Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Go-Devils Sting Stamps, 39-0

Homecoming for Gurdon couldn't have been more perfect.

The festivities kicked off with a parade in the afternoon through the city's streets, and were followed by a crisp evening seeming to be specifically designed for football.

The Devils had what turned out to be an easy opponent as they blasted the Stamps Yellow Jackets 39-0 to keep their playoff hopes alive.

It was the kind of game the Devils needed after two difficult outings. In fact, Gurdon had a tougher time with its pre-season game against Ashdown than it did with Stamps.

Gurdon won the toss to get things started, then deferred until the second half. This gave Stamps the ball first.

The opening kick squibbed out of bounds, drawing a flag and putting the ball on the Jacket 35.

Three plays later the Jackets were at their 31, with the aid of a motion penalty, and had to punt.

However, the snap was fumbled, but recovered by the kicker at the Jacket 13.

Gurdon needed but two plays before O.B. Moss scored from the eight-yard line with 9:00 left in the first quarter. The point after sailed high and true, but fell short, giving the Devils a 6-0 lead.

The following kick was recovered by Jordy Fuller at the Stamps 46 after a short boot.

Stamps fumbled on first down, with Gurdon falling on the loose ball at the Jacket 45.

Gurdon marched to the Jacket seven before getting hit with a holding penalty on second down, then turning the ball over on downs and missing a golden opportunity for a second touchdown.

Stamps took over on its own 12, made it to the 20 then punted to Moss at the Gurdon 45. Moss returned the ball to the Jacket 31, again putting the Devils in scoring position.

It didn't take Gurdon long to capitalize on the return, as Jeremy Means gained nine on first down then Cevin Lasiter added 21 on two carries, putting the ball on the Stamps one. From there Means bulled through the line for the score with 1:21 still showing.

Gurdon attempted a two-point conversion, but was unable to convert. Still, the Devils led 12-0 and showed no signs of being merciful.

Josh Rogers took the kickoff at the 32, returning it to the 46 for the Jackets.

Once again, three plays resulted in negative yardage as there was a fumble on third down recovered by Stamps at its 42 to end the first 12 minutes of play.

The Jackets, with nothing to lose, lined up in punt formation and suckered Gurdon with a fake as Josh Adams broke free and rambled to the Gurdon 44 for a first down.

But, this highlight was short-lived as Neil Blakely's first pass of the night hit Moss between the numbers at the 40 and was returned for Gurdon's third touchdown of the night with 11:18 in the half.

Flags flew before the PAT could be attempted and Stamps was penalized for having too many men on the field. The Jackets had 13 lining up to try and block the kick.

This moved the Devils closer, until an illegal motion call against Gurdon pushed them back to the six. The Devils then were successful with a two-point conversion as Colby Pace connected with Joe Plyler to make it 20-0.

KeArthur Brantley returned the kickoff from the 18 to the 39 for Stamps.

On this drive, the Jackets managed to earn their inaugural first down of the night, before the bottom once again fell out for them.

The beginning of the end began with a holding call after Roy Robinson lost six yards. The flag was declined setting up a second and 16 situation.

The Jackets fumbled, but recovered at the Stamps 34 as the Devils put on a heavy rush.

This led to another punt to Moss, with him fielding the ball at the Gurdon 42 and returning it to the Stamps 36.

The Devils lost five yards before snapping the ball due to an illegal procedure penalty, but this proved to be nothing more than a minor nuisance.

Lasiter gained eight on first down, with a reverse to Jake Plyler putting the Devils at the seven. From there, Lasiter punched it in to make it 26-0. The PAT split the uprights and Gurdon led 27-0 with 7:03 left in the half.

Brantley fielded the kick at the 15, returning it to the 39 to give his team decent field position again.Rogers gained three on first down, but could only watch helplessly as Joe Plyler and Kyle King introduced themselves to Blakley at the Stamps 34.

Once again, the Jackets were forced to punt. This time Moss fielded the kick at the 38, found a hole and raced for what appeared to be Gurdon's fifth touchdown of the half.

However, a yellow hankie was laying on the turf and the score was wiped out as Gurdon was called for clipping. This brought the ball back to the Devil's 48.

Lasiter carried twice to the Stamps 42 before Pace fumbled, with the Jackets recovering it at their 43 to kill the drive.

Once again, though, Stamps was unable to move the ball against the Gurdon defense and had to punt.

This time, Lasiter fielded the kick at the 25 and made it to midfield before being brought down.

A motion penalty moved the Devils back five yards, but Pace connected with Jake Plyler at the Stamps 36 to nullify the lost yardage.

Moss fought to the 32, with Lasiter making it to the 15 in what looked to be yet another scoring drive for Gurdon. However, on the next play, Pace was hit, fumbled with Wayne House recovered the loose ball at the 26 for the Devils.

Pace, though, remained on the turf in pain, saying he couldn't move his right shoulder.

Jake Plyler was put under center with 29 ticks left in the half, while Pace was attended to on the sidelines.

Lasiter gained six to the 20 and Plyler hit Moss at the 15 as time ran out in the half.

The Devils received the ball in the second half, with Joe Plyler signaling for a fair catch at the 35.

Brother Jake remained at quarterback, handed the ball to Lasiter, who broke free and scored.

But, the touchdown was wiped out as the Devils were flagged for illegal motion. Instead of leading 33-0, Gurdon wound up losing five yards.

