Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Devils Stuff Panthers In Opening Game

It could have been the full moon.

Perhaps it was just opening game jitters.

Or maybe it was Fouke's bus breaking down and the Panthers arriving about 20 minutes late.

Regardless, Gurdon's Go-Devil football team opened the 1998 football season with a 28-0 shellacking of Fouke Friday night at Gus Brown Stadium, picking up where they left off in 1997.

The problem is the game was sloppy and penalty-riddled as both sides made their share of mental mistakes and costly penalties.

Gurdon had two touchdowns called back because of hankies fluttering gently to the turf, and several promising drives stalled for the same reason.

Fouke, on the other hand, managed to penetrate Gurdon's 10 yard line twice, but ran into a solid wall of defensive players to be thwarted in their scoring attempts.

The game opened strangely with the Panthers winning the toss, but deferring and giving the ball to Gurdon to get the game underway.

The Devils wasted little time in giving the ball to Fouke as a pitch from Eric Allen to Chauncey Charles found itself on the ground under Panther Eric Weitzel at the Gurdon 27.

Fouke's offense, a single-wing attack most of the game, moved to the five before turning the ball over on downs.

Still, Gurdon's offense wasn't in gear as it was three plays and punt for the Devils.

But, the football gods were smiling on Gurdon Friday night as Fouke fumbled the snap. The loose pigskin was recovered by Brandon Hatley at the Fouke 48.

This seemed to jump start the offense, as the Devils needed only four plays to cash in for their first score of the night.

Then the weirdness began, as did laundry day. The two teams were lined up for the point after attempt.

Fouke jumped offsides, moving the ball to the 1.5 yard line. Gurdon Coach John Pace decided to go for two and was successful as Allen pitched to Hatley for the conversion.

But, a flag for illegal motion brought the ball back to the 12 for a 22-yard extra point attempt. This was followed by a bad snap from center and another flag against Gurdon for illegal formation because there were only six men on the line.

However, Fouke declined this call because a Panther had recovered the fumble and snuffed Gurdon's PAT try.

On the kickoff, though, Fouke was offside and saw the ball booted from the 45 to their 4, where it was returned to the 18.

Three plays later, the Panthers booted the ball back to Gurdon, with the Devils taking over at the Fouke 48.

The first play saw Fouke jump offside, putting the ball at the Panther 43. Two carries later, Charles had the ball at the 37, with the Devils driving.

It looked like payday would come a second time when Charles took the pitch from Allen and scored. There was only one problem, a hanky on the field nullified the touchdown as Gurdon was called for clipping.

Along with wiping out six points, the Devils were pushed back 15 yards to the Gurdon 48.

Allen kept on two carries, moving the pigskin back to the Fouke 34, when another clipping call against the Devils pushed them back to their own 48 again.

This was too much for Gurdon's offense to overcome and the Devils were forced to punt.

Fouke took over at its own 21, moving to the 30 before returning the favor, punting to Gurdon's 36.

Charles carried twice to Fouke's 45, but a flag, for delay of game, pushed Gurdon back to midfield.

Allen was picked off on the next play by Nick Sewell, who returned the ball to the Gurdon 49.

Three snaps and a sack later, Gurdon got the ball back on a punt to Charles at the Devil 30.

Hatley got the drive started with a carry to the 36. Fouke helped out by jumping offsides on the next snap, moving the ball to the 41.

This drive, though, went no further as Allen was picked off by his counterpart, Justin Jones, who returned the interception to Gurdon's 31 with 3:26 to go in the first half.

The Panthers moved to Gurdon's six before coughing it up on a fumble. They compounded their mistake by getting hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct call.

This moved the ball from the seven to the 22 and took Gurdon out of the shadow of its own goal. But, the Devils were unable to take advantage of the Fouke miscue, as they only had 37 seconds to work with.

At the half, Gurdon held a slim 6-0 lead.

This changed in the third period as Gurdon again got the ball to get things started.

Rashun Hopson took the kick at the 10, returning it to the 31.

The Devils were methodical, utilizing 6:14 of the third period, moving the 69 yards in 10 plays with Hopson taking it in from three-yards out for the score.

Gurdon didn't attempt a pass in the drive, but Charles was the workhorse, carrying the ball seven of the 10 times.

Pace decided Fouke's defense was softened up and went for two. The Devils were successful as Hatley pitched to Hopson, who finished the play off and gave Gurdon a 14-0 lead.

And, as was par for course in the game, the Devils were flagged for being offside on the ensuing kick and kicked off from the 35. The kick, though scooted off the side of Hatley's foot and went out of bounds at the Fouke 42.

Four plays later, though, Gurdon got the ball back on downs as the Panther offense was stymied by the impenetrable Gurdon defense.

The next play saw Allen hit Adrian Meeks with a pass, and a flag hit the ground as Fouke was nailed for interference. This put the gall at the Panther 34.

Allen was flushed from the pocket as he dropped back to try another pass and made it to the 25, only to see the run be for naught as Gurdon was penalized for clipping.

This put the ball at the Fouke 41. The Devils made it to the Panther 29 before turning it over on downs.

The third quarter ended with Jones hitting Scotty Watson for a four yard gain.

Period four began with Jones getting lucky as he tried to throw to Jeff Kelly and Chad Cox just missed picking the ball off for a score.

The Panthers, for most of the drive, lined up with four wide receivers as they tried to air it out and get back in the game.

Didn't matter, Jones was picked off by Cody Cox, who returned the ball to the Fouke 27 before being brought down.

The Devils wasted no time in adding touchdown number 3, as Hatley went in on the first play. Josh Griffin split the uprights to give Gurdon a 21-0 lead with 10:54 showing in the game.

The kickoff wound up in the end zone, with Fouke setting up shop at the 20.

The Panthers used up nearly four minutes to get the ball to their own 32 before having to punt yet again.

Hopson fielded the ball at the 28 and carried it back to the Fouke 39, where Gurdon's offense began.

It was less than a stellar beginning, but the Devils did manage to score a fourt