Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Hornets Sting Go-Devils, 8-0, In Conference Opener

Gurdon made one mistake too many against Mineral Springs Friday night, and it cost the Go-Devils the ball game.

The Devils had held the Hornets in check throughout the first half with a solid defensive effort. However, a fumble in the third quarter was picked up by Cortez Swopes and taken in for a 35-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion made it 8-0 and this was scoring for the game.

There was also a blown call by the officials in the fourth quarter as Gurdon quarterback Colby Pace was thrown down by the facemask, yet no flag was thrown, though an official appeared to be looking right at the infraction.

This resulted in a sack and killed what appeared to be a promising drive by the Devils.

The game began with Gurdon winning the toss and Lee Marks taking the kickoff at the 24. He mishandled the ball, but the fumble was recovered by Jake Plyler at the 24.

Three plays, including a one-handed catch by Joe Plyler moved the Devils to the 39, and it appeared as though Gurdon was moving toward the Mineral Springs end zone.

However, an illegal procedure call on third down caused the drive to stall and forced Gurdon to punt.

Pace angled his kick for the sidelines, with the ball going out of bounds at the Hornet 31.

Swopes took the handoff from Mike Olden, found a seam and scrambled to Gurdon's 16 before being brought down. Four plays later, however, the Hornets turned the ball over on downs at the Devil 10.

It was three and out for Gurdon as the Devils were unable to move the ball the required 10 yards for a first down.

Pace again angled the punt for the sidelines, with the end result being good field position for Mineral Springs as it went out of bounds at the Gurdon 35.

Again, the Devil "D" was equal to the task, forcing the Hornets to fumble the ball away at the 33.

On Gurdon's third play of the drive, Pace hit Jake Plyler, who rambled to the Mineral Springs 31 before being brought down.

However, the drive stalled at the Hornet 29, where Gurdon wound up turning the ball over on downs with 22 seconds left in the opening period.

Swopes gained two as time expired in the first quarter.

The second period opened with Olden misfiring on a pass and a draw to Swopes gaining four.

The ensuing punt went to the Devil 35.

O.B. Moss carried three times to midfield, before the Pace-Plyler combine connected for a 25-yard gain to the Hornet 25.

The Devils managed to gain five more yards before a penalty halted the drive, with Mineral Springs taking over on downs.

The Hornets were called for holding and moved back 10 yards before their first snap.

A reverse to Sheldon Smith made the penalty moot as he rambled to the Gurdon 33 before Pace made a touchdown saving tackle, bringing Smith down by the back of his jersey.

This fired the Hornets up as they moved to the Devil 1 before fumbling the ball away for the second time of the night. Jeremy Means recovered the loose ball at the Gurdon 2.

Two plays netted four yards before Means, switching from defense to offense, bounced outside to the 20 and gave the Devils some breathing room.

Unfortunately, the offense was only able to gain two more yards on three plays and Gurdon punted again. This time with the ball rolling dead at the Hornet 38.

Mineral Springs ran four plays before punting back to Gurdon, with Moss fielding the kick at the 18 and returning it to the 34.

Cody Cox lost a yard on first down, before Pace took a knee to end the half.

The first 24 minutes proved to be a fans delight with plenty of hard-hitting action and a tough defensive struggle with offensive fireworks tossed in for good measure.

It was also a fast-paced game, with the first half lasting 45 minutes.The second half began with Mineral Springs starting at its 31 and moving to the Gurdon 34 before fumbling the ball away a third time, with Gurdon's Jamie Stonum falling on it at the Devil 37.

Moss gained four on first down, but an option play went awry on second down with Swopes picking up the fumble and sprinting to the end zone for the game's lone score.

Gurdon was called for offside on the point after attempt, with Mineral Springs then deciding to go for two, successfully to make it 8-0 with 8:09 left in the third.

Cevin Lasiter took the kick at the 13, returning it to the 34 before fumbling, with Gurdon recovering it.

On second down, Pace was picked off by his counterpart, Olden at the Hornet 38.

Mineral Springs' offense stayed on the field most of the third period, as Gurdon only managed seven offensive plays.

In its second possession of the quarter, the Hornets made it to the Gurdon 48 before being forced to punt.

Means was instrumental in stopping the drive as he nailed Arthur Burnett for a three-yard loss and put the Hornets in a hole.

The punt rolled dead at Gurdon's 6 with 3:27 left in the quarter.

It was three and out for the Devil offense as the Mineral Springs defense stuffed the line. Pace's punt traveled 30 yards to Gurdon's 39.

