Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Devils stung in 40-6 loss

The Hornets of Mineral Springs strolled into Go-Devil Stadium with a 30 conference game winning streak. By halftime it was evident it would be extended to 31.

The Hornets downed the Go-Devils (6-1, 4-1) for the fourth straight time 40-6 Friday night, and gave Gurdon its first loss of the season.

The Gurdon defense and more precise, the secondary was playing without Davion Williams  who did not play at all due to a bad hamstring, Dorsey Kelley  who also failed to dress out, and Jake Plyler  who only played quarterback due to an ankle injury.

The Hornets torched the Devils for over 100 yards passing and three touchdowns.

The first half was a roller coaster ride for Gurdon. The Hornets won the toss and elected to receive.

Mineral Springs drove the ball against the Gurdon defense with power runs on its first drive.

The Hornets earned a first and goal from the Devil 10-yard. Gurdon responded by stopping Mineral Springs on four consecutive runs and forcing the turnover on downs.

Using the running game of Cevin Laster and K.P. Meeks, Gurdon moved the ball from its five to near the midfield stripe.

On a third and six from the Gurdon 43, however, an incomplete pass forced a Devil punt.

The Hornets took over on its 34. Mineral Springs called on sophomore running back, Torey Martin, to head the drive.

The Hornets called his number five times, and Martin racked up 20 yards.

Mineral Springs started a new series of downs on the Gurdon 25. Once again the Gurdon defense stepped up to force another fourth down conversion attempt that was unsuccessful.

There was no score at the end of the first quarter.

Gurdon would start its second drive from the Devil 26.

Mineral Springs forced a Gurdon three and out. The Gurdon punt was caught at the Mineral Springs 30 by Brian Trimble. Trimble found a seam toward the right sideline and returned the punt 70 yards for a Hornet touchdown.

The extra point was blocked, and Mineral Springs led Gurdon 6-0 with just over 10 minutes left in the half.

Gurdon defeated themselves on their next series with a holding call on first down. The Devils could not recover from first and 20 and were forced to punt the football.

Mineral Springs put on an offensive clinic the rest of the first half. The Hornets mixed the pass and the run on its next drive which started from the Mineral Springs 43.

After a series of runs from senior fullback Russell Young, the Hornets went to the air.

With 4:31 left in the opening half, Hornet quarterback Max Kirby connected with tight end Fred Green on the right sideline.

After a missed tackle, Green ran past the goal line for a 26-yard touchdown reception. The two-point conversion attempt was no good. Gurdon trailed Mineral Springs 12-0.

Gurdon went deep into its playbook on the next possession. After runs from Laster, Meeks, and Gatlin, the Go-Devils ran a reverse pass that resulted in a 33-yard touchdown from Heath Griffin to Barry Nolan. Gurdon failed the two-point conversion attempt, but the Devils cut the lead to 12-6 with two and a half minutes remaining in the first half.

The Hornets quickly burst the Gurdon bubble.

Senior defensive back Uthel Gatlin elected to go for an interception instead of the hit. The result was a 43-yard touchdown pass from Kirby to Green.

The point after attempt sailed through the upright and the Hornets led 19-6 with just over a minute to play.

Gurdon attempted to put one last score on the board before half. With 14 seconds remaining in the first half, Plyler threw a deep lob,which was intercepted by Mineral Springs and returned for another Hornet touchdown.

Gurdon had a chance to go into halftime trailing only 12-6, but instead found itself in a 26-6 hole. It was a hole the Devils could not crawl out of.

Mineral Springs added two more touchdowns in the second half.

Kirby found Green for a third time on an 18-yard touchdown pass, and late in the game Clay Bowman found the end zone on a five-yard run.

Gurdon averaged more than five yards a carry when running the football. Mineral Springs did as well. Gurdon rushed for more than 150 yards. Mineral Springs rushed for more than 200 yards.

The difference in the game came in the passing game and the special teams.

Kirby tossed three touchdown passes in 10 attempts. Gurdon connected on three of eight passing for 45 yards.

Mineral Springs returned a Gurdon punt for a touchdown for the first score of the night. Mineral Springs only punted once during the football game. That punt was muffed by Gurdon and recovered by the Hornets.

Gurdon head coach, John Pace expects his team to put this one behind them. "It was a mental thing all this week. The mental is overWe didn't play very well tonight, but we're going to play [well] next week."

Gurdon needs to play well next week. Gurdon would have to win out and hope for two losses from Mineral Springs to slip into the number one spot. That is an unlikely scenario.

A win against Dierks would help solidify the Go-Devils in the second place spot. Dierks travels to Gurdon this Friday. Kickoff is at 7:30 in Gurdon Go-Devil Stadium.