The Taft High Wildcats hit the road for the first time this season to face the Tehachapi Warriors on Friday, Aug. 31. The final score was 15-34 in favor of the Warriors. Although this loss was disheartening for the team, they played hard all the way through.

Some notable players that kept the Wildcats alive offensively and kept fighting until the end are Coletin Hamblin, Nick Vargas, and Brett Walls. Hamblin got multiple first downs throughout the game and even ended up getting himself an 80-yard touchdown run. This would put the Wildcats on the board for the first time all game with the score being 7-27. Hamblin ended the night with a total of 165 rushing yards in only 14 carries. He’s definitely a player to keep your eyes on due to this only being his junior year. The other player who managed to make it into the end zone for the Wildcats was Nick Vargas. He managed to score late in the fourth quarter, and also successfully got the two-point conversion with a quick pass to Brett Walls. This put the Wildcats in a fighting distance with the score being 15-27. Vargas ended the night with 67 total passing yards in only two attempts.

On the defensive side of the field, the Wildcats’ defense performed at a high level all game long. The defense had multiple players end the night with five or more solo tackles against the Warriors’ offense. This list includes Nick Vargas, Alex Delgado, Jacob Ellis, and Coletin Hamblin. Vargas had a total of five solo tackles. Delgado and Ellis got themselves six solos and two assisted tackles. Hamblin finished with seven solo tackles and was the only player to cause a fumble for the Wildcats all game. More highlights for the night were Austin Massey, who had 11 assisted tackles, and Val Villanueva, who had six assisted tackles by the end of the night. None of these numbers come easy, so hats off to these boys for putting on a great game. They were back home on Sept. 7 to face the Coalinga Horned Toads.