Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Hornets Sting Go-Devils In 7AA Football Opener

Ouch!

The Gurdon Go-Devils took it on the chin Friday night as the Mineral Springs Hornets posted a 35-7 win.

It was ugly and little more can be said about it. The Devils didn't play a good game, and the Hornets were loaded for bear.

In Gurdon's last trip to Mineral Springs, in 1997, the Devils managed a 22-21 win by using a little razzle-dazzle at the end of the first half.

Last year, the Devils dominated the Hornets 19-0 at Gus Brown Stadium.

This year, the 7-AA leading Hornets were more than ready to meet Gurdon.

The game got underway with Gurdon winning the toss and deferring until the second half.

Mineral Springs received the opening kick as the ball careened off Arthur Burnett at the Hornet 39, right to Michael Olden, who fell on it at the 39.

Harold Johnson carried twice, getting to Gurdon's 36, before Olden hit Johnson at the 10.

What looked like a scoring drive was halted when Cortez Swoopes fumbled the ball though was never touched.

Gurdon took over at its 17 with 10:42 left in the first. But, two rushing plays netted three yards, and the third down pass attempt from Colby Pace to O.B. Moss fell incomplete.

The Devils then punted to the Mineral Springs 45.

The Hornets took over with 8:56 showing, keeping the ball almost three minutes on the scoring drive.

It took seven plays for the home team to put the first points on the board, them coming from an 18-yard run by Burnett. The point after gave the Hornets a 7-0 lead.

Brannon Hatley fielded the kick at the 15, returning it to the 34. Mineral Springs made it a point to kick away from Gurdon's RaShaun Hopson, who scored on a kickoff return against Prescott the week before.

Gurdon managed two snaps before turning the ball over, with the Hornets taking over at the Gurdon 37 at the 5:15 point in the first.

The Hornets needed nine plays before Burnett went in from the one. At one point in the drive, Olden's pass to Johnson was almost picked off by Hatley as Olden was under heavy pressure.

Gurdon was flagged twice on the point after attempt, with Mineral Springs accepting the second one and successfully going for two on a conversion to make it 15-0.

Hatley fielded the kick on the sidelines at the 16 and accidentally stepped out of bounds, putting the Devils deep in their own territory.

First down saw Cody Cox move the ball to the 20. Second down saw a fumble and flag. As the flag came first, the fumble was nullified and Gurdon kept the ball, but moved back five yards for illegal motion.

Hatley fought his way to the 30, fumbling again, but the ball was recovered once more by the Devils. However, another flag moved Gurdon back because of an illegal block.

Now, the Devils were pinned at their 10 with a third down staring them in the face. Hopson managed to move to the 17 as the first period ended.

The second quarter opened with Gurdon punting to Johnson at the Devil 45. He returned the kick to the 36.

Then it got sloppy. Johnson gained seven yards on first down, and seven more on second down, but fumbled.

The Hornets managed to fall on the ball and maintain possession. A delay penalty moved Mineral Springs back to the 27, where Johnson fumbled on a reverse.

Olden fell on the ball this time at the 33.

Swopes then bobbled the ball, with several Gurdon players having opportunities to recover, but winding up in Hornet hands yet again, this time at the 37.

On third down, Olden was picked off by Cox at the 30, with the pick returned to the Hornet 39.

One play later the ball was back in Hornet hands as Gurdon fumbled it away.

Mineral Springs got serious on its next series, moving from its own 39 to the promised land in seven plays, with another fumble thrown in for good measure.

The Hornets utilized a brutal ground attack to pound the ball downfield for the touchdown, which came on a one-yard run by Burnett, his third of the night. The PAT sailed wide left, but Mineral Springs led 21-0 with 6:13 left in the half.

Again Hatley fielded the kick, this time at the 20, returning it to the 44.

Three plays later, Gurdon punted it back to the Hornets as the Devil offense couldn't get in gear.

Olden took the punt at the 25, returning it to the Gurdon 45, only to see the run nullified by a clipping penalty. The Hornets began this drive at their own 12.

Gurdon's defense stopped the Hornets on first and second down, but Johnson broke loose on third down for a 17-yard gain and a first down.

Swopes gained 20 on the next play, before Gurdon's defense stiffened and forced the Hornets back on the next three plays.

Mineral Springs punted for the first time of the night with 0:30 left in the half.

Hopson took the kick at the 25, returning it to the 37.

Cox gained two as the half ended.

Gurdon had the seeming advantage of receiving the kick to open the second half, with Joe Plyler taking the short kick at the 36, returning it to the 45.

Two running plays netted three yards and Pace was intercepted by Johnson on third down.

The Hornets began their first possession at their own 40 with 10:26 on the clock.

Mineral Springs's ground gain ate huge chunks of turf at a time in moving toward Gurdon's goal line.

But, after running nine plays and taking almost four minutes off the clock, the Hornets turned the ball over on downs.

Gurdon began its second drive from its own 12 with 6:29 showing.

Early on it looked promising. Hopson carried to the 21 on the first play.

