Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Cats Declawed, Saints Next

Jarrod Toland was able to keep his purple and gold jersey clean during Friday night's Mud Bowl.

He also led the Gurdon Go-Devils to an opening round 39-8 win over the Rison Wildcats in the class A playoffs at Gus Brown Field.

Rain had fallen most of the week, finally stopping a few hours before game time, making the field a muddy mess more resembling a swamp than a gridiron.

The lines were quickly wiped out making it hard for the players to see where they were supposed to stand and not be in the field of play.

Gurdon's wrecking crew defense showed up filled with fire and brimstone, ready to tame Rison's Wildcats, making them instead tabbies to curl up on someone's lap. This they did.

The Devils won the opening toss, deferring until the second half. This gave the 'Cats first chance on offense as they began play from their own 23 after the kick.

Three plays later, though, the wrecking crew had given the visitors a taste of punishment yet to come and forced the game's first punt.

Gurdon took control at its 44, but ran only one play before Toland's pass to Eric Hatley was picked off and returned to the 'Cat 47.

Again the fire-tested front line of the Gurdon defense stymied the visiting offense forcing what appeared to be a punt.

Instead of punting, though, quarterback Jason Young winged a pass to Layne Reed hoping to catch the Devils napping. Reed, however, was stopped short of a first down, giving Gurdon the ball at the 'Cat 48.

Kenny Hughes carried twice, moving the pigskin to the Rison 39, before Toland got the Wildcat defense to jump offside with a hard count.

Lightning then struck as Toland, who was untouched by a Rison player during the game, found Hatley on a slant which ended with Hatley in the end zone.

Josh Griffin kicked the point after, putting his team up 7-0 with 5:08 to play in the opening period.

The remainder of the quarter was a defensive battle, with offensive players doing everything possible not to lose the slick leather hide.

The 'Cats moved rom their 32 to the Gurdon 38 before coughing up their first turnover of the game. The fumble was recovered by Gurdon's Flint King at the Devil 34.

But the off track worked against both teams as the hosts were unable to mount a sustained drive and punted four plays later.

Period two opened with the ball in Rison's hands as the 'Cats faced a third and seven at their own 19. The end result of their aborted drive was a punt to the Gurdon 35.

Two carries by Hughes put the Devils at the 43 before Toland of the clean jersey found Keon Brewer at the 50 for a first down.

However, the 'Cat defense stiffened and forced the Devils to punt for their next to the last time. Griffin's boot put Rison at its 19.

The Wildcats managed a first down, but were eventually forced to punt and give Gurdon the ball again, this time at the Devil 29.

Though nothing was gained on first down, Toland hit Hatley with a screen on second moving the ball to the Rison 40. Chauncey Charles limbered up his legs on the next play, putting the Devils at the one. He followed this up with Gurdon's second touchdown of the night.

Coach John Pace disdained the one point kick for a try for two, getting the ball in the hands of Derrick Gulley who normally spends his time on the line. Gulley simply carried Rison players into the end zone as Gurdon led 15-0 with 3:47 to go in the half.

Following the kick, which put the 'Cats at the 36, Rison shot itself in the foot with a holding penalty. Unable to move against Gurdon's brimstone defense, the 'Cats again punted.

Hatley fielded the kick at the 45, stepped on 'Cat tails until being caught at the 17.

There, Gurdon's lightning-strike offense began. Terry Cornish moved the ball to the 14, before Toland kept on an option and waltzed untouched into the end zone with 1:20 left.

The try for two fell short as Toland was unable to connect with Antonio Gatlin.

Halftime arrived with the Devils firmly in command at 21-0.

With the option of taking the ball or going on defense to start the second half, Gurdon opted for the latter.

On Rison's opening drive, beginning at the 26, the Devil wrecking crew defense proved to be the immovable object as well as the irresistable force.

The third play of the third period saw a fumble recovered for the second time by King, this time at the Rison 19.

Charles ran to the 'Cat 14 before Cornish finished the two-play drive with a touchdown at the 9:43 mark.

The try for point after saw Griffin's boot sail wide right. However, the Devils were in control of the game with a 27-0 lead.

Rison began its next drive at the 24, only to run into the wrecking crew yet again. Two of the three plays ran by the 'Cats went for negative yardage.

The Devils kindly and generously started at the Rison 46.

Hughes carried twice to the 'Cat 27, where a flag gently floated to the ground after a Rison player hit a Gurdon man in the back on the play. The clipping penalty put the ball on the 14.

But, the drive was thwarted two plays later when Toland's pass for Hatley was picked off at the five and returned to the 19.

Undaunted, Gurdon's defense simply pushed the visitors backwards in the direction of the Rison goal, again forcing a punt.

The wet ball slid off the side of the kicker's foot, sailing out of bounds at the Rison 28.

Charles started the drive off with a four yard gain, before Kaleph Williams ran, like a Kenworth truck, through the Wildcat line toward paydirt.

The PAT was partially blocked, but Gurdon held a commanding 33-0 lead.

The 'Cats took over at their 29. As the period wound down, Rison had managed to move two yards, following an illegal motion call against them and an offside call against Gurdon.

Two plays into the final 12 minutes, Rison again turned the ball over. This time, Adrian Meeks fall on the errant pigskin at the 'Cat 39.

Making use of the short field, Toland's generalship led the Devils back to the promised land in five plays.

Hughes and Cornish were the premier runners during the scoring attack, with Hughes capping the drive with a two-yard plunge.

Again, the conversion was unsuccessful, but the Devils were up 39-0 at this time.

Starting at the Rison 37, the 'Cats moved the ball downfield in their only sustained drive of the night, even though it resulted in Gurdon getting the ball back on downs at the 17 with 2:39 left in the battle.

The gods of gridiron then smiled upon Rison as Gurdon fumbled the ball away at the Devil 14.

Young connected with Brigham Watson for Rison's only score, with the two-point conversion giving the final score.

Pace made sure everyone got the chance go get their jersey dirty as the Devils kept the ball until the :05 mark in the game.

"I was worried about field conditions," Pace said. "Anything could have happened. You can't throw and it was a mess.

"I felt we needed to throw some, but our men couldn't run their route