Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Go-Devils win at Jessieville 14-7

In a game that went down to the final seconds, the Gurdon Go-Devils defeated the defending AA state champions 14-7 on Friday, Aug. 31, giving the Jessieville Lions their first loss at home in two years.

The first quarter of play passed quickly. With both teams focusing on a running game, the clock seldom stopped.

The Go-Devils won the opening coin toss and deferred to second half, so the game began with the Go-Devils kicking off to the Lions. The ball was fielded and brought back to the Lions 30 yard line.

It took the Lions only two plays to get a first down when they reached the 48 yard line. On third down and seven Go-Devil Andrew Franklin brought the Lions to a stop just short of another first down. After another first down, the Lions fumbled the ball, and the Go-Devils recovered on the 42 yard line.

The Go-Devils started their first offensive drive with an offsides call, pushing them back five yards. A gain brought the Go-Devils to second and seven, and another short run by OBrian Bell took the team to third and four.

On the next play, the first pass of the game, made by Go-Devil quarterback Zack Duncan, was intercepted by the Jessieville Lions and the ball was taken all the way down to the Go-Devils 25 yard line.

A penalty on the play against Jessieville brought the ball back near the original line of scrimmage at the 43 yard line, but the Lions were allowed to retain possession.

The Lions were able to get back down to the 38 yard line before punting the ball on fourth and six.

OBrian Bell and Andrew Franklin were back to receive for the Devils, and the ball was spotted at the nine yard line of Gurdon. It appeared as if the Go-Devils would not make much progress on this drive as the first two plays resulted in either no gain or a loss of yardage, but on third down, Duncan made connection with a Go-Devil not identified on the team roster through a 35 yard pass to the 41 yard line.

The quarter ended with the score tied at zero.

In the third quarter, the Go-Devils began at the 41 yard line with third and 10. An incomplete pass intended for Franklin lead the Devils to punt on fourth down and 10.

The punt was blocked by the Lions and the ball was taken back to the 15 yard line. The Lions scored on the next drive, and an extra point brought the score to 7-0 in favor of the Lions.

The kick return went out of bounds, and the next play found Bo McKenzie making a large gain for the Devils to the 45 yard line. After several plays, Gurdon was back at the line of scrimmage at fourth and 10. A punt put Jessieville at their own 22 yard line.

Jessieville punt attempt failed as the ball sailed over the punters head and back down to the two yard line where the Devils recovered it. The next drive lead to the Go-Devils first score of the game when Duncan ran the ball into the end zone. Gurdon went for the two point conversion and was successful in moving into the lead for the first time of the night with a score of 8-7.

The half ended with no other scores.

The second half began with an unsuccessful drive by the Devils, leading to a punt at fourth and 10. The Lions, however, fumbled the ball on first down at their own 32 yard line, and the Go-Devils recovered.

Bell took the ball into the end zone for a 14-7 lead over the Lions with 9:04 remaining in the third quarter, and the Go-Devil fans were brought to their feet. A two point conversion attempt was not successful with the pass intended for Go-Devil Mario Brownlee.

On the next drive, the Lions were pushed back to fourth and 19 and forced to punt. The punt was fielded by Bo McKenzie at the 45 yard line, fumbled and recovered by McKenzie.

A huge loss in the next play brought the Go-Devils to second and almost 40. No gains on the next two plays brought the Devils to a punting situation.

The Lions fielded the ball at their own 20 yard line. Duncan, doubling as a safety, brought the Lions down at the 36 yard line on the next play.

After two more first downs, the Lions were forced to punt the ball on fourth and 15. The ball was spotted at the 25 yard line.

A series of plays brought the Devils to a first down that was called back due to a penalty. Another penalty on the next play brought up fourth and 28 at the nine yard line. The Go-Devils punted from their own end zone and the 52 yard kick set the Lions up at their own 48 yard line.

The Lions were unable to get a first down on the next drive, and the Go-Devils go the ball back with 10:31 remaining in the game. A punt from the Lions set the Go-Devils up at the 22 yard line.

After a few tough plays, the Go-Devils got a first down on a pass to McKenzie.

Ethan Jones entered the game at quarterback.

The Go-Devils were forced to punt, and the ball made it to the nine yard line of Jessieville where the Lions set up first and 10.

Jessieville was able to get a two first downs  one of which was made after a fourth and two situation. A fumble was thought to have been recovered by Gurdon, but Jessieville retained possesion. The Lions once again found themselves in a fourth down situation and managed to force another first down with 3:10 remaining on the clock.

With everyone in the stadium on their feet, the Lions made their next first down on a fourth and three situation. With 28 seconds on the clock, the Lions had the ball on the 11 yard line. A time out was quickly called.

A pass into the end zone fell incomplete for the Lions. After a time out, the next play saw a completed pass and the Lions being brought down at the 10 yard line.

The Go-Devils intercepted the ball on the one yard line on the next play, and the game was over with no scores being posted to the board in the second half.