Sunnyvale 27, Gilmer 17
By Elwyn Henderson
The Gilmer Buckeyes traveled to Sulphur Springs Thursday evening for their Class 4A DII Area contest against the Sunnyvale Raiders who they played in the Area Round last year. Gilmer won the game with a 34-yard Brayden Pate field goal with 3 seconds left in the game, resulting in a 41-38 Buckeye victory.
CalPreps score predictor that this writer uses each week picked Gilmer to win the game 35-24, but when the game ended the Buckeyes and the Army were in shock as they fell to the Raiders by the score of 27-17.
Sunnyvale won the coin toss before the game and they chose to defer to the second half.
Gabe Pendyala kicked off and the ball went into the end zone for a touchback to the Gilmer where Brady McCown brought the offense out for their first possession of the night. After an incomplete pass Trill Butler was hit hard and the ball was jarred loose and Drew Gardner recovered for Sunnyvale
The Black Flag Defense did their job and forced a 40-yard field goal by Pendyala with 10:18 left in the first quarter. The drive was 4 plays, 3 yards and took 1:29.
After another touchback the Bucks set up on their 25 once again. Unfortunately, it was a three-and-out and after a 47-yard Brayden Pate the kick was returned 37 yards down to the Gilmer 43 by Gardner and the Raiders were back in business.
Cayson Maupin brought his offense out from that point and on a 4th and 2 Pate intercepted the ball at the Buckeye 22 and returned it up to the 27. Unfortunately, it was another three-and-out for the Buckeyes thanks to a couple of dropped passes. Pate came in and nailed a 51-yard punt that died on the Raider 18.
Thanks to a blown coverage Maupin hit a wide open Hudson Leonard who had no defender within 20 yards and he sailed into the end zone for the first TD of the night with 5:46 left in the quarter. Pendyaya’s point after was good and Sunnyvale was out to a 10-0 lead. The drive was 3 plays, 82 yards and took 56 seconds.
Another touchback set McCown and company up on their 25 again. The two teams exchanged punts and then Gilmer set up on their 35 with 2:50 left in the opening quarter.
Mainly on the strength of runs Gilmer finally found the end zone with 11:54 left in the first half. The score came on a 2-yard run by Alec Sims. Pate added the point after and the Bux closed the gap to 10-7. The drive was 8 plays, 65 yards and took 2:56 off the clock.
Pate’s ensuing kickoff went out of the end zone for a touchback and Maupin and his offense came back out at their 25.
The Raiders, thanks to a 15-yard personal foul on Gilmer that boosted their offense, moved 68 yards in 9 plays that consumed 2:26 off the clock. The kick extended the lead for the visitors to 13-7.
Another touchback set the Bucks up on their 25 once again. After picking up one first down Pate had to punt the ball away again. The ball died at the Sunnyvale 22 with 6:15 left in the first half and Maupin brought his group out again. The Black Flag forced a three-and-out and after a punt Gilmer was back in business at their 47.
The offense got things rolling and moved the ball 75 yards in 11 plays over 4:02 before the drive ended on a 1-yard TD run by Zade Taylor on 4th and goal. Pate nailed the extra point and Gilmer had their first lead of the night.
Pate’s kick was taken at the 7 yard line and returned up to the 26. On the first play of the possession Maupin was hit 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage and Shawn Johnston recovered for Gilmer.
McCown led the team down to the 7 and on 4th down Pate came in an booted a 24-yard field with 32 seconds left till halftime and Gilmer extended their lead to 17-13. The drive was 4 plays, 19 yards and took 38 seconds.
After a touchback the Raiders ran 3 plays and the half came to an end. The Buckeyes and their fans breathed a sigh of relief after the comeback.
Pate kicked the ball away to begin the second half and the ball went out of the end zone, setting Sunnyvale up on their 25 for their first possession of the second half. The Black Flag gave up one first down and forced a punt on the next series. Webb took the kick at the Gilmer 8 and returned it to the 10.
On the first play of the possession Garren James jumped the route intended for Webb and intercepted the McCown pass for an 18-yard pick 6 with 10:11 left in the third. The extra point kick was good and Sunnyvale reclaimed the lead, 20-17.
Taylor returned the kick after the score to the Gilmer 34. The offense managed one first down but had to punt on the next series. The Pate punt was returned to the Raider 33 and Maupin led his teammates on the field again. The Black Flag gave up one first down and then forced a punt but Gilmer made a huge mistake and the ball hit a Buckeye and the Raiders recovered at the Gilmer 34 with 4:31 left in the third period.
