Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Drops First Game of Year, Conference Race

Stamps is for real.

The Yellowjackets, still undefeated, handed the Gurdon Go-Devils their first loss Friday night, but had to work for it. The final score, 27-26, was in doubt until the buzzer sounded ending the game.

Devil Coach John Pace, who lived up to his agreement during the pep rally Friday afternoon and had his head shaved and ate a live worm, said his team played hard but gave up too many points and big plays. "It was mostly due to their speed," he said. "Their quarterback could throw and they made key catches near the goal."

The way the game started, it appeared as though the 'Jackets would run away with the contest. Gurdon's defense was confused throughout the first quarter and spotted Stamps a 13-0 lead.

The Devils won the opening toss but were unable to move the ball against Stamps' defense front. Roderick Johnson fielded the punt at the 'Jacket 35 and returned it to the Gurdon 25 before being hauled down.

From there, the 'Jackets stung the Devil `D' quickly, needing only three plays to score. Jaquet Guilbeau carried to the 17 and Johnson ran the next two plays, taking it in from the 14. The point after gave Stamps a 7-0 lead.

In a strategic maneuver to keep the ball out of the hands of D.D. Sheppard, Stamps' kicker, Juan Cardona, only took a three-step drop and soccer-styled it short. Stamps obviously didn't mind giving up good field position, but didn't want Sheppard to get the chance to break one all the way.

Cardona's kick floated to Nick Hughes at the 25 and was returned to the 32 where the Devil offense took over. Gurdon began moving the ball, primarily on traps, counters and sweeps, but wound up losing possession on downs when Brian McGalliard's pass to Sheppard fell harmlessly to the turf on fourth down.

Guilbeau, Johnson and Antonio Burks carried the load for Stamps as the 'Jackets marched steadily toward the Gurdon goal line for a second time. The big play in the 12 play drive was a 20-yard romp by Johnson, taking the ball from the Stamps 35 to Gurdon's 45. The 'Jackets finished off the 13 play drive with Johnson going in from the five after Cedric Finley dropped a sure touchdown pass when he was alone in the endzone on third down. The drive consumed almost nine minutes.

Nick Hughes powered through the line and blocked the PAT with his chest, but Stamps still led 13-0 with :50 left in the opening period.

Steve Anderson fielded the short kick at his own 30 and got it back to the 35 where the Devils offense began showing signs of life.

Sheppard carried most of the 'Jacket defense to the Gurdon 44 on first down. Mario Charles took the ball on a counter to Stamps' 33 and almost lost his head as the tackler bent him over backwards by the helmet. However, no flag was thrown on the play as the first period came to an end.

A delay to Sheppard moved the pigskin to the 28 as Gurdon mounted its first scoring assault of the night. Hughes and Sheppard were the workhorses on the 11 play scoring drive. The Devils were aided by an offside penalty on fourth down at the Stamps 4, which moved the ball to the two and gave them a first down. Sheppard moved it to the one before McGalliard kept for the score. Joshua Thomas split the uprights, cutting the score to 13-7.

The ensuing kick wound up in the endzone for a touchback, giving Stamps an 80-yard march to score. They didn't.

The 'Jackets moved the ball to their 45 before Johnson coughed the ball up and a Devil fell on it.

Gurdon's offense covered the ground in big chunks on the way to the promised land. Sheppard gained 13 on first down. Hughes added seven more, with Sheppard needing only two more plays to finish off the 25 yards to the endzone. Again, the PAT was true and Gurdon held a 14-13 lead.

It was at this time the Stamps offense fell apart and saw yellow hankies floating to the ground to the right and left. Guilbeau brought the kick from his 25 to the Stamps 45. The 'Jackets gained three yards on two plays before Antonio Martin was sacked.

The 'Jackets were flagged for delay of game, which moved the ball to their 41. On the punt, Anderson was waiting at his 29, looking up, watching the ball. A member of Stamps' punt team plowed into him before the ball arrived, which drew another flag.

Instead of getting the ball marked 15 yards from the spot of the foul, the officials penalized Stamps 15 yards from the line of scrimmage and made them punt again. The snap sailed over Johnson's head and Gurdon took over at the Stamps 30.

Sheppard ran through the heart of the 'Jacket offense for the score, shedding tacklers much like a duck sheds water. Thomas' PAT was blocked, but Gurdon held a 20-13 lead.

The kickoff sailed into the endzone again, giving Stamps the ball at the 20. The yellow rain soon began to fall in torrents. To begin with, the 'Jackets called a time out, their fourth. This brought a flag for delay and sent them back to the 15. The next hankie fell because the 'Jackets took more than 25 seconds to get the play off. Five more yards to the 10. Stamps did get one play off, moving the ball to the 15, but were flagged for their third delay penalty on second and 15.

With the ball at the 10 with less than a minute left in the half, the Stamps signal caller went to one knee. This brought another flag -- for illegal motion. The line had not been set for a full second. The ball was placed on the five. Before a play could be ran, the rain continued, again for motion as the offensive line jumped. The zebras moved the ball halfway between the goal and the five.

A quarterback sneak got the ball to the eight, but Martin went to one knee on the next play to end the half.

Johnson accepted the kick to open the second half at his two, moving it to the 16. The 'Jackets moved the ball methodically downfield, disdaining punts on fourth down, regardless of the yardage needed. Seventeen plays later, Johnson went in from the one. The 'Jackets didn't even consider going for the tie on a point after attempt, and went for the two-point conversion, making it when Burks crossed the goal line. This put Stamps ahead 21-20.

Anderson mishandled the kickoff, but Gurdon recovered at its 21. The Devil offense kept the ball for the remainder of the third, utilizing a determined ball-control offense. The drive relied on sweeps, reverses and counters, with a couple of penalties thrown in against both squads.

Gurdon's drive ended when McGalliard's pass was picked off by Lepatrick Seamster.

But Stamps did no better offensively, as the 'Jackets ran three plays before being forced to attempt another punt. The snap again sailed over Johnson's head, but thetailback recovered the errant ball and sprinted to Gurdon's 40 before being taken out of bounds. Fortunately for the Devils, the run fell s