Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rams Knock Off Go-Devils, 21-7

Lakeside went home with a 21-7 victory, but the Rams didn't win the game.

In fact, Lakeside's longest drive of the night consisted of 30 yards.

However, Gurdon made critical mistakes allowing the Rams to score from point blank range.

The Devils found themselves trailing 13-0 before the fans were settled good in their seats.

The opening kickoff was an omen of things to come for the Devils, as Joe Plyler mishandled the short kick. Gurdon, though, was lucky as the ball rolled out of bounds at the 25.

O.C. Webster lost a yard on first down, and the trouble began in earnest when Eddie Fort fumbled on the second play from scrimmage.

The Rams recovered the errant ball at the Gurdon 15.

Lakeside needed but three plays to reach the promised land, scoring on an option with the quarterback keeping for the score. The point after made it 7-0 with 9:48 showing in the first.

O.B. Moss fielded the kickoff at the 12, returning it to the 31, where Gurdon's offense set up shop for the second time of the night.

Webster carried twice for two yards before quarterback Colby Pace was picked off and the interception returned for a touchdown.

This time, though, the PAT was wide left, but the Rams were still up 13-0 with 8:18 left in the first.

The ensuing kick went out of bounds, drawing a flag and putting Gurdon at its 35.

It was then three and out for the Devil offense, with the second fumble of the night recorded, and fell on by Pace at the Gurdon 29.

The punt rolled dead at the Ram 34.

The Devil "D" gave up one yard on three plays, forcing Lakeside to punt on fourth down.

The boot went to Pace at the Gurdon 25, where he went down.

First down saw a pitch to Fort fumbled, but recovered by Gurdon at the 26 for a yard gain.

The Devils moved the ball downfield, running it down the throat of the Ram defense, before the drive stalled out at the Lakeside 38.

Taking over on downs, the Rams moved to their 48 before coughing up the ball themselves.

Gurdon recovered the ball at the Lakeside 46 with 11:52 in the half.

Two plays netted two yards before Pace hit Fort with a middle screen. Fort bulled his way to the 29 before being brought down.

The next play saw Fort ramble to the 16 for another first down. However, the Devils were unable to gain another 10 yards and turned the ball over on downs at the Ram 6, inches short of the first down.

A comedy of errors followed with Lakeside fumbling on its second play, with Gurdon recovering it at the Ram 8, only to turn the ball over themselves on the next play, with the Rams picking it up at the 5 and returning it the Gurdon 30.

Lakeside overcame three illegal procedure penalties, and was aided by a holding call against Gurdon as they managed to score their final touchdown of the game. The Rams were successful in a two-point conversion.

With 3:01 left in the half, Gurdon was on the short end of a 21-0 score. The kickoff rolled into the endzone for a touchback, putting the Devils at their own 20.

Again the Devils showed they could move the ball against the larger school, as Gurdon marched to the Ram 24 before turning the ball over on downs again.

Lakeside ran three plays before fumbling the ball away, with Gurdon falling on it at the Ram 40 with 0:44.8 on the clock.

Pace went to the air, hitting Fort for a gain of one, then connecting with Plyler at the Ram 24 for a first down. The drive ended with Pace getting picked off.

Halftime arrived with the Ram quarterback taking a knee.

Lakeside got the ball to start the third period and began from the Ram 37 after a 25-yard return.

From there, though, it was three and punt, with Pace fielding the kick at the Gurdon 24, returning it to the 35.

Moss fought for 10 on first down, and added three more on his second straight carry. Moss added a yard on second down, but Pace was sacked at the Gurdon 44 on third down.

Gurdon's punt was high and short, rolling dead at the Ram 45.Lakeside was unable to do anything against the Devil "D" and was hit with a personal foul call when frustration rose too high. This forced the Rams to punt, yet again, with the ball rolling dead at the Gurdon 31.

The Devils ran six plays before being forced to punt themselves, with the kick going to the Ram 22.

Lakeside almost immediately began moving backwards, as an illegal block cost them 15 yards from the point of the foul. This moved them to their own 7.

The Rams gained seven yards in three plays and punted. Moss took the kick at the Gurdon 45, found a seam and sprinted toward the Lakeside endzone for the Devils' only score of the night. The PAT made it 21-7.

The Rams lost another 15 yards on the kickoff as the receiver spiked the ball and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. This put Lakeside at its own 19.

Once again it was one, two, three, punt with the ball traveling 20 yards from the Ram 26 to the 46.

The Devils moved inside the Ram 20 yet again, but were, again, forced to turn the ball over on downs after being penalized for illegal procedure on consecutive plays.

It didn't really matter much because the Rams couldn't do anything against Gurdon's defense, and after seven plays had to punt themselves.

Pace caught the ball sliding on the Gurdon 25.

The redundancy continued as Gurdon's offense began marching downfield, with Pace connecting with Moss at midfield, where the ball was stripped and recovered by Lakeside.

The Rams, from their 48, ran three plays and fumbled themselves, with Gurdon recovering at the Lakeside 47 with 1:01 left in the game.

Four straight passes resulted in the loss of seven yards and gave the Rams the ball for the final time of the night.

Lakeside took a delay of game penalty, but kneeled twice to run out the clock.

Looking at the unofficial statistics, Gurdon outgained Lakeside 166 yards to 145.

The Rams ran the ball 36 times for 139 yards, while Gurdon rushed 31 times for 124 yards.

Pace threw the ball 24 times, completing nine for 42 yards, but was intercepted twice. Lakeside was one of six for six yards in the air.

Gurdon ran more plays than Lakeside, 55-42.

The Devils punted three times for 89 total yards and a 29.67 yard average. Lakeside had six punts for 212 yards, giving up 66 yards in returns. The Rams averaged 35.3 yards per punt.

For a change the Devils weren't heavily penalized, getting flagged four times for 25 yards. The problem was the flags came at inopportune times, stalling drives. Lakeside was hit with 11 penalties for 90 yards.

Both teams fumbled the ball six times, losing three. Gurdon's fumbles were close to the Devil goal line, giving the Rams a short field.

Gurdon had 13 first downs in the game, and allowed eight. Both quarterbacks were sacked once.

Fort was the leading ground gainer for Gurdon, carrying 15 times for 79 yards.

Webster was next with seven runs for 13 yards.

Moss carried five times for 23 yards, with Cody Cox running three times for six yards. Pace was minus one in yards on three rushes. Lee Marks carried once for four yards.

Next up for the Devils is long-time foe Prescott. It will be homecoming for the Curley Wolves, with Gurdon planning to spoil the festivities.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

In other action involving 7AA West teams, Stamps and Mineral Springs were idle.

Horatio upended Fountain Lake 21-12, while Lewisville, a surprising 2-0, dumped Fouke 20-12. Foreman manhandled Detroit, Texas, 38-8 and Dierks took it on the chin, 20-0, from Mountainburg. Murfreesboro spanked Maud, Texas, 42-6.