi served up a thrilling 16-7 win at home and another long bus ride home for Taft.

The fourth quarter told the story, with the Warriors down 7-6 and needing a miracle on fourth-and-nine on the Taft 18 yard line.

Electing to go to the air, Tehachapi (7-1; 3-0 SSL) had Zach Maravigli wide open down the left hash mark. With the home crowd holding their collective breaths, Chris Rush laid down a perfectly timed rollout pass for a touchdown and the Warriors first lead of the game.

“I wanted it, I wanted it so bad,” said Maravigli. “After I caught it, when you hear the crowd just go crazy, there’s nothing like it. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

The touchdown was the exclamation point on a brilliant night for Rush, who had a season best 4-7 for 118 yards and two scores.

“This game felt like a CIF championship. To play them in front of our home crowd and have our team pull through was just amazing,” said Rush.

Two big tide-turning plays for Tehachapi came between Rush and Farewell, who teamed up on two completions for 87 yards, including a two point pass completion after the second score.

“Travis and I have a connection on the field and we are able to read each other,” Rush said. “On the first big play I saw that the safety bit and I needed to go outside and he saw that too. He just made a huge catch in both halves and that really helped us. The line just really did great as well, I had great protection all night long.”

Other standouts on offense included Jesse Olofson carrying 26 times for 96 yards, Michael Lowder with 39 yards on nine attempts, and Kash Knudson hauling in a 13 yard catch.

On defense, Drew Howell had seven total tackles, Austin Herman had four tackles and a fumble recovery, and Cory Lange had three tackles and a key interception on a Wildcat drive after Tehachapi’s second touchdown. Adam Bullard also registered a safety in the final seconds of the contest to ice the win.

The pressure-packed game behind them, the Warriors are all alone in first place in the SSL with another key game against Wasco coming this week.

“We are excited to come out on top of a game like this, but we don’t want to share the title this year,” added Rush. “We’re going to go into the Wasco game with the same mindset as this one. We need to be ready.”

Junior Varsity

In one of the most entertaining performances of the season, the Braves took advantage of the return of Robert Natividad in a big way, with the talented utility back hauling in a 76-yard catch and run from Bobby Howell to preserve a 32-27 win over Taft.

Tehachapi’s Wyatt Vance opened up the scoring in the game with two touchdown runs, finishing the night with 145 yards on 14 carries. Jorge Garcia also had a big night in the rushing game for the Braves, rumbling for 130 yards on 19 attempts and a pair of scores.

Natividad’s touchdown came with just 34 seconds left in the game, with Howell finding his target in single coverage down the middle, and Natividad rumbling the rest of the way near the goal line for the go ahead score.

Before Natividad could cross the line, Taft was able to pry the ball from his hands to cause a fumble, but David Lara was able to pounce on the ball for a touchdown before it trickled out of the back of the endzone.

Standouts on defense included Colt Wilson with five tackles, Wyatt Vance with four tackles, Cody Hall with two tackles and a sack, Andrew Jimenez with four tackles and Brian Castaneda with three tackles and an interception.

With the victory, Tehachapi (5-2; 3-0 SSL) sets up an SSL first place showdown with Wasco this week.

Freshmen

The Indians suffered a minor set back last Thursday to undefeated league leader Taft, falling in a 14-0 loss at home.

Tehachapi (3-6; 2-1 SSL) was led on defense by Michael Contreras and Blake Waters, who both had eight tackles and a fumble recovery apiece.

Other standouts included Justin Wilson with five tackles, Ricky Torres totaling four tackles, and Andrew Pillar four tackles and a sack.

Blake Panic also recorded an interception while Barry Jones led the running game with 20 yards rushing.