Pace then hit Plyler with a pass, and Plyler fought to the Hornet 46. Unfortunately a flag called the play back as Gurdon had an illegible player downfield.

Two incomplete passes later, the Devils punted to Olden at the Hornet 47. The punt was returned to Gurdon's 45.

Johnson put a scare in Gurdon fans by gaining 15 yards on first down and five more on the next play.

Following a sweep for no gain, Olden missed connections with a wide open Johnson on third down.

Fourth down saw a gain of four fall short of the needed yardage and it was again Gurdon's ball at the 3:18 mark of the period.

Hopson gained four on first down, with Moss moving the pigskin to the 28 on second down.

Third down saw Pace's pass tipped by Johnson and into the waiting arms of Olden at the Hornet 49 with 1:49 showing.

Johnson made it to the Devil 35 on first down, but the ball ended up on the Gurdon 20 after a late hit call added 15 yards to the run.

Mineral Springs followed with a delay of game penalty, putting the ball on the 25.

Swopes got three of those yards back on first down, but was stuffed on his second try.

Olden again missed a wide open receiver, this time, Anthony Esters, on third down.

Fourth down saw the Hornets go back to the shotgun but Olden's pass was picked off by Eddie Fort at the 15.

Fort rumbled to the 37 before being brought down.

The third quarter ended with Pace keeping an option to the 40.

A reverse to Hopson opened the final 12 minutes of play, with a seven yard gain and Gurdon's inaugural first down of the night.

The celebration was short lived as Cox fumbled on the next play, with Terry Franklin picking up the loose ball, carrying it 40 yards for a touchdown.

The PAT made it 28-0 with 11:20 left in the contest.

Hatley took the ensuing kick at the five, returning it to the 29.

A screen to Hopson lost six yards, and two running plays only managed to gain three of them back, forcing yet another punt.

Olden took the kick at the Hornet 45, returning it to the Gurdon 39.

At this point, the Hornets put in their first string quarterback, Kevin Erwin, who is deaf.

He led the team to the 30 before turning it over on downs.

With 6:35 to go, Gurdon began its only scoring drive of the night.

The drive opened with Hatley gaining 14 and getting hit late to add 15 to the end of his run. This put Gurdon in Hornet territory at the 39.

A motion penalty moved the Devils back to the 44, before Hatley gained the lost yardage back.

Hatley gained two on second down, and Pace missed connecting with Chris Thompson on third down.

The Devils had nothing to lose by going for it on fourth down, but a reverse to Hopson gave Gurdon a first at the 22.

Hatley fought to the 19 before going down, and a facemask call against the Hornets moved Gurdon five yards closer to the promised land.

It took Gurdon four more plays before Pace took it in on a quarterback sneak. The PAT cut the margin to 28-7 at 3:02.

The Devils attempted an onside kick, only to see Swopes pick the ball up and scamper to the Gurdon 20.

Six plays later, the Hornets pushed their fifth touchdown across the goal line to go up 35-0 after the PAT.

To add insult to injury, the Hornets squib kicked the ball after scoring and managed to recover it at the Gurdon 45.

Erwin took a knee to end the game.

The unofficial statistics all favored Mineral Springs.

In passing, Gurdon was one of nine for a loss of six yards and two interceptions.

The Hornets were four of 10 for 80 yards and also suffered two interceptions.

The Devils fumbled three times, losing all three. The Hornets put the ball on the ground five times, coughing it up once.

Gurdon had to punt five times for 158 yards, giving up 21 yards in returns. The Hornets punted once in the game for 36 yards, allowing a 12 yard return.

In penalties, Gurdon was flagged five times for 42 yards, while the home team was hit six times for 47 yards.

Gurdon did managed to sack the Hornet quarterback once, but didn't allow a sack.

The Hornets piled up 23 first downs while Gurdon managed five.

Overall, Gurdon ran 32 offensive plays, while the Hornets snapped the ball 68 times.

The Hornets amassed 303 total yards on the ground, while Gurdon managed 90.

In total yardage, the Hornets ended up with 383 to Gurdon's 84.

Hatley carried the ball 10 times for Gurdon for 32 yards, with Hopson getting 37 yards on five rushes. Pace rushed three times for nine yards, while Cox carried three times for eight yards. Moss gained three yards on his run, with Lee Marks adding a six-yard gain.

In other conference action, Murfreesboro blanked Lewisville 35-0, Foreman dumped Dierks 32-6 and Stamps hammered Horatio 52-36.

The current standings show the Hornets alone in first place with a 3-1 overall record, but a 2-0 conference mark. Next is Foreman at 4-0, 1-0, followed by Murfreesboro at 3-1, 1-0. Then comes Stamps at 3-1, 1-0, and Gurdon at 2-2, 0-1. Dierks is 1-3, 0-1, with Horatio 0-4, 0-1, and Lewisville 0-4, 0-2.

This week, the Dierks Outlaws visit Go-Devil Stadium with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.

In their last meeting, the Devils were merciless, jumping on Dierks for 23 points in the first period as Gurdon rolled to a 42-8 win.