Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

GHS Nips Lions At Horatio

In spite of four turnovers and questionable officiating, Gurdon managed to pull off a come-from-behind 24-27 win against Horatio in the final game of the regular season.

The win gave the Go-Devils a 7-3 overall record, and a 5-2 7AA-West conference mark, on the year.

Gurdon finished third in the division and will be on the road during the playoffs, unless a fourth-seed team manages to pull off some upsets.

The Devils's first game of post season play will be against the Smackover Buckaroos Friday night.

Actually, it didn't matter if Gurdon won or not, as the outcome of the game had no bearing on the final conference standings. However, the Devils didn't want to end the regular season with a loss and go into the playoffs on a down note.

On the other hand, Horatio wanted to end its season with a win and start getting ready for the 2000 grid campaign.

Early on, it looked as if Gurdon would run away with the game and blow the Lions off the field. This, though, was far from the case.

The Lions fought gamely, coming back from a 12-0 deficit to go up 24-12 and force Gurdon to fight for its life in the final 12 minutes.

Gurdon won the first and fourth quarters while Horatio took the second and third periods.

The Lions won the coin toss and got the game underway at the Horatio 33.

The first play of the game saw Chad Wolcott nearly break one as he got to midfield. But, from there the Devil "D" kicked in and shut the Lions down.

Three snaps later Horatio punted to Gurdon with the Devils taking over at their own 38 with 10:33 showing.

The Devils wasted no time in marching down field for the first score of the contest.

Brannon Hatley carried twice to the Lion 47 before Colby Pace hit RaShaun Hopson on a screen. Hopson juked a defender out of his socks and was off to the races for six.

With 8:57 left in the opening period, Gurdon was up 6-0 as the point after went wide right.

Horatio got its second drive underway from the same place as its first began, the Lion 33. But, before the ball was snapped, the Lions were penalized for illegal procedure and moved back to the 28.

It was three and out for the Lions on drive number two, with Gurdon setting up shop at its own 34.

The Devils went to work on the ground, pounding away at the Horatio defense with punishing runs by Hatley and Cody Cox, mixing Hopson in for sheer speed.

Starting the drive with 6:56 in the first, Gurdon ran 10 plays and used 5:19 to go up 12- 0.

Hatley, who was trying to break D.D. Shepard's rushing record, carried five times on the drive.

Coach John Pace also tossed Walter Hart into the recipe on a counter for a 16-yard gain.

Hopson capped the drive taking a pitch from Pace on an option in for the touchdown.

Gurdon tried for a two-point conversion, but was unsuccessful.

The ensuing kickoff was short, being fielded at the Lion 36 and returned to the 46.

Wolcott broached Gurdon territory on first down, getting to the Devil 44. Two plays later Horatio was at Gurdon's 39 as the period ended.

The second quarter opened with Horatio facing a third and four at the Gurdon 39. Wolcott got to the 35 but was just short of a first down.

Luke Billingsley, the Lion quarterback, sneaked for five on fourth and one, bouncing off the line for the gain.

The Lions were aided by a five-yard facemask penalty against Gurdon, putting the ball on the Devil 22 on the next play.

The Lions managed to get to the Gurdon six before the Devil "D" stiffened and pushed the home team back to the 16 as Cox nailed Wolcott for a 10-yard loss on third down.

One thing Horatio does have on its team is a place kicker. The Lions, on fourth down, lined up for a 26 yard attempt, with the ball splitting the uprights with 6:50 left in the half.

This cut Gurdon's lead to 12-3, but there was no cause for alarm at the time.

Cause for alarm would come on the next drive.

Hopson fielded the kickoff at the 10, returning it to the 26.

Hatley almost broke free for six, but was brought down at the Lion 47. Two more carries by Hatley had Gurdon at the Lion 32.

Two more plays saw the Devils moved backwards to the Horatio 37, but Pace found Joe Plyler over the middle at the 21 to keep the drive alive.

It looked as if Gurdon was going to score again, but Hatley fumbled with the Lions recovering at the Horatio 20 with 3:38 left in the half.

The Lions used all but 0:52 seconds driving the 80 yards, with the drive culminated on a 28-yard pass from Billingsley to Stephen Barns.

The drive's success was primarily based on Wolcott's running and Billingsley's arm.

Two Devils, Jeremy Means and Eddie Fort met Billingsley on the trip down field, dropping him at the Lion 31.

But, he got up and kept firing, finding Wolcott on a middle screen to the Gurdon 28 the next play. After two incompletions, he hit Barns for the score.

