Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Go-Devils Fall 14-0 In Storm Shortened Game

Mother Nature made her presence known in Friday night's game between Gurdon and Prescott.

The game opened under a tornado watch, with the clouds black and threatening over Prescott High School.

Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, but the winds were alarmingly calm just before kickoff.

The game, once underway, didn't last a full quarter. In fact, it was called at the 1:35 mark in the first with Prescott leading 14-0. Because the game was cancelled, the Curley Wolves were called the winners.

However, the game opened with Prescott winning the toss and deferring until the second half. This allowed Gurdon first possession.

The kickoff, though, sailed into the endzone for a touchback, giving the Go-Devils the ball at their 20.

The Devils had an ominous start as the first snap from center resulted in the ball hitting the ground on a bad exchange. Jared Toland managed to fall on the errant pigskin at the 18.

Second down resulted in Mario Charles going nowhere, and putting Gurdon in a third and 12 situation.

Dropping back to pass, Toland found a pack of hungry Wolves on his heels, forcing him to roll to his left. As the Prescott defenders neared, Toland winged one to Kenny Hughes, with Hughes rambling to the Devils' 43 for a first down.

Toland never saw the completion as he was rudely introduced to a number of Prescott players.

Hughes followed by taking a pitch on an end around, managing another three yards. Charles was dropped for a yard loss and Toland's pass fell harmlessly to the ground, forcing Gurdon to line up for a punt.

However, the snap from center was high, forcing Joshua Thomas to leap for the ball. Before he could get the kick off, a hoard of Wolves descended and blocked it.

Prescott recovered the ball at Gurdon's 15 with 8:45 left in the opening stanza.

Before the Wolves got a play off, a yellow hankie floated to the ground, moving Prescott five yards closer to the promised land as Gurdon was called for offsides.

Three plays later Carlos Vanhook went in for a two-yard touchdown. The point after gave Prescott a 7-0 lead at the 7:40 mark.

Gurdon Coach John Pace went to the back pages of the playbook on the ensuing kickoff.

Charles fielded the kick at the 10. All nearby Devils flocked around him as the Wolves raced downfield. Gurdon scattered in a myriad of directions, with Patrick Lomack carrying the ball, confusing the Wolves. Lomack made it to the 25 before being brought down from behind.

Two plays resulted in four yards in the wrong direction for Gurdon, forcing Toland to drop back in passing formation again.

The Devil signalcaller felt the heat again as a number of Prescott players were in hot pursuit.

Once the ball left Toland's hands, a volleyball game ensued with the pigskin being tipped several times before landing on terra firma, and forcing Gurdon to punt.

This time, the snap was good and Thomas' kick sailed to the Devil 43, where Mike Fountain fielded the ball and returned it to the 28.

Al Johnston went to the air three times, each time missing connection with his intended receiver.

On fourth down, the Wolves surprisingly punted, with the coffin-corner attempt rolling into the endzone.

It was three and out again for the Devils, as the Gurdon offense was unable to get untracked against the Prescott defensive alignment.

The boot went to the 38, where the Wolves took over with 3:03 showing on the clock.

Vanhook toted the mail on first down, gaining seven yards. From there, it was the Sam Marlow show as he raced 16 yards to Gurdon's 15 on a draw play. This was followed by a run to the three on another draw, before Marlow punched it in for the score.

Again, the point after attempt was true and Prescott led 14-0 with 1:35 left in the opening period.

At this point, the officials stepped in and called a 20 minute break because of the lightning. The funny thing is, at the time the break was called, it wasn't raining, and the lightning was still several miles away to the west.

Reports from Hope and Hempstead County foretold of severe weather to come, as the Hope-Nashville game had also been halted temporarily.

On two occasions the officials almost resumed play. Each time, though, lightning crashed closer to Prescott, keeping the delay in order.

A light rain started falling at 8:17 p.m., with fans remaining in the stands, though both bands had left the field.

At about 8:35, a bolt of lightning struck down closer. This resulted in the stadium lights being turned off, with many thinking they had been knocked out. But the scoreboard clock remained lighted, which showed the stadium lights were unharmed.

The announcement cancelling the game came at approximately 8:45, giving the Wolves a 14-0 win.

The abbreviated unofficial statistics show Gurdon was one of four for 25 yards in the passing game, while the Wolves were 0-4.

The Devils attempted three punts, getting two off for 47 yards, with one returned for 15 yards. The other punt was blocked. Prescott punted once for 33 yards.

Gurdon ran 12 plays to Prescott's 11 and were penalized twice for 10 yards, while the Wolves were flagged once for 10 yards.

The Devils fumbled once, recovering it, while Prescott had no turnovers.

The Wolves had three first downs to Gurdon's one.

Gurdon managed a total of 21 offensive yards, as compared to 48 yards for Prescott.

Charles ran the ball three times for a negative one yard. K. Hughes carried once for three yards, while Tonio Gatlin toted the mail once for a loss of four. Kaleb Williams carried once for three yards and Toland carried once for a loss of five.

For Prescott, Marlow carried four times for 35 yards, with Vanhook carrying three times for 13 yards.

Gurdon returns to the friendly confines of Gus Brown Stadium Friday night as they host the Mineral Springs Hornets.

The Hornets humiliated Lewisville 42-0 in their contest Friday night.