Gilmer 20, Center 14

By Elwyn Henderson

The Gilmer Buckeyes traveled to Tatum Friday night for their Class 4A DII bi-district matchup against the Center Roughriders for the second time in as many years, but unlike 2023 this was a low scoring game that turned into a nail biter for both teams. When the dust cleared the Buckeyes walked off the field with a 20-14 win. With the victory Gilmer moved to 8-3 on the year and Center ends its season at 8-3.

The Bucks advance to the Area Round to face Sunnyvale, a 52-27 winner over Caddo Mills. This week’s game will be played on Thursday night (tonight) in Sulphur Springs at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $7 for adults and $5 for students and orange cards will be accepted. Gilmer will be the home team since we played Sunnyvale last year and were the visitor last year.

According to Coach Alan Metzel the UIL requires that if the same two teams play in consecutive years the team that was the visiting team the first year is automatically the home team the next year.

According to Buckeye Football Historian Joe Dodd’s notes on the game, the two teams played 12 times previously with Gilmer holding an 11-1 advantage. Interestingly, the two first faced off in 1926 with Gilmer taking a 26-7 win and in 1928 they won 20-6. Center’s lone victory in the series came in 1952 with a 27-13 win. The Buckeyes then won 6-0 in 1953, 27-0 in 1954 and 18-0 in 1955. The teams did not play again until 2006 when they were in the same district. Gilmer won 64-6 in 2006, 63-6 in 2007, 36-21 in 2015, 70-21 in 2016, 56-17 in 2017 and 69-42 last year. The 1926, 1928, 2015 and 2023 games were playoff games

To begin the game Gilmer won the toss and elected to receive. Pablo Huichapa kicked off and the ball was taken at the Gilmer 18 where the Bucks began their first possession of the night from that point.

The Buckeyes managed one first down thanks to a face mask call on Center, but they were forced to punt the ball away from their 43. The ball died at the Rider 26 where TJ Belin brought the Center offense out for their first possession.

Belin led his offense into the end zone, taking 7 plays and 2:18 to move the 74 yards. The score came on a 2-yard run by Belin with 7:11 left in the first quarter. Huichapa nailed the PAT and Center had an early 7-0 lead.

McCown led Gilmer right back in short fashion. The Bucks began at their 45 after the kickoff. 8 plays and 5:56 later Trill Butler ran into the end zone from 16 yards out with 3:15 left in the opening frame. Brayden Pate kicked the extra point and the game was tied 7-7.

The Black Flag Defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Center possession. Brendan Webb returned the ball 52 yards for a TD but Gilmer was called for holding nullifying the score. The offense picked up one first down and then had to put the ball away. The Black Flag forced another three-and-out and after a 34-yard punt the Bucks were back on offense at their 46.

McCown led the offense into the end zone in 7 plays that took 2:36 off the clock. The score came on a 2-yard run by Butler with 8:09 left in the first half. Pate’s extra point was good and Gilmer took their first lead of the game. A 2-point try with Tennison the holder, tossing a pass to Pate, the kicker was no good as the Roughriders snuffed the fake out, but Gilmer led 13-6.

Center punted on their next 2 possessions. Gilmer punted between the two Center possessions and then after the second punt the Bucks set up on their 39 with 4:01 left in the half. It took just 4 plays and 1:22 to get the ball the 61 yards into the end zone. The score came on a 31 yard pass to Webb with 2:39 left in the half. Pate’s extra point kick was good and the Bux led 20-7.

The Black Flag forced another three-and-out and after a punt Gilmer set up on their 27 with 1:30 left in the half, hoping to add to the lead before the teams headed to their respective locker rooms. On 3rd and 7 from their 30 McCown ran down the field for 16 yards, was hit hard and the ball was jarred loose. The officials ruled at first that he was down before the ball came out but after a lengthy discussion they changed the ruling and called it a fumble with a Center recovery at their 45. After 3 plays that resulted in 10 yards in losses the clock ran out and the half ended with Gilmer in control 20-7.

Pate kicked off to the Roughriders to begin the second half. The kick traveled through the end zone and Center set up on their 25 for a short 3 plays before they had to punt the ball away. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes faced the same result and after a Pate punt Center set up on their 12 for their next possession.

They picked up one first down and had to punt on the next series. The Buckeyes set up on their 49 and after picking up one first down Pate had to punt the ball away the next series. The punt went to the Rider 22 and was returned up to the 44.

