Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Takes Mineral Springs

Gurdon's seventh-ranked Go-Devils, the real Go-Devils, returned to the grid iron Friday night.

Mineral Springs was less than thrilled to see this.

Gurdon went 1-0 in league play and 3-1 overall as the Devils blanked the Hornets 19-0 in a defensive struggle.

And a defensive game it was until the final period when Mineral Springs ran out of gas after being brutally pounded for 36 minutes.

The game also had its bizarre elements as well. Each time Gurdon scored, the ensuing kickoff became a question as something would happen to either move the Devils backwards or forwards, usually backwards.

Anyway, the game began with Gurdon winning the toss. The ball was kicked to Chauncey Charles at the 5. He bobbled the ball, picked it up and made it to the 18 before being brought down.

Charles carried twice to the 26, getting close to a first down before a misdirection play to Adrian Meeks went awry and lost three yards, thereby forcing Gurdon to punt.

The ball rolled to the Hornet 30 with 9:53 showing. Three offensive plays netted five yards and the Devils were back to receive their first punt of the night.

Gurdon took over at its own 36, with Charles bulling through the middle for nearly 10 yards. Second down, though, saw half of this lost on an illegal procedure penalty, moving the ball to the 41. Charles was then caught for a two-yard loss.

Eric Allen, on third down, hooked up with Josh Griffin, with Griffin rumbling like a lumber truck to the Hornet 49 for a first down.

Charles, irritated at being stopped for a loss, capped Gurdon's first scoring drive with a 49 yard run on the next play.

The point after was blocked, but Gurdon led 6-0 with 6:17 in the first.

Then came the weirdness. The kickoff sailed out of bounds without being touched. This gave Mineral Springs the option of having the ball kicked again from five yards further back or taking it at the 35. They chose the former. The second kick also went out of bounds, pushing Gurdon back to its 30 for the kickoff. Try number three was a good one as the kick was squibbed to the Hornet 48.

The field position was wasted as the Hornets were three and out. The punt was almost blocked and only traveled to Gurdon's 31.

With 4:49 showing, the Devils used 2:42 of this, running seven plays and punting to the Hornet end zone.

Mineral Springs went into a veer offense and began showing signs of offensive life.

Kevin Erwin kept the ball for 12 on first down, then scrambled to the 40 on the next play.

The Hornets drove downfield to Gurdon's 32 before being halted by a delay of game call and losing five yards to the 37.

Jamie Stonum sacked Erwin on third and long forcing a punt, which also sailed into the end zone for a touchback.

The two squads battled between the 20s for the remainder of the first half, neither able to keep a drive sustained as both defenses rose to the occasion when needed, or penalties in Gurdon's case killed potential scoring opportunities.

Gurdon led 6-0 when the buzzer sounded ending the first half of play.

The Hornets took the kick to start the third quarter at their own 23, returning it to the 47.

Three plays later, though, a punt sailed to Rashun Hopson at the 15. He fumbled the ball, was able to pick it up, but lost five yards in the process.

Starting 90 yards from the promised land, Gurdon gained two yards before punting the ball to the Hornet 42.

The Mineral Springs offense briefly came to life as the Hornets drove steadily downfield using counters, the veer, a quarterback sneak and the sweep to get to the Gurdon 26.

On third down, Erwin tossed a pass to James Reed, with the ball falling incomplete. However, a hankie and subsequent pass interference call against Gurdon moved the ball to the Devil 14.

Three plays later, Arthur Burnett was standing in the Gurdon end zone with an apparent touchdown.

But another hankie, this one for illegal motion against Mineral Springs, brought the score back and pushed the Hornets to the eight.

Four tries against the Gurdon defense ended up with a fumble on fourth down, recovered by Flint King at the 12.

Charles carried twice, moving the Devils out of the shadow of their goal line to the 25. On third down, he broke free and raced to the promised land only to see it called back because of a clipping penalty.

The flag moved the ball to the Gurdon 43 with time running down in the third period.

Still, the Devils moved the ball toward paydirt, getting to the Hornet seven as time ran out and Gurdon being flagged for illegal motion, putting the ball at the 12.

An incomplete pass and sweep losing two yards saw the Devils with a fourth and goal situation from the 14. Coach John Pace sent in the field goal team, forcing a time out to be called by Mineral Springs.

When play resumed, Pace sent in the regular offense, hoping to catch the Hornets off balance. Unfortunately, a pass from Allen to Griffin fell to earth and gave the ball to Mineral Springs on downs.

Two plays saw the Hornets move to the 19. Erwin, on third down, pitched the ball to David Johnson who winged a halfback option pass, which was incomplete.

On fourth down, the Devils were caught napping as Johnson, in punt formation, kept the ball, carrying to the 46.

From there the Hornets shot themselves in the foot with back-to-back penalties for illegal motion.

They were unable to convert the first and 20 situation, with Erwin running for his life at times.

The Hornets punted to the Gurdon 21 with 8:37 showing and the outcome of the contest still in doubt.

The doubt, though, was quickly dispelled. Charles, on first down, broke through the Mineral Springs defense and sprinted down the right sideline for Gurdon's second touchdown of the night.

The Devils tried for a two-point conversion, but a fumbled snap disrupted the play. Still, Gurdon held a 12-0 lead.

Again, the kickoff went out of bounds, with Gurdon being flagged for delay of game and having to kick off from the 35. The second kick also went out of bounds, but the Hornets took it at their 45, where it crossed the boundary.

Erwin, on first down, dropped back to pass. He found his purple and gold clad counterpart instead of a Hornet receiver. Allen returned the pick to the Gurdon 32.

The Devils kept the ball for nearly five minutes, moving to the Hornet 42 before punting to the 25.

Reed returned the punt to the 27 where Mineral Springs set up shop.

The Hornets moved to their 37 before fumbling the ball away, with Cody Cox falling on the pigskin.

Hatley needed one play to cap the quick drive and administer the knock out blow to the Hornets.

With 3:03 left in the game, Gurdon was 18-0. Griffin split the upri