Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Go-Devils Fall In First Round Of Play-Offs To Smackover

Six turnovers proved to be more than Gurdon could overcome Friday night as the Go- Devils were eliminated from post-season play by Smackover, 10-6.

The Devils showed they could move the ball on the Buckaroos, but the turnover problem was just too much. Otherwise, the two teams were evenly matched.

In all, Gurdon fumbled four times and had two passes picked off. The second pick came with 1:33 left in the game and the Devils driving toward the Bucks goal line.

With no time outs left, all Smackover had to do was take a knee and run out the clock. This is exactly what the Bucks did.

The fans attending the game were treated to some good, solid high school football.

Gurdon won the opening toss with Brannon Hatley fielding the squib kick at the 11 returning it to the 24.

In two carries, Hatley had Gurdon at the 41, when a flag gave the Devils five more yards after the Bucks jumped offsides.

Cody Cox moved the ball to midfield, before Hatley almost broke one, but was brought down at the Buck 30.

It appeared as though Gurdon would score on its opening drive, but Smackover's defense stiffened and shut the Devil offense down the next two plays.

Facing a fourth and 11 Colby Pace fired a pass to Joe Plyler at the 20, but a measurement showed Gurdon was just short of a first down.

This gave the Bucks the ball with 7:51 left.

Smackover ran three plays and punted, but not before a third down fumble literally bounced back into the hands of Danny Counter. He was still stopped short of a first down and the Bucks had to punt.

Hopson fielded the ball at the Gurdon 33, but fumbled with Smackover recovering the loose ball at the Devil 21.

The Bucks marched to Gurdon's 1. Smackover had two shots to break the plane of the goal line, but ran into the proverbial immoveable object Gurdon's front line.

On third and goal Jason Nelson was stopped for no gain. The Bucks went for six on fourth down, with Jonathan Modica trying a quarterback sneak.

He, too, was rejected, giving Gurdon the ball and bringing cheers from the visitors stands.

However, the Devils were unable to move the ball the needed 10 yards, but did get to the nine before being forced to punt from the shadow of their own goal.

But, before the ball could be booted, period one came to an end with neither team putting any points on the board.

Period two opened with Gurdon punting to the Devil 42 with no return.

This time, Smackover made better use of the good field position and managed to score.

Down one gained one, before a toss to Counter ended up with a loss to the 44 as Jeremy Means planted him in the backfield.

On third down, Modica connected with Lamar Howard, who went in for the score. The point after made it 7-0 Bucks with 10:11 left in the half.

From there, it was a defensive struggle as the two teams fought back and forth.

The difference proved to be when Smackover fumbled, the Bucks managed to recover, and when Gurdon fumbled, Smackover still managed to cover the loose pigskin.

After the score, it was three and out for the Devils.

The Bucks also had a three and out with Modica getting sacked on third down. A clipping penalty against Smackover was declined as Coach John Pace didn't want the home team getting any more offensive plays than necessary.

Gurdon took over at its own 27 with 6:25 left in the second.

Hatley gained nine on two runs, before Colby Pace sneaked forward for a first down at the 40.

A trap play to Hatley took the Devils to Smackover's 46. However, Gurdon would only gain six more yards before fumbling again, with the ball recovered by the Bucks at the 37.

Smackover runners began finding gaps in Gurdon's defense, as the Bucks moved to the Devil 44.

With 0:32.4 left in the period, the Bucks managed to earn a first down as Modica hit Nelson at the Gurdon 35.

From there, he grounded the ball to stop the clock, missed connections with a receiver because of a heavy rush and was sacked by Plyler as halftime arrived.

The entire first half took a scant 45 minutes, as it was a defensive struggle.

During intermission, members of the Smackover band commented on how good the Marching Go-Devil Band had been over the season, and how the Devil band rocked during its performance.

Then it was back to business as the Bucks took over at their own 30 to get the second half underway.

Smackover moved the ball effectively down field, reaching the Gurdon 14 before RaShaun Hopson intercepted a pass at the three and killed the drive.

Still, the Bucks used almost five minutes on the ill-fated drive.

Unfortunately, it was three and out again for the Devils as the Smackover defense kept Gurdon's offense pinned back.

Smackover took over at the Gurdon 48, getting flagged for holding and fumbling on first down.

The officials called the runner down, but the penalty moved the Bucks back to their 40, where Modica was sacked for a loss right off the bat.

Nelson broke containment on second down, getting to Gurdon's 21 before Hopson was able to push him out of bounds.

Smackover managed six more yards before getting stopped. Facing a fourth and four, Coach John Rich opted to go for a 30-yard field goal.

Paul Puska, a foreign exchange student from Italy, was deadly and gave the Bucks a 10-0 lead with 1:42 showing in the third.

Hatley took the kick at the 15, returning it to the 30 for Gurdon.

Hopson took a pitch to the 38, before Pace was picked off by Al Burroughs at the Smackover 45.

The Bucks marched to Gurdon's 39 before the Devil "D" moved them back, shutting off a third down middle screen at the 45.

Fourth down saw Smackover line up to punt, but a short snap went to Nelson, who made it to Gurdon's 11 before Hatley nailed him.

The Bucks made it to the four before being forced to turn the ball over on downs.

With 6:50 left, the Devils had to get it in gear. It took three plays to get to the 15 and earn a first down.

Pace then found Plyler for five yards before Hatley found a seam and made it to the 49 with 5:00 left in the game.

Once again, it looked as if the Devils were moving toward paydirt. However, the fourth fumble of the game for Gurdon killed the drive.

The Bucks began working on the clock, not getting in any hurry about anything. Smackover ran off five plays before having to punt.

The two squads lined up for the kick, with Gurdon breaking through and blocking the punt.

The loose ball was fielded by Hopson and returned to the Smackover nine with 2:11 showing.

Hatley carried to the one on first down, with Pace going in for the score with 1:47 left.

Gurdon tried a two-point conversion, but the pass attempt was no good. Still it was 10-6 and the Devils had a chance.

It seemed as if providence favored Gurdon on the ensuing kickoff as the Devils managed to recover the on side kick at midfield.

With 1:45 left and no time outs, Gurdon had no choice but to go to the air.

Pace missed connection with O.B. Moss on first down, but this was partly because he was interfered with, according to the officials.

Now the ball was moved 15 yards closer and Gurdon was at the Smackover 35.

Then the bottom fell out of Gurdon's season at Pace overthrew Hopson and was picked off at the Bucks 25.

Smackover's quarterback took a knee to run out the clock and preserve the win.

Unofficial statistics showed Gurdon was two of nine in passing for 16 yards with two interceptions.

Smackover was three of eight for 59 yards and was picked off once.

Gurdon punted three times for 101 yards, while the Bucks punted twice for 66 yards.

Both teams were penalized four times, Gurdon for 20 yards, Smackover for 40.

Gurdon's defensive players were considerate and introduced themselves to the Smackover quarterback three times in the backfield.

The Bucks weren't as polite as they never met Pace.

Smackover managed 13 first downs, while Gurdon had eight.

The Devils had 153 yards rushing, while giving up 198.

This gave Gurdon 169 total yards, with Smackover gaining 257.

Because of turnovers, Gurdon's offense managed 35 snaps, while the Bucks had 55 offensive plays.

Hatley gained 115 yards on 17 carries for a 6.8 yard average, with Hopson getting the call five times for 28 yards.

Cox ran the ball three times for five yards, while Pace gained five yards on two carries.

Gurdon gained 153 yards on 26 carries, with an average run of 5.9 yards.