Cardinals get past Devils for 1st win
HARMONY GROVE 14, GURDON 7
GURDON — After a 17-14 defeat to Centerpoint to start the season, the Harmony Grove Cardinals got in the win column Friday night, downing the Gurdon Go-devils 14-7 in Gurdon. The Cardinals would get down early, but fought back, with the defense doing its part in the second half, to move to 1-1 on the season. Gurdon drops to 0-2.
Though outgained 260 to 206 in total offense, the Cardinals rushed for 181 yards, led by senior Willie Newton’s 45 yards on six carries, though it was slow goings
at the start as Harmony Grove gained just 14 yards total its first two series.
“I wasn’t real pleased with the execution, we were sloppy on the execution,” Cardinals Coach Mike Guthrie said. “We’ve got to correct that. The conference we’re going into, we’ve got to be perfect and we’re not. We’re still making mistakes. If it’s on two, we’ve got guys jumping on one, but those are all fixable things.”
The Go-devils would gift the Cardinals the ball on their opening series of the game as Harmony Grove junior linebacker Luis Meza fell on Gurdon quarterback D.J. Anna’s fumble, though the Cards would be forced to punt on their first series.
Another Cardinal punt, a Gurdon turnover and HG’S turnover on downs ensued before the Go-devils put a good drive together which was capped by an Anna to senior Thomas Stockdale 25-yard touchdown to put Gurdon up 7-0 with just over eight minutes left in the half.
But Harmony Grove, running out of its Diamond-t offense, responded with an epic drive of its own. Seven different Cardinals got touches in an all on the ground 20-play, 74-yard drive capped by senior Ryan Riedmueller’s 3-yard TD run to make it a 7-6 HG deficit after a missed extra point with 23.1 seconds left in the half. The drive, which took 7:37 off the clock, was highlighted by junior Canyon Clifton’s 12-yard run and Newton’s 11-yarder, and the score stayed 7-6 at the half.
“We try to be relentless,” Guthrie said. “We try to come with everything we’ve got every play. We made a few adjustments, gave ourselves a little more room to work in there. They were quite a bit bigger than we were inside.”
The Cardinal defense dug in in the second half, allowing just 39 yards on Gurdon’s first four series, forcing a Go-devil punt on the first one of the second half. Harmony Grove took the lead for good on its next series, using a 10-play, 52-yard drive capped by senior Jayce Harrison’s 1-yard plunge for the 12-7 ballgame, which went to 14-7 when sophomore quarterback Hunter Williams found senior Hayden Hilson for the 2-point conversion with 5:26 remaining in the third quarter.
It was a defensive battle the rest of the way as five punts followed before the Cardinals turned it over on downs with 3:45 to go in the ballgame. HG had Gurdon on a fourth-and-17, but Anna found Stockdale for a 44-yard gain to the Cardinal 38-yard line. Though it bent on that play, the Cardinal D would shut the Go-devils down the rest of the way allowing Williams to kneel the game out in the victory formation.
“Those kids are flying around,” Guthrie said of his defense. “Our defensive coordinator is doing a great job of getting those kids ready. They’re just making plays and as a coach it just makes you proud that they’re playing for you.”
After Newton’s 45 yards on the ground, Harrison (11 carries) and Clifton (10 carries) rushed for 37 yards each, with senior Connor Burrow adding 26 on six carries. Williams was 2 of 5 passing for 25 yards, hitting Hilson for a 17-yard gain and senior Logan Hubbard for an 8-yarder.
“What I’m most proud of is how hard these kids play from start to finish,” Guthrie said. “They give you every ounce of energy they’ve got, and as long as they’re doing that, you’re happy with them. They’re playing to the best of their ability, sometimes it’s good enough, sometimes it’s not, but they’re getting after it and you can go home and sleep at night.”
The Cardinals are back in action on Friday when they head to Bald Knob to face the Bulldogs (0-2), which had a bye this past week.