Skip to content

Gilmer Grinds Out Hard-Fought Win Over Pirates

| |

Buckeyes Put Last Year’s Loss Behind Them, Defeating Pine Tree in a Wild 41-25 Affair

By Elwyn Henderson

The Class 4ADII #9 ranked Gilmer Buckeyes opened the 2025 season on the road in Longview against the Pine Tree Pirates Friday night and got the redemption Buckeye Coach Alan Metzel spoke about in our pregame interview. The Buckeyes downed the home team Pirates 41-25, atoning for a shocking 22-15 loss at Jeff Traylor Stadium in Gilmer 363 days prior.

Torrential rains early in the morning had fans concerned about the season opener but fortunately the rain tapered off by mid-day and the temperature at kickoff at 7:30 pm was a very pleasant 77 degrees, making the night much more pleasant for the players and the fans alike than we usually see.

Pine Tree won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to begin the game. Julian Ibarra kicked off and the kick went into the end zone for a touchback and Zade Taylor brought the Buckeyes out for their first possession of the 2025 season.

Taylor led the offense to perfection as the Bucks marched the 75 yards into the end zone in 9 plays, all runs, in 2:22. The score came on a 10-yard run by Taylor with 9:38 left in the first quarter, putting Gilmer up 6-0. Miguel Castaneda’s PAT was no good.

The ensuing kickoff was returned to the PT 30 where Colton Croft brought his offense out. The Black Flag Defense forced a three-and-out and Ibarra punted the ball away but the kick hit a Buckeye and the Pirates recovered at their 47.

Croft led his team into the end zone in just 2 plays over 58 seconds. The score came on a 49-yard Croft pass to Rashad Wofford with 7:08 left in the quarter.

Ibarra’s kick after the score was taken at the Gilmer 6 and returned to the 25 but the Pirates were off sides and Ibarra had to kick again from his 35. The kick went to the Buckeye 18 where Gauge Trossbach returned the ball up to the Gilmer 38 and the offense returned to the field.

It took just 3 plays for Taylor to lead the offense into the end zone. Horne ran for 10 and 16 before Taylor hit Trace Haynes for the score with 5:45 left in the quarter. A bad snap resulted in the point after being no good but Gilmer took the lead back at 12-7.

The next kickoff was returned from the 24 up to the 36 where Pine Tree went back on offense.

The Black Flag bent but didn’t break, forcing a 33-yard Ibarra field goal at the end of a 9-play drive that consume 3:11 off the clock and bringing the score to 12-10 in favor of Gilmer.

The next drive for the Bucks began on their 25 but thanks to a high snap Taylor had to recover the ball back at the Gilmer 3 and that destroyed the possession with Gilmer going three-and-out. The punt from the 11 after a false start went to the Pirate 46 and PT was back in business with a chance to take the lead back with 1:10 left in the opening frame.

The Black Flag forced a three-and-out and Ibarra’s punt was returned to the Gilmer 20 as the first quarter came to an end with Gilmer leading by 2, 12-10.

Gilmer drove down to the Pirate 34 but a Taylor pass on 4th down fell incomplete and the Pirates went back on offense with 6:52 left in the half.

The Pirates moved down to the Gilmer 28 and Ibarra came in to attempt a 45-yard field goal. The snap and hold were less than perfect and the kick looked to be partially blocked. Trey Lee grabbed the live ball and made some great moves and didn’t stop until 84 yards later when he got into the end zone for a Buckeye TD. The score came with 2:32 left in the half. Castaneda added the extra point and Gilmer extended the lead to 19-10.

The ensuing kickoff was returned to the 33 where Croft brought his charges back out for one last possession in the first half. The Black Flag forced a three-and-out and the snap went over the kicker’s head and ended up being only 2 yards and Gilmer was in business with 1:44 left till halftime on the Pirate 33.

The first play gained 17 yards down to the 16 but yet another high snap resulted in a 22-yard loss back to the Pirate 38. Facing a 4th and 20 at the 27 the Pirates were penalized 5 yards to the 22, but a 4th down pass only got to the18 and Pine Tree took over with 15.8 seconds left in the half. They ran 1 play to the 33 and the half ended with Gilmer on top 19-10.

Castaneda kicked the ball away to begin the second half. The kick went to the Pirate 33 where it went out of bounds, resulting in the ball being moved up to the 38.

Croft led his group the 62 yards to pay dirt in 6 plays that took 4:07 off the third quarter clock. The score came on a 32-yard run by Dalan Montgomery. Ibarra added the PAT and the Pirates were back within 2, trailing 19-17 with 7:53 left in the quarter.

Ibarra’s kickoff was returned to the Gilmer 25 and Taylor led the offense back on the field. The Buckeyes forced another three-and-out and Gilmer took over at their 30 after a 42-yard punt with 2:44 left in the third quarter.

On the fifth play of the possession Taylor was intercepted and the ball was returned up to the 44 and Croft and his offense were on the field again only trailing by 2.

