Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Devils make it four straight with 24-13 win over Wolves

The Go-Devil football team shot out of the gate early running hard.

Gurdon's ability to run the football proved to be enough to defeat the Curley Wolves (0-1, 0-0) of Prescott 24-13 at Cummins Stadium, home of the Curley Wolves.

The Go-Devils (1-0, 0-0) had a promising first drive with powerful runs by tailback Cevin Laster and fullback K.P. Meeks. Despite the early success, the Gurdon offense sputtered in Prescott territory and the Curley Wolves took over.

The Curley Wolves's first drive was stopped cold by the Gurdon defense and Prescott was forced to punt.

The Gurdon offense continued to pound the football against Prescott. Gurdon converted on a key fourth down run by Marcel Johnson. With just under three minutes left in the first quarter, Meeks sprung into the endzone for the first touchdown of the Go-Devil season with a 15-yard carry. Head Coach John Pace called on Meeks for the two-point conversion which was successful.

The Curley Wolves struck right back. After a flubbed kickoff, Prescott started its next drive at midfield. R.J. Vanhook took the handoff, and sprinted 50 yards for the Prescott touchdown.

The two point conversion was no good. Gurdon led the Curley Wolves 8-6 with 2:30 remaining in the first quarter.

Prescott forced a Gurdon punt, but Jarrod Norwood fumbled the return. Uthel Gatlin recovered the ball for Gurdon inside Prescott territory.

The Go-Devils drove the ball inside the Prescott five yard line, but failed to convert a fourth down conversion.

Prescott started its next drive from their own one yard line.

Vanhook again took the handoff and scampered 49 yards to the midfield stripe. A fumble by Chris Hopper was recovered by Dorsey Kelley of Gurdon near the Gurdon 40.

The Go-Devils struck again right before halftime with a one yard touchdown pass from Jake Plyler to his tight end John Watson. The touchdown was set up by a 17-yard reverse play by Gatlin. Laster added the extra two point conversion and the Go-Devils went to the locker room with a 16-8 lead over Prescott.

Prescott cut the lead in the third quarter with its opening drive. The Wolves opened the second half with a 12-play, 4:37 drive. With 7:13 left in the third quarter, quarterback Zach Martin snuck in over the center for a one yard touchdown run.

Prescott kicked the extra point to slash the Gurdon lead to 16-13.

Late in the third quarter, Prescott found itself backed up inside its own five-yard line after a 50-yard punt by Plyler.

Prescott gave another gift to the Go-Devils with a fumble which Gurdon recovered at the Prescott one.

The Go-Devils called on Meeks near the goal line, who delivered with another touchdown.

Gurdon converted another two point conversion with a Marcel Johnson run and Gurdon expanded its lead to 24-13.

The Gurdon defense would bend but not break as it had done for the first three quarters of the game against a desperate Prescott offense.

Prescott would come close to scoring twice in the final quarter of the game, connecting on a halfback option pass from A.J. Lewis to Joe Steaurt for a long gain deep into Gurdon territory. The Gurdon defense forced the Wolves to turn the ball over on downs with 3:23 remaining in the contest, sealing the win for the Devils.

The Devils rushed for an even 200 yards during the contest, with 191 yards of those in the first half. Laster led Gurdon with 63 yards on 13 carries. Meeks also finished with 58 yards on 16 carries.

Prescott did not help themselves in the contest. Prescott turnovers and special teams gave the Devils good field position to start drives. Prescott also was penalized 10 times for 80 yards.

Coach Pace was proud of his football team. "That is a great start to the season. We've got the momentum and we've got to keep it We've got a conference game next week and we're not satisfied."

Gurdon travels to Lewisville this Friday.