Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Curley Wolves Win, 28-13

The Curley Wolves put together a winning combination Friday night as they defeated Nashville, 28-13. The win puts them (along with Stamps) on top of the 7AA Conference with a 4-0-1 record. They are 2-0 in the conference.

It was a very unusual game.

Nashville quarterback Jared McBride threw 37 passes, completing 22 of them for 317 yards, including one touchdown. Prescott running back Courtney Bryant rushed 17 times for 168 yards, including two TD's.

Prescott only had 13 first downs to Nashville's 20.

Whenever McBride passed you knew there was a big possibility that something big could happen. The only thing that prevented it was the Big D defense of Prescott.

That, combined with a solid running game, was the difference.

Prescott's defense was everywhere when it counted. Sure, the Scrappers were impressive with their passing game, and they picked up a lot of big yardage. But the big bomb TD never came. There would be a hand in someone's face or one batting the ball away. The Big D was there.

As far as offense is concerned the pass is all the Scrappers had.

The Scrappers ended the game with a minus 43 yards rushing for the night for a net of 274 offensive yards.

Prescott rushed for 268 yards and quarterback Barrett Yates passed six times, completing three for 27 yards. This is a total of 295 offensive yards.

One of the major setbacks on Nashville's ground game was -- once more -- Prescott's defense. McBride was sacked eight times for a total loss of 76 yards, thanks in part to C.D. Flemons, whose efforts paid off more than once.

Even though McBride moved his team near the goal line several times, the Big D came through to stop the pass play with a hand or a tackle.

Many thought football doomsday was here when Nashville took the ball 78 yards on its first possession for a TD. Of course Prescott contributed to the drive with two major penalties.

Contributing to the Prescott success was the offense. They proved they can score against a strong team, and that they can move the ball on the ground or through the air (as in previous games). Their backfield was superb with an added extra effort. Crucial blocking was evidenced on more than one play.

The main objective was to score and to prevent the opponent from scoring. The offense and defense combined to do just that.

Another factor was the return team. They gave the Wolves good field position on kickoffs and punts.

While four Prescott TD's are reflected for the record, a fifth was called back when an official claimed that Bryant was down before crossing the goal line.

But he did some kind of running, choosing a path that may lead to the outside then back to the inside. His longest rush was 51 yards (and a touchdown). Both of his TD's camd in the fourth period.

Also scoring touchdowns for the Wolves were Al Johnston (in the first quarter) and Yates in the second period (from 29 yards out). Flemons contributed a field goal in the second period.

McBride mixed his plays well against the Wolves on their first scoring drive, with a few on the ground and then a pass. If a pass was unsuccessful, he went into the shotgun formation, but not necessarily to pass. Several times he handed off to one of his backs and several times he was sacked.

Their first TD camewith 7:54 left in the first quarter. Cleotus Hughes went in from three yards out, and Mark Stavely kicked the extra point.

Carlos VanHook took Stavely's kickoff after the TD at the Prescott 23 and returned it to the Nashville 48.

From there Heath Duke picked up two yards then Bryant got the first down at the Nashville 33.

Al Johnston got the next call and evaded all tacklers as he went in for the TD. The snap on the PAT was too high and the score remained 7-6 in favor of Nashville.

The Scrappers once more went for the score with their passing game.Thanks to John Cornelius and Johnston TD passes were knocked out of play with Prescott taking over on their own 19-yard line.

Montra Montgomery moved the ball two yards and into the second period. Bryant then moved the ball into Nashville territory with a 43-yard gainer down the left side.

Montgomery gained three more and Bryant picked up a first down at the Nashville 24 on two tries.

On the next play Yates was sacked for a five-yard loss. Then, looking for one of his receivers and finding no one open, he did the next best thing: run. Going down the sidelines he went in for a touchdown. This time the Wolves attempted a two-point try, but fumbled the ball to leave the score at 12-7 in their favor.

Now fired up the Prescott defense prevented the Scrappers from making a first down on their next possession. The Nashville punt went out of bounds only 34 yards away from another Prescott score.

After three tries the Wolves managed a first down at the Nashville 22.

A pass to Rashad Johnson (Yates' first for the night) was complete for a three-yard pickup. Johnson fumbled the ball, but recovered it.

Nashville's defense then got tough and finally the Wolves attempted a field goal from the Nashville 16. Flemons' toe made it 15-13 in favor of Prescott with 5:36 left in the half.

On the kickoff Flemons booted the ball nearly to the goal line, but it was returned to the 36.

Ten plays later the Scrappers had another score with McBride connecting with Brian Dougan at the two and Dougan jumping in for the TD. Nashville attempted a two-point try, but the pass was broken up by Cornelius in the end zone. It was 15-13 in favor of Prescott.

Nashville made 13 first downs the first half and scored twice with McBride passing for 163 yards. But that was all the scoring the Scrappers could manage.

Prescott made a strong effort to score on its first possession following halftime, but finally punted from its own 40. The punt was taken by Nashville around the 25, and once more the Big D came through forcing a punt from the Nashville 44.

Johnson took the punt at his 25-yard line and was finally stopped at the Nashville 44, exactly where the ball had been when Nashville possessed it.

Prescott did a superb job in moving the ball on the ground and eating up the clock. Only one pass play was used to get the ball to the Nashville three-yard line. A time out was called and it was decided a pass was needed. It failed and Nashville took over on their three with the quarter ending.

On third and 10 Rashad Johnson intercepted a pass at the 15. He was taken down at the five. Bryant lost three yards on the next play, but got the TD on the next. Yates kicked the extra point to make the score 22-13 with nine minutes left in the game.

Nashville was serious on the next series of plays. However, they only picked up two first downs before turning