Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolves meet Devils, but give up trophy

The annual battle between South Clark County and North Nevada County took place in Prescott at Cummins Field this past Friday night with an extremely large crowd gathered to watch two towns young men battle in what must be labeled an annual classic.

Whenever these teams meet, a sure-nuff slobber-knocker is bound to take place. This meeting proved to be such, as both teams, now conference opponents, met with identical 2-0 conference records for the outright lead in the tough 7-3A conference.

The night began as DeMarcus Collier took the kick-off on his own 1-yard line and raced to a 26-yard return setting Prescott up first and 10 on the 27-yard line. Things looked good on the first snap as Termaine Henderson hit Collier for a 17-yard gain to the 44. Collier got the call again twice on this drive, but could only gain two yards on the ground as the Gurdon defense swarmed the line-of-scrimmage leaving no room to maneuver. Henderson hit Jermaine Henderson for a 7-yard gain, but Prescott turned it over on downs to Gurdon at their 47-yard line to give them the ball for their first offensive drive of the night. The Go-Devils plodded along on a twelve play drive, running over left and right tackle from the wishbone, to march down the field and set up the first score of the night. The student body right/left blocking scheme kept the aggressive Curley Wolf defense on its heels as the Gurdon running backs powered through tacklers for positive gains.

Gurdons OBryan Bell punched it in on the twelfth play of the drive from the 1 for a 6-0 lead with 3:43 to play in the first. The extra-point was no good, and Gurdon lined up to kick it away to Prescott again.

Chris Anderson received the kick and managed a 7-yard gain to start the second drive of the night. Henderson opened the drive by slinging the ball around effectively and moving the offense along. James Threadgill and Tony Gillard caught passes to get the first down at the 50 yard line. But Henderson had two incomplete passes in a row to force a third and 10, and Gurdon brought the heat in the obvious passing situation. Henderson was sacked for a 1-yard loss to force a fourth and 11 punt from Jordan Banks. The punt ended up being a little short, and Gurdon took over on their 38 for the second drive of the night.

Gurdon again milked the clock by moving the ball on the ground. Gurdons Zack Duncan mixed in the pass, hitting Beau McKenzie for two completions in the drive for 40 yards. The last catch was good for a 28-yard touchdown to move Gurdon to 12-0 with 10:05 to play in the half. The two-point try was stuffed by the Prescott defense, and the score remained 12-0.

Gurdons kicker boomed this one to the end-zone for a touchback, and Prescott took over first and 10 from their 20-yard line. Collier got the call on first down with a 7-yard scamper, but lost 2 yards on the next play. On third and 5, Henderson could not connect with Henderson, and Prescott had to punt from their 25-yard line. Gurdon got great field position this time, starting at their 44-yard line. The first play went for 11 yards, and it looked like Gurdon might be able to rack up another score, before the Curley Wolf defense dug in and stopped them cold with consecutive plays for a loss. On fourth and 12, Gurdon fumbled the ball to Prescott , to kill the drive.

Prescott took over on the 34, but could only muster four plays ending in a blocked punt to set Gurdon up at the Prescott 25-yard line. The way Gurdon had moved the ball earlier it did not look good for the Curley Wolves. But one should never count out this young defense. On consecutive plays, late in the drive, with Gurdon inside the 10-yard line, Prescott pulled great defensive plays out of the proverbial hat to force Gurdon into a fourth and goal from the 16-yard line. This attempt also proved no good, and Prescott took over first and 10 from their 8-yard line. Six plays into the drive, with time ticking off the clock, Henderson hit Micah McCoy for what looked like an 80-yard touchdown. But an untimely block in the back penalty called the play back. According to the National Federation of High Schools, the governing body of high school athletics in Arkansas , a half cannot end on a penalty. This is a change from rules in college and professional football. Prescott did not get the play, and the half ended in controversy with Gurdon leading 12-0.

The second half started a little better for the Curley Wolves as Gurdon was forced to punt on their first possession. Prescott took over on its 20-yard line for the first drive of the second half. Henderson was unable to connect on passes to Gillard and McCoy after hitting B.J. Haynie for a 4-yard pick up on first down. Prescott was forced to punt the ball away on 4-6 from their 24-yard line. Ray Smith came in to punt the ball, and got a good one off to pin Gurdon on their 25-yard line. Smiths 51-yard punt swung the field on Gurdon, forcing them to go 75 yards for a score.

Gurdon again opened up on the ground, but on second and 9, Duncan hit Brady Vandiver on a tight end streak for a 17-yard gain to put the ball on 50-yard line. Gurdon was unable to capitalize, and lost a fumble to end the drive. Prescott took over on the 32-yard line, but again had only four plays from scrimmage to punt the ball away on fourth and 11 from the 31-yard line.

Gurdon would make good the field position this time with a four play drive capped by a 14-yard touchdown run by Bell to put the game at 18-0 with 3:47 to play in the third quarter. The try for the two-point conversion again failed, and the score remained 18-0.

Prescott would get on the scoreboard on this drive as Collier took control and carried the ball five times to score from 24 yards out with 1:32 remaining in the third. Prescott s two-point conversion was good making the score 18-8. Sadly for the lads of Prescott, the score would end this way.

Both teams slugged it out in the fourth quarter, trading punts and failed fourth down conversions to end the game with a Gurdon victory over Prescott, 18-8.

The crowd certainly got their moneys worth on this night as both teams battled in an old-fashioned ground war that drained the clock and Prescott s hopes of another undefeated conference championship. All is not lost however, as both teams still face tough opponents down the stretch.

The Prescott Junior High Curley Wolves will host Horatio on Thursday night after a week off due to parent-teacher conferences last Thursday. The Varsity Curley Wolves will travel to Horatio on Friday night to continue the hunt for the elusive 7-3A Conference Championship.