Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

GHS Loss To Gators Disputed

Gurdon Coach John Pace is filing a protest with the Arkansas Activities Association because of incidents at the Gurdon-Foreman game Friday night.

The officiating, or lack thereof, resulted in a 29-20 loss for the Go-Devils.

Pace's formal complaint will be concerning the fact Foreman's head coach, Michael Hudgeons, was ejected from the game at the half, but spent the second half outside the field house communication with his assistants by way of walkie-talkie while the officials did nothing about it.

Other complaints, he said, could be filed about the officiating crew, but would do no good. "They lost control of the game and didn't call it correctly. It was a fiasco, really terrible."

Pace called the officiating some of the worst he's ever seen.

It was so bad the fans were making derisive comments about the officials and Gators throughout the first half. There was much talk about "home cooking" from the fans.

Had a riot occurred, it would have been no surprise.

However, the Devils were ready to play, as they shouted "we ready" from the sidelines.

In the end, though, it didn't matter, as the officials took the game out of the players' hands.

The contest began with Foreman winning the toss and taking the ball. Eddie Fort's kick went to Philip Brown at the 22. Brown's return put the Gators in good field position at the 40.

The Gators moved to the Devil 43 on three running plays before Cedric Cursh, Foreman's quarterback, met a pair of Gurdon players in the backfield. Though he got the pass off, he paid for it as the two Devils converged from different sides.

Gurdon's defense stiffened and forced Foreman to punt. The boot rolled dead at the Devil two-yard line.

Brannon Hatley lost a yard on first down and a bad snap on the second play resulted in a Gator touchdown. Foreman was successful with a two-point conversion and led 8-0 with 8:15 left in the first quarter.

Then the fun began. Foreman went for an onside kick. The ball rolled about seven yards when it was touched by a Gator. However, the officials didn't call the ball dead at this point, but, instead, gave it to Foreman when a Gator fell on it.

With 8:07 showing in the first, Foreman had the ball again, while Gurdon's offense cooled its heels.

The Devil 'D' though, was plenty fired up and stopped Foreman after three plays, forcing another punt. The kick was partially blocked and rolled dead at the Gurdon 29.

Gurdon's offense was plenty rested and more than anxious to take the field. Colby Pace missed connection with RaShaun Hopson on first down, but Hatley moved the ball seven yards forward on second down.

Hatley appeared to be stuffed on third down as he hit the middle, but bounced to the outside and gained 10 yards to the 46 before being brought down.

After a three-yard gain by Cody Cox, Pace hit Hopson with an 18-yard pass to put the Devils at the Foreman 33.

Four plays later, the Pace-Hopson connection connected again for a 12-yard touchdown with 2:55 showing.

Gurdon lined up for two with Hopson going in on an option to apparently tie the game at 8-8.

As the Devils prepared to kick off to Foreman, an extremely late flag brought the team back as Gurdon was penalized five yards for illegal motion and had to run the conversion attempt over. The second time Foreman was able to stop Gurdon and held on to an 8-6 lead.

Kevin Walton fell on the ball at the Foreman 34 after the kickoff.

Three plays later, Foreman's offense was again unable to gain 10 yards against Gurdon's defense and had to punt.

This time, the ball rolled dead at the Devil 46.

On a keeper, Pace lost three to the 43, with period one ending with Hatley losing two more.

Gurdon was unable to convert on third down and punted to the Foreman 12.

The Gators moved to the Gurdon 45 before a delay of game penalty put them back at midfield. There, the Devil 'D' stiffened once again and forced another punt.

Gurdon's offense took over at the nine-yard line with 7:37 remaining in the half.

The Devils moved to their 36 in four plays and appeared to be on the way to another touchdown.

But, on a second down play, Pace tossed the ball to Hopson, who nearly had his head taken off by a clothesline by a Foreman defender. While this type action is illegal, no penalty was called and the play lost two yards.

Third down saw an incomplete pass from Pace to Joe Plyler, along with two flags one against Gurdon for holding and one on Foreman for pass interference. Gurdon was unsuccessful when the play was run again and had to punt.

Foreman took over at its own 21 with 4:26 left, drove down field and punched in its second touchdown of the game.

The drive, though, wasn't as simple as it sounds. Gurdon was flagged for being offsides on a crucial fourth down situation giving Foreman a first down, and penalized again two plays later for grabbing a facemask.

This set the Gators up at the Devil 1, with Cursh scoring on a quarterback sneak.

From there it hit the fan big time. As the officials were unpiling the players to see if Cursh scored, the clock continued to run, ticking off 19 precious seconds with the buzzer sounding ending the half.

Once the pile was cleared away, the officials gave Foreman the touchdown to make the score 14-6. They also put two seconds back on the clock so a kickoff had to occur.

Foreman was successful on its try for two to go up 16-6, after Gurdon fans were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for letting the zebras know how they felt about things.

More confusion set in after the kickoff was covered at the Gurdon 45.

First, flags were thrown against the Devils for unsportsmanlike conduct, though no time showed on the clock.

Then, Foreman's head coach, Hudgeons, went onto the field to argue with the officials. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, walked away, only to return and get hit with the same penalty again.

This caused him to be "ejected" from the game. Hudgeons was supposed to either leave the stadium or remain in the field house for the remainder of the contest he did neither.

