Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolves end season well

Forget the final 34-0 score, Prescott played its best football of the season against Ashdown Friday night.

The Wolves, relying heavily on young players made the Panthers earn everything the team got, in spite of some pitiful officiating. To be fair, though, the officiating was poor on both sides of the ball.

Prescott won the toss to get the game started, but deferred until the second half. This gave Ashdown the ball first. The Panthers took over on the Ashdown 20 when Justin Marcums kick went into the end zone.

The Panthers chewed up the turf moving down field, scoring in six plays when Robbie Buckner went in from 18 yards out. The point after made it 7-0 Ashdown with 10:06 left in the first.

Jeremy Henry bobbled the kick at the eight, returning it to the 19 where Prescott set up. Tristan Stuart fought to the 35, with another five being tacked on from a facemask call against Ashdown. The Wolves made it to midfield where the drive stalled and Prescott lined up to punt.

The punt was a fake, but went nowhere, giving Ashdown the ball at te Wolf 48 with 6:59 to go.

It was three and out for the Panthers as Prescotts defense stiffened and yielded nothing. The punt was fielded by Deon Accor at the Prescott 28. Coverage allowed a single yard.

Neither team moved the ball much throughout the remainder of the quarter as the officials were calling the game extremely tight.

The first quarter came to an end with Prescott in possession at its 29 and trailing 7-0.

Period two opened with the Wolves looking at a third and one, with Stuart hitting the middle of the line for the yardage. A measurement was called for, but instead of the chains being brought to the spot, the officials moved the ball to the far hash mark, with the chain gain measuring after the ball had been moved. The measurement showed Prescott was inches short.

A quarterback sneak by Ben Smith on fourth down gained the necessary yardage to keep the drive alive. However, three plays later, Smith was picked off by Welton Johnson at the Prescott 49. He returned the pick to the 47.

Ashdown went backwards, getting hit with an illegal motion penalty right off the bat. This was followed by Rucker losing to the Ashdown 40.

The Panthers fought back, driving to the Wolf 41 where Ashdown turned the ball over on downs with 7:44 left in the half.

The Wolves managed to run six plays before punting the ball away again. The punt rolled dead at the Panther 20 with 4:47 on the clock.

It took the Panthers six plays to cover the 80 yards, mostly off the arm of Shad Surber. The score came on a nine yard run by Landon Williams with 1:30 left in the half. Ashdown was flagged for illegal motion on the point after attempt, moving the ball back five yards. This was enough to make the kick go wide and leave the score at 13-0.

Prescott opened the second half with the ball, starting at the Wolf 28. Smith hit Chris Phillips for nine yards on the first play. This was as far forward as the offense could get as the Wolves had to punt. The ball rolled dead at the Panther 32 with 10:28 showing.

Three plays later, the Panthers were back in the promised land on a 46-yard run by Alton Cressell. Ashdown was successful on a two-point conversion attempt to make it 21-0.

The kick was returned to the Prescott 40, giving the Wolves what appeared to be good field position. However, Prescott was flagged for an illegal block, moving the ball back to the 20.

It was three and out from there with the punt being fielded by Dee Williams at the Panther 40 and returned to the Wolf 45.

Prescotts defense stepped up and forced the Panthers to punt after three plays. The punt was returned to the Wolf 25.

The Wolves showed signs of moving the ball, but wound up having to punt.

The kick was short, fielded at the Ashdown 45 with 4:49 left in the third. Ashdown needed but one play to score as Cressell broke free for the six. The PAT was wide, leaving the score 27-0.

Prescott set up shop at its 10 after the kick was fumbled. The Wolves made it to the 34 before the drive stalled because of penalties.

The punt was downed at the Panther 47 with four seconds left.

Cressell ended the period with a run to the Wolf 32. Ashdown needed six more plays to score, with Cressell going in from the two with 9:05 left in the game. This made it 33-0. A two-point conversion would have made it 35-0 and invoked the mercy rule. However, Ashdown opted to go for the traditional extra point, which made it 34-0. This ended scoring in the game.

Both teams emptied their benches to get younger players in the game and get them some experience for next year.

Neither team threatened to score in the final nine minutes, though the young players left everything they had on the field.

Prescotts season came to an end with a 1-9 overall record, but with high hope for the 2006 season with a new crop of young players coming up.