Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Drops First Game of Year, Conference Race (cont)

hort of the necessary yardage and the ball changed hands on downs.

The Devils utilized eight plays to regain the lead, with Sheppard scoring his third touchdown of the night. McGalliard faked a dive up the middle to Hughes. This froze the linebackers. Sheppard was given the ball on a sweep and covered the last 17 yards in the blink of an eye.

Pace knew the 'Jackets could score quickly, and there was 5:31 left in the final period. He called a sweep to Sheppard on the two-point conversion, but the Stamps defense read the play all the way and kept him out of the endzone.

Still, Gurdon held a tenuous 26-21 lead.

Stamps' big play offense then took the field and overcame all obstacles, penalties and fumbles, as the 'Jackets drove toward the Gurdon promised land. It took 11 plays and just over four minutes for Stamps to put its fourth touchdown on the board. Martin winged a pass to Jason Nelson deep over the middle from 30-yards out for the score. The PAT provided the margin of victory.

Gurdon got wise to the kickoff strategy and moved Sheppard up. This led to Stamps switching kickers to Guilbeau. Sheppard returned to his former position deep and fielded the kick at the eight, returning it to the 30.

Unfortunately, the Devils air attack proved to be unsuccessful in the final 1:25 as McGalliard had his second pick of the night occur when Randy Dedner intercepted a pass meant for Wesley Buford.

One kneel ended the game.

"We did a good job of scheming the Stamps offense," Pace said of his defense. "But they're hard to stop in the open field. They converted fourth down situations and made plays happen with their offense. They have the confidence they can break one on any play."

Pace said the missed extra point on Gurdon's third touchdown came back to haunt the Devils. "If we kick all four, we win."

The loss, however, does not dampen the playoff spirit the team has. Pace said his crew has a good shot at post season play as long as they don't get their heads down. "Our defense played well, but we weren't able to prevent the big play. Stamps got in a bind several times and overcame it," he continued.

"They did a good job. If we'd had five or six more minutes in the second quarter we might have scored again. Our kids played well and we'll get better."

Offensively, the Devils racked up 243 yards, all on the ground. McGalliard attempted seven passes, completing none and having two picked off. Gurdon was penalized twice for 15 yards.

The Devil's ground attack was spearheaded by Sheppard, who carried 20 tiems for 161 yards. Hughes followed with six carries for 34 yards. Charles ran for 42 yards on four carries, with McGalliard netting six yards on two carries.

Stamps was flagged 11 times for 55 yards, but managed a total of 357 total yards, with one turnover.

The Devils will hit the road on their longest trip of the season as they travel to Junction City to lock horns with the Dragons. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.