Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Devils Whip Prescott In Pigskin Classic

Gurdon  19, Prescott  14.What more needs to be said.

The Go-Devils managed to pay the Curley Wolves back for last year's loss in Prescott  the only regular season loss Gurdon suffered.

Friday night's victory also put Gurdon 1-1 in the new stadium and 2-1 overall on the young season with league play starting Sept 24 with the Devils making the trip to Mineral Springs.

However, the game against the Wolves opened with a bang. Prescott won the toss and deferred until the second half.

This gave Gurdon the ball, but only for a brief period of time. RaShaun Hopson fielded the opening kick at the Devil 14, found a hole in the middle of the field and didn't stop until he was standing in Prescott's end zone, 86 yards and 13 seconds later.

The point after put the home team up 7-0 before most fans had gotten settled in their seats.

Prescott was also flagged for roughing the kicker on the PAT, with the kickoff coming from the Wolf 45. The pooch kick sailed to the 27, where it was recovered by Matt Greenwood.

It was three and out with a sack thrown in by the Gurdon defense, as the Wolves were stymied in their opening drive.

The ensuing punt sailed high into the air, but only went nine yards passed the line of scrimmage, giving Gurdon excellent field position at the Prescott 34.

However, the Wolves didn't make the short drive to Gurdon to roll over and have their collective bellies scratched. The Prescott defense rose to the occasion and pushed the Devil offense back, giving it back to their own offense at the Wolf 37 on downs four plays later.

This fired up the Prescott offense, as Terry Woodley managed to break free and scramble to the Gurdon 35.

The second play of the drive saw Woodley carry to the Devil 23 before Fred Hopson pushed the pigskin beyond the red zone at the Gurdon nine.

This led to a time out by Gurdon with 7:57 showing in the first. Once play resumed, Prescott needed four plays with the scoring drive being capped of by a Josh Bullock to Rafael Marlow touchdown pass from the eight.

The try for point after was low and left, leaving Gurdon leading 7-6 with 6:44 in the first period.

The kickoff brought a flag as the ball went out of bounds and Prescott was penalized five yards for delay of game.

However, the next try saw the ball sail between Brannon Hatley and Hopson, hit the turf at the 23, get picked up by Hopson, who then fought to the 28.

Prescott helped Gurdon's offense by getting a bit close to early and being flagged for encroachment before the ball was snapped.

On first and five, Hatley gained nine yards, putting the ball at the Devil 42.

But, before the next play could run, the Devils were forced to burn a valuable time out because of equipment problems. One of the players didn't have any hip pads on and the officials stopped the game until this was corrected. The stopping of play was because Gurdon had two choices, get penalized for delay of game or call time.

This disrupted the rhythm of the offense, as the Devils punted three plays later.

Prescott took over at its own 12 with 4:52 left.

Gurdon's defense again rose to the occasion, forcing another punt three plays later.

This time, the boot sailed to the Gurdon 43, where the Devil offense took over.

Gurdon drove to Prescott's 31 as time ran out in the first quarter, with the Devils heading in for their second touchdown.

Period two opened with the Devils facing a fourth and three at the 31. Cody Cox got the call, bulling his way to the 27 to keep the drive alive.

Three plays later, Colby Pace found Hatley with a middle screen, and Hatley capped it with a 25 yard run for the score with 10:41 showing in the half.

Gurdon was penalized for illegal motion on the point after try and moved back five yards. The snap on the PAT was high and resulted in no more points for the home team.

Still, Gurdon held a 13-7 lead over their arch-rivals.

Sid Giles fell on the kickoff at the Prescott 44, as Gurdon's strategy was to keep the ball on the ground on kickoffs and away from Prescott's speed.

A screen to Woodley lost four as the Devil "D" was primed and ready. Calvin Flemons managed to gain seven on second and 14.

On third down, Joe Plyler introduced himself to Bullock in the Prescott backfield for Gurdon's second sack of the game, forcing a punt on fourth down.

The kick rolled dead at the Gurdon 19 with 8:37 left in the half.

Hatley was the primary ball carrier on the short drive, getting to the Devil's 33 before Gurdon had to punt after an incomplete pass from Pace to Plyler on third down.

The Wolves took over on their own 43, and promptly fumbled the ball over to Gurdon at the 44 with 5:51 showing.

Hatley again shouldered the rushing load, battling to the 32 on two carries.

Pace went to the air, firing a slant to Hopson, who dropped the pass, then getting rushed and stripped of the ball. However, Pace was able to fall on the errant pigskin at the Prescott 38.

Fourth down saw Coach John Pace calling for a punt, which sailed into the end zone for a touchback.

The Wolf offense drove from its 20 to the 40 before stalling on an incomplete pass and having to punt yet again.

Gurdon took over on its 23 with 2:03 remaining. Two plays netted two yards before Pace was picked off by Giles at the 45.

The interception was returned to Gurdon's four yard line, where the Wolves set up shop.

Prescott needed two plays to get into the promised land, scoring on a Bullock sneak from the one. The two point conversion was good and Prescott held its only lead of the night at 14-13 with 0:51 to go in the half.

