Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rattlers Gurdon's Latest Victim

Gurdon's Go-Devils have added to their wardrobe.

Week before last, the Devils had a pair of Gator skin boots made out of Foreman. Last week, Gurdon added a Rattlesnake skin belt by trouncing Murfreesboro 31-6 Friday night.

It was supposed to have been a better game, but Gurdon fans weren't complaining.

The win gives the Devils the outright conference title, regardless of the outcome of Friday night's homecoming game against Horatio.

However, the Devil players are now looking to add a Lion-skin vest to their wardrobe.

The Rattlers won the toss, and it proved to be the only thing the team would win the rest of the night.

Robbie Brooks took the kick at the 8, bringing it out to the 15 where the Rattlers set up shop.

Adam Horn went nowhere on first down, with Brooks dropping the ball on second. However, he was able to recover his fumble at the 13. Third down saw the Rattlers cough the ball up for real.

Gurdon started at the Murfreesboro 14 and needed two snaps to take the lead.

Chauncey Charles took the ball to the one on first down, with Eric Allen keeping for the touchdown.

The point after was wide, but Gurdon led 6-0 with 9:52 left.

Tracy Scoggin took the kick at the 8, fumbling the ball, but recovering and getting it to the 16.

The Rattlers began moving the ball on the ground, getting to their 46 before the drive stalled. On fourth down, Jason Burns tried to get the Devil defense to jump, but would up burning a time out when it didn't.

This led to a punt, which rolled dead at the Gurdon 9.

The Devil's offense didn't like being pinned against its own goal line, so Charles gave it some breathing room.

After hitting the line and apparently being stopped, Charles broke outside and sprinted to midfield before getting brought down.

Brannon Hatley followed suit with a 25-yard run, bringing the Devils closer to their second score. Allen and Hatley combined for 10 more yards, before Charles broke to the 9, tightroping the sidelines before being shoved out of bounds.

Charles carried three more times before crossing the end zone to put Gurdon up 12-0.

Coach John Pace then went to his bag of tricks. The Devils were lined up as if they were going to kick the extra point. However, the center snapped the ball in the direction of Allen, who was lined up in the slot. Unfortunately, the snap was nowhere close and the ball went out of bounds.

Chip Reeves fielded the kickoff at the 16, turned around and handed off to Brooks, who made it to the 25.

He lost two on first down, before Burns winged a pass to Reeves, only to see it tipped and land in Charles' hands at the Rattler 33.

Charles returned the pick to the 17, giving the Devils excellent field position yet again.

Three plays had Gurdon at the Rattler 8, with Pace deciding to go for it on fourth down.

Allen led the team to the line, barked out the signals and watched the defense jump, bringing a flag and a first down.

Even then, it took four plays before the Devils capped off their third scoring drive of the night. Allen, on a keeper, rolled out, bobbled the ball, recovered it and scored.

With 8:27 left in the half, Gurdon led 18-0 and showed no signs of slowing down. The try for two saw Allen miss Josh Griffin with a pass attempt.

The Rattlers had fits holding onto the ball all night long. Moe Sigman took the kickoff at the 26, put it on the ground, but managed to recover the errant ball.

Then came Murfreesboro's lone scoring drive of the night.

Brooks, the Rattlers' all-everything player, carried three straight times to the Murfreesboro 43. The Rattlers continued moving downfield, getting to the Gurdon 36, where they faced a fourth and one.

Jeremy Rankins took the handoff from Burns, but never reached the line of scrimmage as the Gurdon defensive front pushed the offensive line back.

However, the officials gave Rankins a good spot and the Rattlers had a first down at the Gurdon 35.

From there, Brooks and Rankins carried the load to the 15. At this point, Burns threw the ball toward Scott Stafford. Cody Cox jumped and tipped the ball, only to see it land in Stafford's hand for the score.

This cut the lead to 18-6 with 1:30 showing.

The Rattlers went for two, but fumbled the ball with Gurdon recovering.

The Devils did little on their next possession, moving from the 26 to the 29 before punting for the first time of the night.

Halftime saw Gurdon up 18-6 and, technically, the game still up for grabs.

The Devils wasted no time in changing this when the second half began.

Charles took the opening kick at the 6, returning it to the 25. Two offensive plays saw the loss of six yards.

On third and 16, Allen flipped a pass to Demond Beasley, who rambled to the Murfreesboro 6 before running out of gas and getting brought down. Charles finished the drive, carrying it twice before scoring.

With 9:09 left, Gurdon led 24-6. Griffin split the uprights with the PAT, to make it 25- 6.

The Rattlers began their first drive of the third quarter with good field position, as the kickoff was returned to the 40.

Brooks gained seven on first down. On second down, he apparently fumbled the ball away, but the officials said he was down at the 50.

Three plays later, Murfreesboro's offense had stalled and was lined up in punt formation.

Gurdon's defense wasn't buying the idea of a punt and was right in making this decision. The snap went to the upback, who was stuffed at the Gurdon 43, giving the Devils the ball on downs.

Gurdon's final scoring drive of the night took seven plays and used 3:24.

The Devils simply punished the Rattler defense with its ground attack as Charles, Allen and Hatley were merciless with their rushing.

After Allen found Beasley for 10 yards with a screen pass, Charles took a pass, juking his way down the sidelines for an apparent score.

However, the officials said he stepped out of bounds at the 9. The call only delayed the inevitable as Allen tossed the ball to Charles on an option, with Charles stopping safely in the end zone.

The PAT was wide right, but Gurdon led 31-6.

From this point on, Gurdon worked on the clock during each offensive possession.

Reeves, on the kickoff, handed off to Brooks, who was tackled at the 48.

Burns hit Rankins with a screen pass to Gurdon's 46, but fumbled the ball away on second down.

The Devils moved to Murfreesboro's 11 before turning the ball over on downs with 7:55 left in the game.

The Rattlers managed to get to their 30 before Griffin introduced himself to Burns back at the 19, forcing the home team to punt.

A trio of rushes netted two yards before the Devils punted for only