Swopes carried on three of the Hornets four plays to end the period, moving to Gurdon's 22 as time expired.

It was Gurdon's defense's turn to stiffen as the Devils pushed Mineral Springs back to the 24 and took over on downs.

Time-wise, Gurdon's offense owned the final 12 minutes, but the Devils were unable to sustain a drive and score.

Means gained two on first down, before Moss added four on a sweep. A facemask call against the Hornets added five more and gave the Devils a first down.

Pace hit Joe Plyler at the Mineral Springs 45, before a busted play saw a Pace pass fall into the hands of lineman Chris Williams.

This drew a flag and call for illegal receiver. While the 15-yard penalty hurt, the loss of down nearly ended the drive.

But the Devils sucked it up and got nasty.

Working out of the shotgun, Pace found Means at the Hornet 36 on third down. Fourth down saw Gurdon needing but a yard to keep the drive alive.

Moss added this and more as he fought to the 19.

Then the bottom fell out. Gurdon was penalized for holding and moved to the 31, Pace was sacked (with officials missing a facemask call against Mineral Springs) at the 38.

An illegal procedure penalty moved the Devils back another five before Pace hit Jason Simpson at the Hornet 35. A pass for Joe Plyler on fourth down fell incomplete, giving the Hornets the ball with 5:19 showing.

From there Mineral Springs began working on the clock, waiting until the play clock almost ran out before getting plays underway.

Using Swopes and Smith, the Hornets moved to Gurdon's 32 before turning the ball over on downs with 1:51 left in the game.

First down saw Pace sacked at the 31, then miss connections with Joe Plyler on second down.

Pace was called for intentional grounding on third down, costing Gurdon five yards and a precious down.

Lining up in punt formation, Coach John Pace went to the back of the playbook for a gadget play. The ball was snapped to Williams, who handed it to Simpson, who was tackled at the 27, far short of a first down.

With 0:49 left in the game and Gurdon with one time out, the Hornets simply ran out the clock and took the 8-0 win home.

Unofficial statistics show Pace was seven of 18 for 101 yards, while Olden was one of six for 17 yards.

Gurdon was penalized 10 times for 71 yards, with the Hornets seeing three flags for 20 yards.

The Devils punted four times for 117 yards, or a 29.25 yard average. Mineral Springs booted the ball three times for 103 yards, or a 34.3 yard average.

Pace was sacked twice in the game, with Olden untouched by Gurdon's rush.

The Devils managed eight first downs in the game, while giving up 10.Gurdon did cut down on fumbles, putting the ball on the ground twice, losing it once, while the Hornets fumbled four times and lost three.

The Devils snapped the ball 52 times on offense, while the Hornets ran 48 offensive plays.

Gurdon's ground game only managed 77 total yards, while the Hornets rushed for 210, most coming on two plays.

This gave Mineral Springs the edge in total yardage, 227-178.

The Hornets rushed 42 times for 210 yards, while Gurdon ran the ball 34 times for 77 yards.

Moss was Gurdon's leading rusher, carrying the ball 17 times for 44 yards.

Lasiter had six carries for 12 yards, while Means gained 16 yards on two runs.

Marks ran twice for 10 yards, with Simpson getting a carry for a yard.

Cox ran once and lost a yard, while Pace lost eight yards on four attempts.

In other games involving teams from the 7AA West, Foreman shut out Dierks 22-0; Horatio stomped Stamps 49-6; and Murfreesboro blanked Lewisville 22-0.

At 3-0 overall and 2-0 in league play, Mineral Springs is alone atop the division, with Murfreesboro second at 3-1, 1-0. Horatio, with a 2-1, 1-0, record is third.

Foreman, Gurdon, and Dierks, are tied for fourth at this time. Each have 2-2 overall records and are 0-1 in league play. Lewisville has a 2-2 record overall and is 0-2 in conference play.

Stamps brings up the rear at 0-4 and 0-1.

Gurdon's defense is the third toughest in the league to score on as the Devils have surrendered but 32 points. The Hornets are one of the only teams allowing fewer points at 16 for the season.

Stamps has shown no defense, or offense, as the Yellow Jackets have scored 19 points on the year, and allowed 143.

Murfreesboro has outscored its opposition 94-61, while Horatio has scored 90 points and given up 58.

Foreman has put 70 points on the board and allowed 27, with Dierks having scored 41 points and surrendered 62.

Lewisville has put 63 on the board and allowed 94 on the season.

This week sees Foreman at Stamps; Horatio at Lewisville and Murfreesboro at Mineral Springs.

Gurdon will be on the road as the Devils have a date with the Dierks Outlaws. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.