Gilmer 56, North Lamar 0

By Elwyn Henderson

The Gilmer Buckeyes officially brought District 7-4A DII competition and Phase 2 of the 2024 season to a close Thursday night over a hapless North Lamar Panther team on the road in Paris. The game was moved from Friday because of the threat of severe thunderstorms forecast in the area right at kickoff time.
As expected, the Panthers provided no competition at all in the fray, allowing Coach Alan Metzel to get a number of backups significant playing time which helped them grow and mature and be ready if called on during the playoffs in Phase 3 of the season which begins next week. The Bucks scored early and often and at will en route to a convincing 56-0 shutout victory.
Gilmer won the coin toss to begin the game and elected to receive. Dallas Foster kicked the ball out of the end zone and after a touchback Gilmer began their first drive of the night at their 30.
Brady McCown led the offense down the field the 70 yards into the end zone for the TD with 8:39 left in the first quarter. The drive was 10 plays and took 3:21. The score came on an 8-yard TD pass from McCown to Cadon Tennison. Brayden Pate split the uprights on the PAT kick and Gilmer had a quick 7-0 lead.
Pate’s kick after the score was returned up to the Panther 25 and Kai Furtch brought his unit out for their first possession of the night. It was a short three-and-out and Foster punted away. The ball went out of bounds at the NL 40 where the Gilmer offense returned to the field.
McCown and the offense moved down the field in quick fashion, getting the 40 yards into the end zone for the second TD of the game in 8 plays and 1:53. The score came on a 5-yard TD pass from McCown to Brendan Webb with 4:49 left in the quarter. Pate’s extra point kick was good and Gilmer led 14-0.
The next Panther drive began at their 22 after a 10-yard holding penalty on the return of the kickoff. The Black Flag allow 1 first down and then shut the door, forcing another Foster punt. The ball went out of bounds at the Gilmer 40 and the offense went back to work again.
It took just 4 plays and 1:26 for the Bucks to find the end zone for the third time. The score came on a 9-yard TD pass from McCown to Geramiah Noble with 1:17 left in the first quarter. Pate’s point after was good and Gilmer led 21-0.
There was a fumble on the return but the Panthers recovered at their 7 where Furtch and his team took the field again.
The Buckeyes subbed freely and NL had a drive going when on a 4th and 5 Trill Butler intercepted a tipped pass and returned in 61 yards down the left side untouched for a pick-6 with 8:34 left in the first half. Pate added the extra point and Gilmer led 28-0.
Pate’s kick went into the end zone for another touchback. The Black Flag forced another three-and-out and Foster’s went from his 31 to the Gilmer 36 where Webb grabbed the ball and returned it down to the Panther 37 with 6:44 left in the half.
It took just 3 plays and 55 seconds for the Bux to get into the end zone again. This time Zade Taylor ran in from 31 yards out on a 3rd and 5 with 5:49 left in the half. Pate’s extra point was good punt and the blowout was in full force with Gilmer up 35-0.
The home team began on their 25 again after a touchback and on 4th down a high snap on a punt went way over punter Dallas Foster’s head and he fell on the ball at his 3 and Gilmer was in great shape to extend the lead.
They did just that, moving the 3 yards in 3 plays and taking just 37 seconds off the clock. The offense was flagged for a false start but they easily overcame the penalty. The score came on an 8-yard pass to Noble with 4:04 left in the half. Pate split the uprights and the lead shot up to 42-0.
After another quick three-and-out the Bux set up on their 43 after a short return of the Foster punt by Webb.
It took 6 plays and 1:42 for the offense to trek the 57 yards into the end zone for the seventh TD of the night. The score came on a 1-yard run by Sims with 1:12 left in the game. Pate’s kick was good and Gilmer led 49-0.
The Panthers ran 5 plays after the kickoff and the half ended with a laugher as the Buckeyes were up 49-0 and they had played just about every player suited out in the half.
Pate’s second half kickoff began with a running clock and the ball was returned to the Panther 32 and the second half was underway.
After allowing one first down the Black Flag forced a punt on the second series. The ball was downed at the Gilmer 21.
Zade Taylor came in at quarterback and he led the team the 79 yards into the end zone in 8 plays and 5:07. Pate’s kick was good and Gilmer extended the lead to 56-0. Since the clock was running, the quarter ended shortly after the extra point kick and we moved to the fourth quarter.
After taking a knee at the 30, the Panthers went back on offense. Once again, the Black Flag forced a punt on the second series and Gilmer set up shop on their 40 with 7:22 and counting left in the game.
Taylor drove the offense down to the Panther 7 where he took a knee out of the victory formation three times and the clock ran out with the final score 56-0.
We talked to Coach Alan Metzel after the big victory and asked if he was not very pleased with the focus the team had in the game.
“Absolutely, a game like that can be a trap from the standpoint of just playing sluggish you know and not being focused and those kind of things. What you saw was a group of guys that understand this is another step in the road and they took that step tonight. Like you said, from the kickoff when we started the game to the finish, we were locked in and I’m just thrilled to see that. We got to play every single player that was dressed. And they all had a contribution one way or another and that’s fun. It’s good to see guys that work so hard every day and get to get out there on the field and get a ball on them. That’s big, so good night for the Buckeyes!”
We pointed out how focused the backup players were to get in on defense and preserve the shutout.
“They really were and some of those guys have had to play some meaningful minutes earlier with some of the injuries, but then you’ve got young guys that are stepping up and playing and you’re not a freshman anymore, you’re not a sophomore anymore. That was the tenth game. Now you need to be crossing that threshold into that next level of play and hopefully, that’s what we’ll see one week at a time for the next however many weeks. Hopefully, we’ll run it as long as we can. Good stuff; it’ll be a great film for us to be able to watch and critique. I told them our goal tonight was to grade out better, every individual to grade out better than you’ve graded the rest of the year, so we’ll see how we did on that.”
We mentioned that since we were able to have a running clock in the second half after accomplishing everything they wanted to in the game that they were able to avoid injuries.
“That’s big too. You’re right. I remember a few years ago Rohan Fluellen got hurt right over there. You don’t want to end up coming out of here banged up. It presented itself the way we wanted, finished well and had a good night.”
We also asked the coach if there was anything he wanted to get done in the game that he didn’t get done.
“No, not really, quite frankly. I’ll throw this in on a side note. We didn’t get to have Tru Griffin with us tonight with the loss of his brother Gabe who played for us. (It was) just a devastating blow to the Buckeye family, to the Griffin family; what an amazing young man. As a team we rallied. We’ve all been shooting texts and calling and just letting Tru know we’re with him. That’s when Gilmer’s at its finest is when people hurt and they come together and I know we’ll do that for them right now. I wanted to make sure we said that. That’s a big deal for us.”
We asked Coach Metzel his thoughts on how many of the Army of Buckeyes made the hour and a half drive to be at the game.
“Yeah, it was fun and I could tell they were enjoying it. Of course here you’re right up close so you hear all that and it was a good, fun atmosphere and I’m really pleased the guys got to do so well.”
We concluded by bringing up that Phase 2 is now over and next week begins Phase 3 when it becomes win or go home as the playoffs begin. We asked how excited he was that were are at that point in the season.
“Fired up; I mean this is when you just start foaming at the mouth. This is when you’re staying up late and can’t go to sleep because your adrenalin is running and you’re thinking about what you want to get done and how to attack the week next week. We’ll have all the details tomorrow evening (on who the Buckeyes will face in their Bi-District matchup), when, where, who, all that kind of stuff. This is what we love here in Gilmer, Texas!”