Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolves lose 7-6 heartbreaker to Gurdon

A blocked extra point proved to be the difference in winning and losing for Prescott's Curley Wolves.

Unfortunately, it was a Wolf point after and Prescott fell 7-6 in a hard-fought defensive battle with the Gurdon Go-Devils Friday, Sept. 14.

Prescott won the opening toss, but elected to defer until the second half, thereby giving Gurdon the ball.

Cevin Laster fielded the kick at the Gurdon four, returning it to the 24 where the Devils set up shop.

Laster carried twice to the Gurdon 41, before Prescott was hit with its first penalty of the game, an offside call moving the ball to the 46. Laster's third carry was to the Devil 48.

Gurdon fumbled, but managed to recover at its 41-yard line.

The Wolves were then hit with back-to-back penalties, first another offside call, then a facemask, putting the ball at the Prescott 49.

Laster broke containment to score with 8:53 showing and make it 6-0 Gurdon. The point after was good, with the Devils now leading 7-0.

Jeremy Purifoy fielded the kickoff at the Prescott 25, taking it the 33 where the Wolves started their first offensive series.

R.J. Vanhook was caught in the backfield for a loss to the 28 on first down, but gained three on second down. Zach Martin was sacked at the 22 on the third play, forcing Prescott to punt.

Casey Ward's boot went to Jake Plyler at the Wolf 45, with no return.

Gurdon managed to move to the Wolf 34 before coughing the ball up. The fumble was recovered by Jarrod Norwood, who took it to midfield.

Vanhook needed one play to put the Wolves on the board and cut the lead to 7-6 with 3:55 showing.

The point after was blocked.

The kick went to Davion Williams at the nine, where he fumbled, but recovered the ball, managing, then, to make it to the 24.

The Devils moved to their 38 before getting hit with an offside penalty and starting their move backwards, with the help of the Prescott defense.

The Wolves pushed Gurdon back to the 12, forcing a punt.

James Moseley's punt rolled dead at the Wolf 47 with 20 seconds left in the first.

Craig Teague gained a yard as the period ended.

After no gain on second down, Teague pushed the ball to the Gurdon 40 on a draw to keep Prescott's drive alive.

Vanhook broke loose to the 21 before being brought down, and it looked like the offense was about to score.

This wasn't the case as Martel Woodley was stopped twice for no gain and Martin was sacked at the Gurdon 32.

Prescott opted to go for it on fourth down, but Martin missed connection with his intended receiver, thereby giving the ball to Gurdon on downs.

The Devils gained nine yards on three plays and were lined up to try for it on fourth and one before getting flagged for illegal procedure and punting back to Prescott.

A bad snap wound up seeing Moseley fumble the ball out of bounds, with the Wolves getting good field position at the Gurdon 33 with 6:04 on the clock.

Damarcus Craven moved the ball to the 26 on first down, only to see Teague caught at the 28 on the next play. Martin missed connection with Eli Ratcliff on third down, and couldn't hit Haris Williams on the fourth down pass attempt, again turning the ball over on downs.

Plyler found Tirrell Hatley on a first down pass, moving the ball to the Gurdon 40.

Laster gained two, before the Devils were nailed with a personal foul, pushing the ball back to the 32.

Two plays later the Devils were lined up in punt formation, with the boot making it to the Wolf 38 with 1:25 to go in the half.

It was three and out for the Wolves as the offense couldn't get on track. Ward's punt rolled dead at the Gurdon 11 with 23 ticks left on the clock.