Means got four of it back with a blast up the middle, before Moss added seven on second down. Lasiter kept the drive alive with a five-yard carry on third down.

Once again the Devils seemed to be marching at will toward another touchdown, only to have the drive end when Jake Plyler was picked off by Adams, who fumbled the interception out of bounds.

The Jackets tried a sweep with Brantley around the right side. Brantley met Lee Marks as Marks tattooed the ball carrier, trying to drive him through the turf.

This worked so well, Cedric Dedner was given a chance to try a sweep on second down. The results were much the same as Marks buried Dedner for a five-yard loss.

Pace returned to the game to play defense and was merciful to Stamps runners as he intercepted a pass at the Gurdon 43.

He remained in the contest to play quarterback and hit his replacement, Jake Plyler, with a screen for five yards.

The Devils went to the other side with a Pace to Plyler screen, this time gaining to the Stamps 49.

Two more runs had Gurdon at the 43, before Moss gained 16 on a sweep.

This was followed by a reverse to Jake Plyler, who made it to the eight. Lasiter put the Devils on the doorstep again with a run to the one.

Gurdon blew another touchdown when the handoff from Pace to Means wound up on the ground and under a Stamps player at the two.

The Devils helped Stamps get out of the shadow of the goal line with a facemask penalty. But, the Jackets refused to take the hospitality of their hosts and were poised to punt three plays later as the third period came to an end.

The fourth opened with the punt and ball rolling dead at the Stamps 37.

Gurdon managed to move to the Jacket 23 before the drive ended on two incomplete passes.

Robinson made it to the 25 on first down, but Brantley lost seven on the second play.

Blakley winged a pass toward Adams, but watched as a Gurdon defender stepped in front of his intended receiver. Adams wrapped his arm around the defender, drawing a flag.

No yardage was marked off, but Stamps lost the down, setting up another fourth and long, and subsequent punt.The kick went to the Stamps 28 for a net of 10 yards.

Gurdon immediately lost five with a procedure penalty. Lasiter erased the loss with a 10 yard gain putting the Devils at the 23.

From there Moss carried twice for a touchdown, making it 33-0 with 6:19 left. The PAT was wide.

Rogers fumbled the kickoff, with Stamps recovering the ball at their 24.

With the game well in hand, Gurdon Coach John Pace began substituting players, trying to make sure everyone suited up got into the game.

The subs responded by nailing Brantley at the 14 for an 11-yard loss.

Stamps gained two on two plays and lined up to punt once again. The boot made it to the 30, but a flag hit the ground in the backfield as Gurdon was called for roughing the kicker.

This moved the ball to the 30 and gave Stamps a first down.

The celebration didn't last long as Blakley's pass was picked off by John Watson at the 33 and returned to the 28.

The Devils shot themselves in the foot by fumbling on first down, but managed to recover the ball at the 30. Second down saw Gurdon penalized for illegal motion and moved back five more.

This didn't set well with the Devils, as Watson fought to the 12 on a counter. Marks finished the drive by scoring on the next play.

A bad snap prevented a point after, but the Devils had an insurmountable 39-0 lead with 3:19 left.

Starting from the Stamps 34, the Jackets made it to the Gurdon 42 before coughing the ball up again.

K.P. Meeks, returning to action after being out with a shoulder injury, carried three times to the Stamps 37 as time expired.

As well as the Devils played, the team still made too many mistakes and had three touchdowns called back because of penalty. Two other potential touchdowns went by the wayside because of turnovers.

Statistically Gurdon dominated the game. The Devils were five of 11 in passing for 45 yards, while Stamps was three of 12 for 25 yards. Gurdon had one pass intercepted, while the Devil defense picked off three Stamps passes.

Stamps punted five times for 115 yards, or an average of 23 yards per punt. However, the Jackets gave up 71 yards in returns for a net of 44 yards punting.

On the other hand, Stamps was flagged but twice for six yards, while Gurdon was hit with 10 penalties for 85 yards.

The Devils recorded one sack, while Stamps never got close to the Gurdon signalcaller.

Gurdon's offense lit it up with 19 first downs, while the defense surrendered but six, mostly on penalties.

Stamps fumbled seven times, losing two. Gurdon fumbled four times and lost the ball twice.

In all, the Devils snapped the ball 49 times, while Stamps managed 42 offensive plays.

The Devils had an impressive 312 yards rushing and had an offensive total of 357 yards for the game.

Gurdon's defense allowed but four yards rushing for Stamps, as the Jackets had a total of 29 for the game.

Lasiter led Gurdon's rushing attack with 136 yards on 17 carries.

Moss gained 41 yards on seven rushes, while Means ran five times for 25 yards.

Jake Plyler carried twice for 45 yards, with Marks also running the ball twice for 17 yards.

Meeks had three carries for 31 yards, with O.C. Webster carrying once for four yards, and Watson getting one run for 23 yards.

Stamps ran the ball 30 times for a net of four yards, as the Devils had 38 runs for 312 yards.

In other 7AA-West action Foreman whipped Lewisville 18-0; Mineral Springs shut out Horatio 20-0; and Murfreesboro spanked Dierks 38-14.

League standings show Mineral Springs alone atop the division at 5-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Foreman is second with a 4-2 overall record, but a 3-0 league mark.

Gurdon and Murfreesboro are tied for third with 2-1 conference records. Both are also 4-2 on the season.