Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Key Injuries Lead to Gurdon Loss at Nashville

Injuries played a major role in Gurdon's 19-12 loss to the Nashville Scrappers Friday night.

The night began with Nick Hughes's ribs taped because of bruising, and his right knee in a brace. Along with Hughes, Joshua Thomas played with stretched ligaments in his right knee, while Wes Buford participated in the contest despite a twisted ankle.

Along with that, three players were out with bronchitis.

If this weren't bad enough, D.D. Sheppard went down in the fourth period, severely hampering the Devil offense. Along with Sheppard, Buford was injured. Both apparently suffered cramps late in the contest.

The two teams battled to a 0-0 tie at the end of the first period, though both offenses showed signs of life. The problem each squad suffered was in the aerial attack, as neither quarterback was able to consistently complete passes, forcing their teams to trade punts.

Gurdon opened the second period with the ball on its 44 with a second and 10. The Scrappers cut the needed yardage with an offside call, moving the pigskin to the 49.

However, the Devils couldn't stand prosperity and were flagged for clipping two plays later. The 15-yard penalty ended the drive and forced a punt.

But Nashville did no better, as it was three and out for the Scrappers.

The Devils moved to the Nashville 19 before losing six on an option on third down. Fourth down saw Brian McGalliard's pass to Sheppard fall incomplete and Gurdon get hit with a motion penalty, which was declined.

A couple more punts were traded before the Scrappers offense marched in for its first score of the night.

Nashville began at the Gurdon 42, but wanted to make it more difficult by losing five on a motion penalty. The drive consumed a little more than a minute and a half with Jared McBride completing a 27-yard pass to Greg Washington for the score.

The try for two was unsuccessful as McBride fumbled the snap and his pass was errant. Still, the Scrappers held a 6-0 lead going into the locker room at halftime.

The Devils accepted the kick to open the second half, with Sheppard fielding the ball at the 15 and returning it to the 31. But Gurdon was unable to keep a drive alive and was forced, once again, to punt.

Nashville, on the other hand, returned the favor after three plays, giving Gurdon the ball on the Scrapper 47.

McGalliard kept the ball on first down, moving it to the 45. The Devils ran their patented sweep to Sheppard on the next play, which covered the remaining distance for the score.

With the game tied at 6-6, Gurdon lined up for the PAT. Thomas split the uprights, but the Scrappers had been hit with an offside call before the ball was snapped. The officials marked off the 36-inch penalty, and Thomas lined up for his second try. This time, though, the attempt was blocked.

The two teams went into the final 12 minutes knotted at 6-6, as neither offense could sustain a drive.

The Scrappers had the ball, driving toward Gurdon's goal line, to open the fourth quarter. Nashville moved to the Gurdon 15 on a McBride to Washington completion before fumbling the ball away.

Gurdon's Mario Charles picked up the ball, carrying it to the Nashville 45 before being tackled.

A pitch to Sheppard was fumbled, with Sheppard falling on the ball at the 49.

Then Gurdon mentor John Pace went to his bag of tricks. McGalliard took the snap, handed to Sheppard on what appeared to be a sweep. Steve Anderson, though, came to meet Sheppard on what turned out to be a double- reverse, took the ball and sprinted through the defense for the score.

This gave the Devils a 12-6 lead with 8:34 left. The try for two went awry, but still Gurdon led.

The lead, however, was shortlived. Thomas booted the first kick out of bounds and was flagged for delay of game. Kicking from the 35, he sailed the ball to Washington at the Nashville three.

Washington sprinted to the right sideline, cut upfield, found his blocking and went 97 yards to tie the game.

Again, Nashville went for two, but failed. With 8:20 left, the game was tied at 12-12.

Gurdon ran three plays before punting.

Nashville, however, saw Robert Smith pick off McBride's pass attempt. Smith took the pigskin to Nashville's 38, putting his team in the position to win.

The problem Gurdon had, though, was Sheppard had left the game on the kick return, apparently suffering from cramps.

The Devils moved to Nashville's 22 before sputtering, and losing Buford to cramps as well. Thomas lined up for a 38-yard field goal attempt with just over two minutes remaining. However, his kick was low, giving the Scrappers possession at their 20 with 2:01 left.

After being unable to hit the side of a mountain with a pass for most of the game, McBride came alive, connecting on four passes in seven tries, moving his team to Gurdon's two. Cleotus Hughes took the pitch on a sweep the final six feet, giving the Scrappers a touchdown and the lead with 20 seconds left. The point after was good, and Nashville led 19-12.

Gurdon's offense took the field at its own 29 with 14 ticks left. Lining up in the shotgun, McGalliard took the snap and let it fly. However, the ball fell harmlessly to the ground as time expired.

During the game, Pace was given a warning after complaining about calls the officials made or missed.

Unofficial statistics show the two teams as close as the final score. Nashville ran 51 plays to Gurdon's 45.

Total yardage saw the Scrappers with a 223 to 217 edge over the Devils. Gurdon fumbled twice, recovering both, while Nashville put the ball on the ground four times, coughing it up twice.

Gurdon was 0-2 in field goal attempts.

The Devils punted the ball five times for 163 yards, and a minus three yard return average.

Nashville punted six times for 181 yards, allowing 21 total yards in returns.

Both teams were hit with four flags during the game, but the difference was in the yardage. Gurdon was nailed with 42 penalty yards, while Nashville gave up 16.5 yards due to laundry.

The big difference in the two squads was the air attack. Nashville's McBride launched 31 passes, completing 14 for 189 yards and one interception. McGalliard was three of 11 for 40 yards and an interception.

Gurdon's potent ground attack dominated the Scrapper defense, until Sheppard went down. The Devils punished Nashville for 177 yards on 34 rushing attempts for a 5.2 yard per carry average.

Nashville rushed the ball 20 times for a total of 34 yards, or a 1.7 yard per carry average.

Gurdon's ground game was again led by Sheppard, who carried 17 times for 78 yards, including one touchdown. Mario Charles had 11 carries for 32 yards, while McGalliard carried four times for 16 yards. Ander