Matt Dickerson fell on the ball at the Gurdon 38 after a squib kick. Two Hatley runs gained three yards and Pace failed to connect with Hopson on third down.

The Devils, with 0:4.5 left in the period, went for it on the final play of the half, as Cox carried to the 49.

A flag, inadvertent facemask by Prescott, moved the ball five yards upfield and gave Gurdon one more play.

The untimed down saw Pace miss his pass to Hatley.

Woodley took the opening kick of the second half at the Prescott 23, returning it to the 39.

Three plays later the Wolves punted the ball to Gurdon, with the Devils taking over at midfield.

The two squads battled between the 20s for the better part of the night, with neither being able to show consistency in maintaining drives.

The Devils, following Prescott's punt, managed to get to the Wolf 35 before turning the ball over on downs.

Bullock found Andrew Fellows with a pass, and Fellows fought to the Gurdon 28. Calvin Flemons added 19 yards to his stats carrying to the nine.

Gurdon's defense moved the ball closer to the Devil end zone by jumping offside, but then stiffened.

Prescott had a first and goal at the Gurdon four. Hopson gained two yards on two carries.

Third down saw the Wolves move early and lose five yards. This set up a third and goal from the seven.

Bullock winged a pass in the direction of Levell Walters, but saw it fall to the turf. On fourth down, Bullock went to the air again, but found Gurdon's Hopson.

He took the pass at the Devil's four and didn't stop until he was in the Prescott end zone, some 96-yards away.

This proved to be the final scoring either team would do, as Gurdon's try for two was unsuccessful.

Still, the Devils held a 19-14 lead with 6:47 left in the third.

The remainder of the game was little more than old-fashioned smash-mouth football as the two squads basically pounded one another.

Prescott's next two drives were three and out as the third quarter came to an end.

Gurdon owned the final 12 minutes of play. The Devils opened the fourth period with a first and 10 at the Gurdon 4.

Hatley carried four straight times, moving the ball to the 25 and giving the offense some breathing room.

Cox added five to the 30, before the Wolves's defense dug in. Two plays later Pace was hit and fumbled the ball.

Prescott managed to fall on the loose pigskin at Gurdon's 29 with 7:33 left in the game.

It was crunch time for the Devil "D" as the Wolves had the ball in excellent field position with plenty of time on the clock. However, Prescott only had one time out remaining, as did Gurdon.

A pitch to Hopson lost two on first down. He followed this by getting the two lost yards back on second down.

Third down saw Bullock find Calvin Flemons, who was met by Adam Gooding at the 31.

This put Prescott in a fourth and 12 situation, and what proved to be the Wolves' final offensive play of the night.

Bullock found himself under a heavy rush on fourth down and threw the ball in the direction of a fellow Wolf.

However, it was only in the general direction of a Prescott player as the ball ended up on the turf and was turned over to Gurdon on downs.

But, time was a factor as the clock showed 5:45 remaining. The Devil offense knew it had to keep the ball away from Prescott and run out the clock.

It did.

Hatley carried three straight times, moving the ball to the 47 and giving Gurdon a valuable first down.

Prescott helped by jumping offsides on the next two plays, giving Gurdon yet another first down and eating more time off the clock.

Cox and Hatley teamed up for 14 yards on two runs, moving the ball to the Prescott 30.

Cox, though, fumbled on the next snap, but managed to recover the lost ball.

At this point, though, it was all over but the crying. Both teams were flagged for moving before the snap of the ball on the next two plays.

All this did was to run the clock down further. Pace ended Prescott's misery by taking a knee to end the contest.

Unofficial statistics show Gurdon was two of 11 in the air for 40 yards, while Prescott was five of 12 for 51 yards.

Both quarterbacks suffered interceptions.

Prescott punted seven times for 193 yards, while Gurdon had four punts for 124 yards.

The Devils cut down on penalties this week, getting flagged four times for 20 yards. Prescott saw laundry hit the ground eight times for 55 yards.

The Devils fumbled the ball five times, losing it once, while Prescott put the ball on the ground three times, also losing one.

Gurdon's defense introduced itself to Bullock twice on sacks, while Pace never met the Prescott defense.

First downs saw Gurdon with 13, while Prescott had but nine.

Gurdon managed to run 55 offensive plays, while only allowing Prescott to run 41.

The Devil offense rushed for 108 yards, to 102 for Prescott.

Because of passing, Prescott held the edge in total yardage at 153-148.

Hatley was the leading ground gainer for Gurdon, rushing the ball 30 times for 93 yards.

Pace lost eight yards on two carries, while Hopson lost four yards on three rushes.

Cox gained 33 yards on eight carries, while O.C. Webster lost six yards on his only rush of the night.

Friday night the Devils will be on the road again as they travel to Mineral Springs for a date with the Hornets to open play in the 7AA West conference.

The Hornets played Lewisville to open league play Sept. 17, pasting the Red Devils 54-6.

In other 7AA West action, Stamps edged Bernice, La. 29-27; Bismarck hammered Dierks 35-13; De Queen routed Murfeesboro 48-7; Foreman clipped Fouke 23-21; and Hot Springs Lakeside dropped Horatio 42-26.