The PAT was good and Gurdon's lead was now a slim 12-10 with 0:52 in the half.

However, the Devils had no intention of killing the clock and going in up by two. This proved to be a costly mistake.

The kickoff went out of bounds, setting Gurdon up at the 35. Hatley gained three on first down with the Devils's last time out being called at the 0:44 mark.

Pace hit Hopson at the 48 on second down, the found him at the Lion 44 on the third play. Now, there were 28 seconds left.

Following an incomplete pass from Pace to Hopson, Hatley broke to the Lion 29.

Pace grounded the ball to stop the clock with eight ticks remaining before the halftime buzzer. He then failed to connect with O.B. Moss.

From there Coach Pace looked into his bag of tricks and came up with the halfback option pass. Colby Pace handed to Hatley who rolled right.

Horatio's defense, tired of being burned by big runs by Hatley, pursued him heavily. This led to an errant pass attempt getting picked off by Jeffrey Hankins at the Lion 20.

Hankins returned the interception for a touchdown to put the Lions up 16-12. The PAT was good with Horatio up 17-12 at the break.

The Lions declined a penalty against Gurdon on the point after try.

In a nutshell, Horatio had the ball most of the third period, though the Devils took the opening kick.

Hopson fielded the boot to start the third quarter at the 18, returning it to the 31.

On the first play Hatley broke free and rambled down the visitor sidelines for 69-yards and what appeared to be the go-ahead touchdown.

However, a phantom flag appeared, with the play being called back as Gurdon was nailed for holding.

This put the ball at the 26 and wiped out the score.

Undaunted, the Devils began moving down field on Hatley's legs and Pace's arm.

Following a Pace-Hopson pass play to the Gurdon 44, Pace was picked off after the pass bounced off Hopson and into the hands of Edward Crumbley at the Horatio 29.

A holding penalty against Gurdon was declined giving the Lions the ball with 9:05 to go in the third.

Three runs netted seven yards and a punt by Horatio, with Gurdon taking over at its own 31.

Hatley gained 14 on two carries before Cox lost the handle with the Lions recovering at the Gurdon 45.

Horatio's final scoring drive of the night began with 5:56 left.

Three runs got the Lions to Gurdon's 37. On fourth down, Billingsley connected with Tony Cleghorn at the Devil 29 to keep the drive alive.

The Lions got to the 20 before being hit with a motion penalty, moving the team to the 25. Billingsley, under a heavy rush, was flushed from the pocket, broke containment and go to the 14 before being brought down.

Two plays later Wolcott scored. The PAT made it 24-12 Horatio, and the situation was looking bad for the visiting Devils.

Again, though, the kick went out of bounds, giving Gurdon the ball at the 35.

Hopson took over the ground attack duties, gaining eight on first down. Moss added five to put Gurdon at the 48, before Hopson moved into Horatio territory at the 43.

But, as the period ended, Pace was sacked for an eight-yard loss.

Now there were 12 minutes left in the regular season. Gurdon was down 24-12 and had to score at least twice while keeping the Lions out of the end zone. Actually, the Devils had to keep Horatio out of field goal range as the Lion kicker had hit a 45-yarder in practice.

However, the Devils first had to give the ball up. Fort's punt rolled in to the end zone. Horatio started at the 20 with 11:45 on the clock.

One more time, the Devil "D" stepped up and shut the Lion offense down. ON third and seven, Plyler leveled Billingsley at the 15.

Hatley took the punt at the Lion 40 on a bounce, giving Gurdon great field position at the 33 with 9:38 to go.

He carried three times to the five, before Horatio was hit with an offside call, putting the ball on the three.

From there, Cox went in to cut the lead to 24-18. The PAT was good and the gap was closed to five at 24-19.

The clock showed 7:50, which was plenty of time for Gurdon to stop the Lions, get the ball back and score one more time.

And this is almost exactly what happened. The officials got into the act soon thereafter.

Anthony McNeil took the kick at the 10, returning it to the 21 where he was planted.

Wolcott gained two on first down and Billingsley missed on two straight passes, putting the Lions in a punting situation.

The boot made it 26 yards to the Horatio 49 with 6:49 showing, but a flag had floated gently to the turf and Gurdon was called for clipping.

This moved the ball to the Lion 38, with the officials allowing the home team to keep the pigskin.

All this did was to infuriate the Devil "D" and cause Lion ball carriers great pain as three plays later Horatio had to punt again anyway.

