Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Tames Lions (cont)

downs. Gurdon was poised at the Horatio 35.

Two plays put the Devils at the 15, where a flag moved them back to the 20 for illegal motion. Charles carried twice to the eight, and the Lions were nailed for an illegal block. This put the Devils at the four and in position for the final score of the game.

Charles took the pitch from Toland, circled around right end and headed toward the end zone. Three players, one Devil and two Lions, were battling at the goal line. Taking no chances, Charles hurdled all three for the score.

Making it six times in a row, the Devils failed to convert the point after try, as Griffin's kick sailed wide right after Gurdon was flagged for illegal procedure.

Giving credit where credit is due, the Lions didn't roll over and die as they could have easily done. Instead, Williamson came out throwing, moving his team to the Gurdon 21.

But, the Devils have been a team of destiny from the first day of practice and Hatley picked off one of Williamson's pass attempts to kill the Lions' last drive.

Toland simply kneeled twice to run out the clock and give the Devils a 36-14 win, but more importantly the 7A West Conference Championship and home field advantage through at least the first two weeks of the playoffs.

Statistically, Gurdon also was the dominant team on the field -- including dominating in penalties. The Devils were flagged 15 times for 117 yards in losses. Horatio saw laundry fall eight times for 89 yards.

Toland was hot with the passing game as he connected on 13 of 19 attempts for 175 yards and three touchdowns.

His counterpart winged the ball 38 times, finding Lion receivers 13 times for 155 yards and two scores. He was also picked off five times.

Both teams punted four times. Gurdon had a gross of 145 yards and a net of 137 after an eight-yard return. The Lions had 104 gross yards and 103 net yards in punting.

Interestingly, both teams were able to make first downs on 18 occasions.

Gurdon put the ball on the ground twice, losing it once.

The real difference in the game was the rushing attack of both teams. Gurdon's ground game garnered 159 yards, while its stingy defense only gave up 65.

This gave the Devils the edge in total yards with 334 to 220 for the Lions. Gurdon also ran more plays (64-60) than the home team.

Charles was again the leading ground gainer for Gurdon with 71 yards on 18 carries. Hughes rushed 13 times for 33 yards, while Toland ran the ball eight times for 31 yards and two touchdowns. Williams had two runs for 16 yards.

Overall, Gurdon had 45 rushing plays for the 159 yards. Horatio ran the ball 22 times for its 65 yards.

Going into the game the Lions knew they had to beat Gurdon and have Dierks beat Stamps in order for them to make the playoffs. Neither happened.

Stamps posted a 35-0 shutout over the pathetic Outlaws. The other league game saw Murfreesboro trounce Foreman 44-6. In non- conference action, Lewisville posted its first win in two years with a 14-7 victory over Woodlawn.

While Gurdon will host Rison, the fourth place team from the 7A East Friday night to get the playoffs underway, Mineral Springs will entertain Camden Harmony Grove, also from the 7A East. Stamps will make the trip to Bearden, while Murfreesboro will travel to Smackover.