Devils reach first semi since ‘88, down Panthers
MAGNET COVE — Magnet Cove entered Friday night’s contest with a bit of a chip on its shoulder, its only loss coming in Week 0 at the hands of Mountain View, while Gurdon had just a three-game streak after losing the regular-season finale at home against Foreman.
When the final horn sounded after 48 minutes of play, the Go-Devils (10-3) had earned their first semifinal berth since 1988, and the Panthers (11-2) finished their season with a 34-17 loss at Kenneth W. Hammons Stadium.
When the Panthers held the Go-Devils to six plays and 16 yards on the initial drive followed by an 80-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage, head coach Caleb Carmikle admitted that his team was “feeling good” about the game.
“That was a play we put in this week to take advantage of their linebackers scraping hard over the top to stop the outside run,” he explained, recalling junior running back Landon Stone tearing through a crease before cutting to the visitors’ sideline and running in for the opening touchdown of the game. “Landon, he saw it and made a great cut and went and scored. We knew that was a good possibility, and they adjusted quickly to it, but we scored that first touchdown [and] we’re feeling really good.”
Gurdon quickly responded with runs of 10, 4 and 4 before junior Royrick Anderson ran the ball 36 yards, breaking off the right side and getting pushed out of bounds by Levi Horton.
Two plays later, quarterback DJ Anna found Armando Harper on a 12-yard pass to even the score.
While running back Jameson Threadgill was touted as the team’s primary offensive threat, Anna proved that his passing game was nothing to ignore. He was 5-for-7 passing on the night, averaging 22.0 yards with all but one pass exceeding 10 yards.
“Anytime you see an offense like that, it tells you you’ve got to put bodies in the box to stop the run, and you run that risk of guys squirting and open and they did,” Carmikle explained. “They had a great game plan, and they executed on both sides of the ball. They were ready to play, and they’re [a] good football team. You get in the playoffs, you’re going to play until you see somebody better than you, and they were better than us tonight.”
Threadgill dominated the running game with 31 rushes for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s a good hand,” said Gurdon head coach Kyle Jackson. “They kept him bottled up there early in the first half, and they took away some stuff by their defense, just a good job by their coaches. But usually as the game progresses, he’s going to find a way to slip through there.”
Threadgill and Anna, both juniors, accounted for 323 of the Go-Devils’ 380 yards.
“Welcome to the new 5-2A,” Carmikle said. “That’s a good football team.”
The Panthers finished with four players with double-digit stops on the night as the Go-Devil offense spent nearly six and a half more minutes on the field. Sophomore Jacob Hawthorn led Magnet Cove’s defense with 18 tackles, senior Logan Walker had 12 stops, and senior Bentley Garibay and Stone had 10 each.
“A lot of that means that we were on the field a bunch … especially in the first half,” Carmikle said. “Our linebackers did a good job. They’re big up front, and they really control the line of scrimmage. We struggled getting penetration on the defensive line, and that offense is designed 4 yards and a cloud of dust. It seemed like we were in third and short. I don’t know how many times and just couldn’t make the stop.”
Junior Jaylen Wells with 12 was the only Go-Devil over 10 tackles while 16 players ended up with at least one stop
for the team.
The first half of the game was even with both teams tallying 10 first downs and Magnet Cove outgaining Gurdon 232-221.
“It’s just a great high school football game, man, going back and forth, obviously nip and tuck there in the first half,” Jackson said. “We made some mistakes; they made some plays, but a lot of it’s just they’re a really good football team.
“You know, I’d like to say we made a lot of adjustments at halftime, but that really ain’t the case. I mean, we just kind of did what we’re coached to do, played hard, found the way there in the second half. Obviously the turnover there played a big part of it, kind of got some momentum.”
With just under three minutes left in the third quarter and trailing by 10 points, the Panthers opted for a pass to start their drive at their own 35 yard line with Hodges finding freshman Julius McClellan on an 8-yard screen. Hodges aimed for McClellan on second and 2, but the toss was high. McClellan tipped it up around the 47 yard line and Jamal Williams grabbed the ball, running it back 16 yards to set up the final scoring drive of the night.
“We were driving, and it … just happens,” Carmikle said. “That’s the risk you run when you throw it around a little bit. They forced us to throw it more than we wanted to. Tyler did a great job throwing the ball, especially early. He was really dialed in. They sent some pressure that kind of got to us in the second half, and it just seems like we never could get a drive going.”
Gurdon will travel to Junction City on Friday to face the Dragons.