In the interim, Tony Cleghorn and Wolcott were punished for carrying the ball by Gurdon's defense on two rushing plays. On third down, Wolcott fumbled, but managed to recover the lost ball.

Hatley took the punt at the 30, where Gurdon began its last scoring drive with 4:33 left in the game.

Hopson gained six on first down, with Moss adding one on second. Hatley was stuffed for no gain on third, putting Gurdon in a fourth and three situation.

Pace winged a screen to Hopson, who fought to the Lion 44 and keep Gurdon's hopes of winning alive.

There was 2:35 left at this point.

A toss to Hatley added four to the 40, with Gurdon calling for time out. But, six seconds ran off the clock before it was finally stopped at the 2:11 mark.

At this point the Lions fell apart. Once play resumed, Pace hit Hopson on another screen for 10 to the 30. But a flag for a personal foul added 15 to the play, putting Gurdon at the 15.

Before the ball could be snapped, the Lions were again penalized, this time for jumping offside.

Now Gurdon had the ball at the 10 with 2:04 to go. Hopson took the handoff, found a seam and scored with 1:57 left.

The Devils finally had the lead back at 25-24. Coach Pace called for a two-point conversion, with his son finding Hopson on the wing for the extra points.

Gurdon now held a tenuous 27-24 lead, but there was still time for the Lions to get into field goal range and possibly send the game into overtime.

Being a conference game, it could not end in a tie. Had the Lions been successful and knotted the game at 27-27, the two squads would have gone into sudden death overtime.

In sudden death, each offense runs four plays starting at the opponent's 10. When one scores and the other doesn't the game ends.

Fortunately this didn't occur.

Instead, Horatio started at its 29.

Billingsley hit Wolcott on a middle screen to the 40, before the Lions moved back five for illegal procedure.

He then hit Barns at the 45, before missing connection with a wide open Adam McNeil with 1:12 left.

The Lions were again moved back five for illegal motion with Billingsley missing Anthony McNeil on third down, as the ball was tipped away by Means.

Fourth down saw Billingsley miss Hankins on a desperation pass and give the Devils the ball with 1:01 to go.

Hatley gained eight on first down, forcing Horatio to spend its second time out with 0:50 showing.

Cox added five to give Gurdon a first down and watch as the Lions called their final time out.

Pace kneeled twice to end the contest.

Unofficial statistics show Gurdon was seven of 13 in the air for 118 yards. The Devils had one passing touchdown and were picked off twice.

Horatio connected on eight of 18 passes for 117 yards, one TD and no picks.

Gurdon punted once for 51 yards, while Horatio booted the ball four times for 99, allowing 10 yards in return.

Of the 14 penalties called in the game, only five went against the Devils. Gurdon was moved back 40 yards with the flags.

The home team, however, was flagged nine times for 50 yards.

Both teams fumbled twice in the game. The difference was Horatio didn't lose theirs, while Gurdon lost both of its fumbles.

The Devil "D" sacked Billingsley twice in the contest, while Pace was nailed once behind the line of scrimmage.

Gurdon had a total of 21 first downs, while Horatio managed 14.

The two squads ran 55 offensive plays each in the game. The difference was Gurdon had 254 yards on the ground, added with the 118 passing, the Devils totaled 382 offensive yards.

Horatio had 116 yards rushing and a total of 233 for the night.

In his quest for 1,500 yards, Hatley carried 25 times for 162 yards.

Hopson ran the ball six times for 49 yards, with Cox getting 23 yards on five carries. Hart gained 26 yards on the ground, with Moss adding six. Pace, with the sack and taking two knees, lost 12 yards.

The Devils ended the game with 42 rushes for 254 yards and a 6.1 yard per carry average.

Horatio ran the ball 37 times for 116 yards, or an average of 3.1 yards.

Again unofficially, Hatley an the ball 206 times this season for 1,403 yards. This averages out to 6.8 yards per carry.

Hopson was the second leading rusher for the Devils, gaining 513 yards on 62 carries for an 8.3 average.

Mineral Springs will be at home throughout the playoffs as the Hornets ended the season with an unblemished conference record.

Foreman finished second in the league and can host two playoff games.

By finishing third, Gurdon will be on the road during the playoffs unless a fourth place team manages some upsets along the way.

Should the Devils whip Smackover in the first round and Mineral Springs dispatch its opponent, Gurdon will get a chance to rectify an earlier loss to the Hornets in round two.

Murfreesboro ended its season with a loss at home to Foreman and will travel to Junction City Friday night for its playoff game.

The Gurdon-Smackover contest will begin at 7:30 p.m.