Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Go-Devils Open Season With Monstrous Win Over Fouke

By JOHN MILLER

There were monsters in Fouke Friday night, but these were clad in purple and gold.

Gurdon's Go-Devils opened the 1997 football season on the road and with an 18-7 win over the Panthers.

The Devils proved they could overcome adversity, move the ball and hang on to the pigskin.

Fouke won the toss and took over at its 28. Panther quarterback Blake Crabtree showed the crowd how the single win should be ran.

But, the Panthers could only manage one first down before being forced to punt the ball to Gurdon.

Antonio Gatlin fielded the kick at his 35, returning it to the 47 where Gurdon set up shop.

Senior signalcaller Jared Toland worked quickly as the Devils drove in for a touchdown, coming when he connected with Eric Hatley on a 21-yard pass. Gurdon only needed five plays to cover the distance.

However, the Devils' weak area showed up on the point after attempt as the kick was low and wide left, never having a chance to clear the uprights. Still, Gurdon led 6-0.

Fouke started its second series on the 28 following the kick off.

This time, the Panther ran off nine plays before being forced to punt. Crabtree carried on three occasions for a total of 21 yards before the drive stalled.

Lined up in its normal offensive set, the Panthers quick kicked on fourth down, pinning Gurdon at its two.

Kaleb Williams moved the ball to the five, but second down resulted in a fumble, recovered by Fouke.

Crabtree used his nifty little spin move to freeze Gurdon's linebackers and waltz into the endzone. Fouke's PAT was good and the Panthers led 7-6.

This didn't set well with the Devils. Chauncey Charles returned the kick 19 yards to the 39 giving Gurdon good field position.

He took the pitch from Toland to Fouke's 34 on first down, putting the Devils in scoring position again.

Kenny Hughes bulled his way to the 29, before Charles went to the 19. The fourth play of the drive saw Williams force his way to the nine as the first period ended.

Two plays later, Hughes took a high pitch from Toland into the promised land from three yards out.

With 11:43 left in the half, Gurdon led 12-7. The Devils decided to try for a two-point conversion and were aided when Fouke jumped offsides.

This moved the ball to the one-and-a-half yard line, but the sweep to Hughes was smelled out and stuffed by the Panthers.

Fouke's offense showed it could move the ball between the 20's, but not inside the red zone.

The Panthers started with good field position at their 33, but ran three plays and punted.

Gurdon took control at its 45, but developed laundry problems with the officiating crew. In the six plays the Devils ran, Gurdon was flagged twice -- once for holding and once for delay of game.

With the drive killed, Gurdon punted to the Panthers 11. Fouke returned the favor on the kick and was nailed for an illegal block. This pushed them back to the six.

First down saw Fouke move backwards again as the Panthers were flagged for holding.

But, the home team didn't give up and was able to move into open field before punting yet again.

The Panther drive consumed 6:04 and move from Fouke's three to Gurdon's 37 in 13 plays.

For the second time of the game, the Panthers lined up in their normal set and "pooch-kicked" the ball to Gurdon's 11.

Williams carried to the 15, but a late hit moved the ball to the 30. Gurdon was able to move downfield effectively to Fouke's 36 where the drive stalled with 23 ticks left on the clock.

The Panthers managed two plays before halftime.

However, the officials may have missed a major call on the next to last play of the first half.

Crabtree dropped back to pass and was being hounded by a Devil, who introduced himself to the hometown quarterback. As he was going down, the ball came loose.

But, the officials called it an incomplete pass. At best it was a fumble or at the very least an intentional grounding call was warranted. Neither occurred.

The Devils took the kick to start the second half, with Charles taking it at the 15, returning it to the 30.

While Gurdon was able to move the ball, penalties kept the Devils from getting into scoring position. These penalties were a clipping call after a 12 yard carry by Hughes, and a motion call two plays later.

On third down, Toland dropped back and fired to Josh Griffin over the middle. Griffin was hit by a Panther well before the ball got there, but the officials picked up the flag saying the ball had been tipped first.

This forced Gurdon to punt to the Panther 25. It was brought back to the 32.

Fouke moved all the way to its 35 when Crabtree winged a pass to Ryan Dorse that was almost picked off by Hatley.

The ensuing punt sailed to Gatlin at the 41 and was brought back to the 44.

Gurdon's first two plays of the drive netted a yard loss. Toland hit Hatley at the Fouke 49 on third down, leaving the Devils with a fourth and four situation.

Gurdon Coach John Pace, who had been uncharacteristically air oriented in the game, decided to go for it.

Throughout the game, Toland had been able to get the Panther front line to jump offside by using a hard count. He went to this ploy again, and, again, was successful giving Gurdon a first down on the penalty.

This kept the scoring drive alive as the Devils continued marching downfield toward paydirt for the third time of the night.

Following the penalty, Gurdon's offense only needed five more snaps before Toland hit Hatley again from nine yards out for the score.

On the try for two, Toland hit Hughes for the score, but a holding call against Gurdon forced the Devils to run the play again. This time it was unsuccessful.

But, Gurdon held an 18-7 lead and the Devil wrecking crew defense made sure the home team did little with the ball offensively for the remainder of the contest.

Fouke ran seven plays before turning the ball over on downs as the third ended.

The final 12 minutes of the contest began with Gurdon in possession of the pigskin at its own 46.

However, a fumble (recovered by Gurdon) and motion penalty halted the Devils' drive, forcing a punt.

Jason Walls fielded the kick at Fouke's 24, giving the Gurdon fans a scare as he brought it to the Panther 46 before being stopped.

First down saw Fouke's Justin Jones lose the handle, giving Gurdon the ball at the Panther 44 with 10:10 left in the game.

The Devils kept the ball for 2:55, driving to Fouke's 25 before turning it over on downs.

It didn't matter, though, as the Panthers offense was spent for the most part. Fouke ran six plays and gave the ball back to the Devils on downs at the Gurdon 43.

The Devils moved to Fouke's 42 before the drive ended when Toland's pass was intercepted by Brad Cooper at the Panther 21 with 3:20 left in the game.

Fouke fired its final salvo as the Panthers drove to Gurdon's 19. However, with 1:18 remaining, Crabtree again went back to pass.

He was, again