The officials, marked off the penalty against Gurdon, then marched off 30 yards against Foreman and gave the Devils one offensive play. Pace winged the ball to Hopson, only to have it tipped and fall incomplete.

Gurdon got the ball to start the second half, with Plyler fielding it at the 25 and returning it to the 29.

The Devils wasted little time in getting on the board, needing only nine plays before Pace hit Hopson with an eight-yard touchdown pass.

Hatley did all the ground work, carrying seven times, and moving the ball from the Gurdon 29 to the Foreman 8

Hatley got into the end zone on the conversion attempt to cut the gap to 16-14.

Joe Baker took the kickoff for Foreman getting it to the 29. Two running plays gained nine yards, before Desarae McElroy broke loose to the Gurdon 44.

A sweep saw J. Baker get to the Gurdon 10, with Foreman scoring two plays later when Brandon Baker went in from 13-yards out.

The point after was good and Foreman was up 23-14.

Hopson took the kickoff at the 19, moving it to the 37 before being brought down.

Cox gained eight on first down, with Hatley adding five more on second down. Pace found Plyler at the Gator 35 and the Devils were on the march.

Unfortunately, two plays later Hatley coughed up the ball, with Foreman recovering at the Gator 20.

Foreman moved all the way to its 27 before Gurdon's defense began pushing it backwards, to the 18, forcing the Gators to punt.

Gurdon took over at its own 46 with 0:10 left in the third.

Hatley fought to the Foreman 40 on first down, where a flag for facemask added 15 at the end of the play.

It also ended the third quarter with yet another problem from the officials. Periods can't end on defensive penalties in football. When a defensive penalty occurs on the last play of a quarter, the offense gets one untimed down.

This didn't happen as the officials picked up the ball, with Coach Pace protesting, and took it to opposite 25-yard line.

After a one-yard gain by Hatley, Pace was hit in the act of throwing the ball and had to leave the game.

Third down saw an unusual formation for Gurdon as there was no quarterback under center. The ball was, instead, supposed to be snapped directly back to Hatley.

However, it got to him on the bounce, allowing Foreman players to converge for a two yard loss.

Sophomore Walter Hart, the backup quarterback, came in on fourth down, giving the ball to Hatley who gained two.

Two plays later, Cursh found B. Baker for a 67-yard touchdown strike as Baker was able to get behind the Gurdon secondary.

The try for two was no good, but Foreman held a 29-14 lead with 9:15 left.

Gurdon retaliated with Hopson taking the kick at the 15 and giving the Devils good starting position at the 36.

With Pace back in, the Devils marched down field, mowing down Gators in the process.

On two plays, Pace had Gurdon at the Foreman 20. One was a 10-yard run by Hatley, with the other a pass to Hart. From there, Pace found Hopson for the third time of the night with a scoring strike.

The try for two was unsuccessful and Gurdon was down 29-20.

It was the last time the Devil offense saw the ball, as the Foreman offense kept it for the rest of the game.

The Gators went from their 35 to Gurdon's 27 as the game ended.

Unofficial stats show the game to favor the Gators somewhat. Gurdon was six of 12 in the air for 107 yards and three TDs, while Foreman was two of eight for 111 yards and one score.

The Devils punted twice for 92 yards, while Foreman booted the ball five times for 148 yards.

The Gators were penalized more than Gurdon, 11 times for 85 yards as compared to 7 times for 32 yards.

Gurdon also led in first downs, 16-14.

However, the Devils also led in turnovers, coughing the ball up twice on four fumbles. Foreman put the ball on the ground once, but recovered it.

Neither quarterback was sacked or intercepted in the game.

Basically, the game was about controlling the clock. The Gators were able to keep the ball away from Gurdon's potent offense, and out of Hatley's hands.

Still, Hatley gained 145 yards on 23 carries. Cox ran twice for 11 yards, while Pace lost three yards on a keeper. Hopson had seven yards on two runs.

Gurdon managed 160 yards on the ground in 28 carries, while the Gators gained 228 yards on 47 attempts.

One highlight for Gurdon was Hatley reached 1,000 yards, unofficially, in the game.

Gurdon snapped the ball 40 times while Foreman had 55 offensive plays.

The loss puts Gurdon fourth in league standings behind Mineral Springs, Foreman and Murfreesboro.

The Hornets are 7-1 overall with a 6-0 league record.

Foreman is also 7-1 overall, but has a 4-1 league mark.

The Rattlers played Horatio Saturday and no score is available. This leaves Murfreesboro with a 5-2 record overall and a 3-1 conference mark.

Gurdon follows at 5-2, 3-2. Next is Stamps, 4-4, 2-3; Horatio, 1-6, 1-3; Dierks, 2-6, 1-4; and Lewisville, 0-8, 0-6.

In other league games Friday night, Mineral Springs blasted Dierks 45-0, while Stamps dusted off Lewisville 21-8.

This Friday will be homecoming for the Devils as they play host to the Murfreesboro Rattlers. Last year, Gurdon posted a 31-6 win on the road.

Now, though, Gurdon must win in order to remain in the playoff hunt.

Kickoff for the game is set for 7:30 p.m. at Go-Devil Stadium.