Belin led his team on a 7-play, 56-yard drive that consumed 2:36 off the third quarter clock. The drive ended with a 9-yard TD run around left end by freshman Jaysis Villegas with 1:01 left in the third stanza. The extra point was good and the Gilmer lead was cut to 20-14.

The kickoff after the score went out of the end zone and McCown and company began their next drive at their 25.

It looked like the offense was on the move, but things fell apart and Pate had to punt the ball. The kick went out of bounds at the 14 and Belin brought his group in with a chance to take the lead for the second time in the game.

He had his team moving and then Gilmer was erroneously called for pass interference that was in no way interference on the 3rd and 13 play that extended the drive. Fortunately the penalty didn’t result in a score. On 4th and 3 from the Gilmer 33 the running back was stopped close to a first down but after a measurement the ball was short and Gilmer took over at their 30.

The Center defense forced a punt after just one series and they took possession on the Gilmer 49 with 4:39 left in the game and had one more chance to take the lead and possibly pull off an upset. Fortunately for the Bucks it didn’t happen. After a 5-yard penalty for a false start and an incomplete pass the center snapped the ball before Belin was expecting it and the ball hit the ground and Gilmer’s Trey Lee recovered at the Center 43 with 4:28 left in the game.

The Bucks took the clock down to near zero on every play and managed to pick up first downs when they had to have them, including converting a 4th and 3 on a pass from McCown to Webb. The Roughriders took their final time out at their 15 with 48 seconds left in the game with Gilmer facing a 3rd and 5. Taylor gained 6 yards and picked up a first down and the Buckeyes ran out the clock to pull out the 20-14 win and move on to the area game.

When we visited with Coach Alan Metzel we mentioned that the Roughriders definitely came to play and they gave everything they had.

“They played really well; hats off to them. I felt like we kept putting ourselves behind the sticks. That’s what kept getting us in a bind when you’re 1st and 20 like we were the whole second half. Having said all that, I loved the way our guys just kept chipping away. Defense just kept giving us the ball back and they (the offense) made some huge plays in that last part of the game to be able to run that clock out. That was big on that fourth down first down. All those games early, (the tough losses and wins) that’s where it pays off right there.”

We brought up the fact that the pass interference calls against the defense were really bad calls and the coach replied, “I was definitely sharing my opinion, I’ll say that with the people down here (the officials). You know, I’ll just leave it at that.”

We also mentioned that the Buckeyes just wanted it more than the Roughriders when it came down to it.

“You’re correct; I agree. We had some grit, we pushed through. I feel like the thing that stuck us was us holding because we’d move the ball and then we’d end up 2nd and 21. That allowed them to just pin their ears back and go. That kept changing the strategy. Having said all that, you just have to figure out a way to overcome it. You’ve got to play field position and when you have to you’ve got to punt and let the defense get it back for you. The guys came through and I’m really proud the way it felt over here. The fans were into it and the Buckeyes came to Tatum, Texas and took care of business!”

We discussed the fumble the Black Flag recovered when the center unexpectedly snapped the ball and Coach Metzel said, “That’s the game-clincher right there. All I can say is you just have to keep playing and hope that you put yourself in a position to make that play whenever it presents itself. Our guys made that play. Is it fortunate? Yes, but there were some unfortunate plays that happened at other times. It’s part of the game.”

We asked about the decision not to attempt a field goal on the last drive where the offense converted the 4th down and he said, “As it was it would have been a 40+ and I felt like 4th and 3 and we felt good about the play we ran. We’d been working on it and we felt like we could get B Webb open. We knew they’d be in man and we could get him across and get him open and good throw, good protection, he makes a great catch and then we can run it out.”

We also asked the coach if he agreed with this writer’s opinion the attempt for a 2-point conversion after the first TD was a good decision despite Pate being stopped short of the goalline on the attempt.

“I agree. It’s one of those things where it’s a gamble. You’re trying to gain a point. We didn’t get it. At that point in the game you’re hoping you can make it up somewhere along the line. It’s just part of playing to win, you know. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. When it doesn’t people go ‘oh that was dumb’ and I go oh yeah, it didn’t work. We were trying to be aggressive.”

We want to sing praises to the Army of Buckeyes. You did a great job of filling up the visitors stands in Tatum and you definitely contributed to the win with your noise and support of the team. We want to challenge you to that again next Thursday night in Sulphur Springs when we take on Sunnyvale.

The team gave everything they had in this game and will do the same next week. They earned and deserve your support next week. Don’t let them down and do your part and make the trip and cheer the Bucks on to Round 3.