Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Devils feast on Spring Hill with 48-0 win

Spring Hill's Bears rolled into Gurdon Go-Devil Stadium a little behind schedule Friday night.

The Bears left Gurdon wishing they had not shown up at all.

Gurdon (3-0, 2-0) smacked the Bears around in the first half with an overwhelming display of outscoring Spring Hill 42-0. Gurdon would play primarily second and third stringers in the second half, scoring only one touchdown. The Go-Devils did maintain the shutout, however, winning by a final of 48-0.

The Bears, whose bus did not arrive at the facility until 7:15 p.m., were penalized on the opening kickoff. A high, short kick was fair caught at around the Gurdon 40.

Ignoring the fair catch, a Spring Hill player knocked the return man down, and received a 15 yard penalty in the process.

The first play from scrimmage for Gurdon was a 46 yard touchdown run by Cevin Laster. With just 15 seconds taken off the clock, the Devils led by eight after Laster added two more points with a successful two point conversion run.

Spring Hill did not find success against the Gurdon defense. After two failed run attempts, the Bears attempted a pass on third down. The pass fell incomplete and the Bears were forced to punt the football away to the Devils.

The Devils responded with an eight play drive that ate up almost four minutes of clock. However, Spring Hill forced a punt and took control near their 30 with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.

The Gurdon defense held firm on the Bears's second possession of the night, forcing another punt after another Spring Hill three and out.

Gurdon took control after the punt at its own 38 yard line. After Laster, K.P Meeks, and Dorsey Kelley shared handoffs, quarterback Jake Plyler hit Davion Williams on a wide receiver screen. Williams took the pass 43-yards for a Go-Devil touchdown. Gurdon failed the two point conversion attempt.

Gurdon held the lead at the end of the first quarter, 14-0.

Gurdon put the dagger in the heart of Spring Hill in the second quarter by scoring four touchdowns.

Spring Hill quarterback, Stanley Kimbell dropped back to pass on the first play of the second quarter, only to be picked off by Williams, who took the interception 61 yards for a Devil touchdown.

The two point conversion pass was incomplete, and Gurdon led 20-0.

At the 10:46 mark in the second quarter, Spring Hill fumbled the football. Kelley recovered for the Devils near midfield.

The Devils marched 54 yards over nine plays. The drive was punctuated by a five-yard touchdown run by Kelley. Plyler found an open receiver and completed the pass for a successful two point conversion.

Gurdon led by a score of 28-0 with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

The stingy Devil defense forced Spring Hill to punt on its next possession after just three plays.

A punt return by Davion Williams was called back due to holding, and Gurdon started from midfield.

Gurdon called upon its strong running attack for runs of 13 and 33 from Kelley and Laster. With 3:28 left in the half, Marcel Johnson trotted into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown run. Kicker Barry Nolan added the extra point to give Gurdon a 35-0 advantage over the Bears.

Bad turned to worse for the Spring Hill. The Bears fumbled inside their own territory with just over a minute remaining in the first half. Gurdon recovered ball for their fourth forced turnover of the quarter. Like the previous three turnovers, Gurdon turned this one into points.

Gurdon seemed to be trying to run out the clock late in the first half, and was given a gift.

Fullback K.P Meeks found a seam up the middle. After breaking multiple tackles, he was finally dragged down after a 34-yard gain at the Bear six yard line.

Gurdon quarterback, Plyler, snuck the ball in past the goal line as time expired. Nolan converted the extra point attempt and Gurdon led at the intermission 42-0.

The Devils were able to add one more touchdown before time expired.

Davion Williams received a punt midway through the fourth quarter and returned it 72 yards for a Gurdon touchdown. The two point conversion attempt was no good and the Devils defeated the Bears of Spring Hill 48-0.

In the second half, the Devils started with some second and third team personnel. Head Coach John Pace got a good look at sophomore running back Jamelle Lacy.

Lacy did not accumulate many yards but ran hard and impressed with his athleticism.

Both junior quarterback, Barry Nolan, and sophomore quarterback, Steven Plyler, took snaps in the second half.

The game clock ran constantly throughout the second half. The clock ran after incomplete passes, after the ball was run out of bounds and even after a change of possession. This is because of the new 35-point rule, which calls for the clock to run uninterrupted when one team leads by 35 or more points.

The Devils looked like a championship caliber football team in every aspect of the game Friday night.

Gurdon accumulated 237 yards rushing in the first half on just 23 carries for an average of more than 10 yards per carry.

The Devil defense held the Bears to just 59 yards total offense in the first half. Twenty-six of those yards came via a third down pass play.

"We're proud of everything we did. We're still getting better and we know that," said Pace.

Defensively, the Devils cannot get much better than they have the last two weeks. The Go-Devils have posted two shutouts the last two weeks. Prescott, a school who is a classification higher and the only team to score against Gurdon this season, only managed to squeak out 13 points from the Devil defense.

Pace still thinks improvement is necessary. "We've got another conference game next. Don't be satisfied."