The Black Flag did the job once again and forced a three-and-out and after an 18-yard punt Cadon Tennison came in at quarterback at his 23.
He led the team to three first downs but on a key 3rd and 6 Tennison was hit 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage, fumbled the ball but he managed to recover, but the Bucks had to punt the ball away once again. He blasted a 52-yard punt that was downed at the Raider 1.
Maupin managed to lead his team to 3 first downs, one coming on a 15-yard pass interference against Gilmer. The Black flag forced a punt that was downed at the Gilmer 4.
The offense picked up one first down and on a third down Tennison was picked off by Gardner at the Gilmer 22. Maupin led the offense into the end zone for the score that sealed the final nail in the Buckeyes coffin. The score came on a 2-yard run by Maupin with 4:23 left in the game. The extra point was good and Sunnyvale led 27-17. The drive was 6 plays, 22 yards and took 3:22.
Tennison brought the offense back out at his 25. Thanks to a couple of 15-yard personal foul penalties against the Raiders the Bucks moved the ball down to the Sunnyvale 28, facing a 4th and 8 from that point. A Tennison pass into the end zone fell incomplete and the Raiders took over at their 28 with 2:30 left in the game and Gilmer had only 1 time out remaining.
The Bucks forced a three-and-out and Gilmer got the ball back one last time at their 39 with 42 seconds left in the game. On the first play of the possession Tennison was intercepted at the Sunnyvale 49 with 13 seconds remaining. Maupin took a knee and the Buckeyes season came to a close for the 2024 season, ending a 17-year streak of the Bucks making in to at least the third round of the playoffs. Regardless of the heartbreaking loss, it was another great season for Gilmer and the dynasty is still alive and well. We will now have to look forward to the 2025 season.
We talked with a very disappointed Coach Alan Metzel after the game and began by asking him after seeing the team come from 10 points down early and taking a 17-13 lead into the locker room at halftime what went wrong in the second half.
“We couldn’t get out of our own way. We made so many mistakes just all over the place. The effort was there; the execution was not and I take responsibility for that. When you lose when you feel like you shouldn’t that’s hard to swallow.”
We pointed out the Black Flag Defense kept the team in the game the whole night, but that it looked like the offense was out of sync the whole night and the coach said, “It was and there’s no excuses. We did not make the plays when we had to. We would have a spurt or two and then we’d shoot ourselves in the foot again. That’s a reflection of me and I accept it. It’s just hardest when that is the final one.”
We told Coach Metzel we knew it was a tough pill to swallow, to which he replied, “It is, and I’m not trying to say that (the loss was on him) because it’s what you’re supposed to say. I believe it and that goes with the territory. That’s part of it and I accept that. I hate it for the seniors that our season didn’t finish the way we thought we were capable of it finishing and right now there’s no platitudes or things I need to say. We’re hurting and it will take us a little while to work through it and then we’ll go from there.”
We asked if he thought the fact that the team had two really easy games against the woeful Spring Hill and North Lamar teams had something to do with the Buckeyes struggling both in the Center game and the Sunnyvale game and contributed to the failure to be able to score in the second half both weeks.
“Well I’m not going to say they don’t. Right now nothing’s off the table. When you don’t play the way you should and execute then there’s a multitude of possibilities. That may have factored in there. I feel like that we should be mature enough that we could overcome those things but we didn’t tonight. Right now it’s a little beyond words.”
We know there are going to be the naysayers out there in the Army of Buckeyes who are going to point fingers and various players and possibly coaches because things ended this season before we expected they would, but the bottom line is we are all spoiled due to the great success the team has had since 2001. Yes, we finished 8-4 and went out in the second round this year but there are teams across our state who haven’t even had a winning season much less won a State Championship or made it to the playoff in two decades and Gilmer has 4 State Championships during that time. Please keep that in mind and don’t go on social media blasting pages with negative comments. These are young men that are still maturing and getting set for life after high school in many cases. This team gave us everything they had and we should all be proud of their accomplishments this season. Brenham lost only to the Buckeyes this year and they have been blowing people out all year long since we took them down in Huntsville. Tell the team members that you love them and appreciate them and tell our coaches the same thing. They worked countless hours 7 days a week to help keep the dynasty alive. Let’s focus on the positive and not the negative. We’ll be back better and stronger next season. Thanks again Buckeyes for your hard work and fighting through adversity all season long. You could have folded up shop a number of times during the season but you kept bouncing back. We are proud of you!