The Black Flag forced another three-and-out and after an 11-yard punt Gilmer was back in business at their 45. After no gain on first down the third stanza expired and we headed to the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes were unable to get a first down and punted back to the Pirate 10 with 10:52 left in the game. The Pirates gained 50 yards on a run by Roger Attaway and Gilmer was penalized down to the 25. On the first play after the penalty Atavian Ector stripped the ball and raced into the end zone for a TD with 10:25 left in the game. Taylor ran into the end zone for a 2-point conversion and Gilmer advanced the lead to 25-17.

Castaneda pooched the ball to the left side and Gilmer recovered at the PT 29 and the offense was off to the races again.  It took just 3 plays to get into the end zone again when Horne ran in from the 5 with 8:52 left in the game. The extra point kick was good and the Buckeyes had pretty much iced the game, leading 34-17.

It was a quick three-and-out and after a punt Gilmer took over at their 41 with 7:45 left in the game.

The Bux managed one first down and then turned the ball over on downs at the PT 33 with 4:04 left in the game.

It took just 2 plays for the Pirates to get back on the board. The score came on a 62-yard run by Attaway with 3:21 left in the game. On the extra point attempt the ball was not snapped well and Boston Johnson picked the ball up and ran into the end zone for a 2-point conversion on a busted play, bringing the score to 34-25 with 3:21 left in the game.

The Pirates kicked onside but Gilmer grabbed the ball and moved it down to the Pirate 16 and the offense went back to work.

Three plays later Horne ran into the end zone from the 2 for the final Gilmer TD of the game with 1:55 left in the game. Castaneda’s extra point was good and the Buckeyes officially put the final stake in the heart, leading 41-25.

The Pirates set up on their 32 for what would be their final possession of the game. The defense held and Gilmer took the 41-25 win to go 1-0.

We visited with Coach Alan Metzel after the game and began by asking him if agreed the game was crazy from start to finish.

“It was crazy the whole way through. You know, you can just never predict what’s going to take place. For an opening game, you know, wow! You can almost cover the game situations one a week the rest of the year of things that took place. It’s just that bizarre, being hit in the back of the head by a punt that they punted to us right there at the first of the game. There’s things that we can improve on in each of those things and we’ll get to work on them. I would say the guys had resilience tonight. We had a handful of guys go down with various injuries. We had crazy plays like you mentioned and they just played the next play. Here they are, seems like they’re starting to get the momentum and they get the ball on our side of the field and they called a 15-yard penalty on us instead of them which I thought was just bizarre and then we get the strip and return it for a touchdown. We made a play; you just figure out how to make a play and then you make a play. That’s how you win games. This Buckeye team that we’ve got, I told you it’s like we’ve got this big piece of granite and we’re chiseling. It’s going to be pretty good at the end. We’re working on it right now, but it’s going to look good at the end.”

Next we mentioned that he is always talking about learning from adversity and then growing from it and asked the coach if he agreed the team grew tons during the game with everything they faced during the night.

“That’s right. Bobby Taylor came and spoke to us a few years ago and gave a great talk and one of the things he said was that it’s not win or lose its win or learn. You never lose as long as you’re learning. I thought tonight we had multiple opportunities to learn. We did and we’re going to continue to learn the rest of this year and I’m excited to see what these guys do.”

We talked about how the continuity improved during the second half and Coach Metzel said, “That’s just guys that are having to bear down. We use about three or four different people in the game and you’ve just got to figure it out. Obviously, it will be an area that we’ll continue to work on. It’s not like we have guys that can’t do this. You’re talking about guys that have to do this at a varsity level against high competition and with the pressure they’re having to work their way into this position. We’ll get that line out like on some of the extra point things and so forth where you’ve got new people in all those positions.”

Next we brought up the great job the team did in the punting game and Coach Metzel replied, “Absolutely. It will be interesting to look at the hidden yardage, you know, and seeing how that works out. I think we’ll have ended up winning that by quite a bit, especially when you count that blocked field goal for a touchdown and getting the onside kick. There’s several big, big plays, whereas last year (against the Pirates) that’s where it really ate us up. We have things to work on in that area but I think overall with the big plays I think that’s what pushed us over the top.”

Then we talked about how the team pounded the ball almost to perfection in the game and asked the coach his thoughts on that.

“It really was impressive and the guys and we used them both ways and they were tired just like they were and we just kept leaning on them and they really came through. There’s multiple things that we can improve on where we’d miss a guy or let a guy out-leverage us or whatever or make the wrong cut. That’s what tomorrow’s film is for.”

We asked if he agreed the much cooler than normal first game really helped the team out a lot and he said, “It really did; especially the guys who were playing both ways and the lack of depth we had when we started having the injuries. The night was perfect. I mean it felt like October or something. It really was a blessing and we’ll take it and move on.”

Coaches always say the biggest improvement a team makes is between week 1 and week 2 and we brought up the point that will be critical with the Chapel Hill Bulldogs coming to Jeff Traylor Stadium next Friday night.

“Oh yeah, you make a mistake on them, they score. They just have such incredible team speed, so tomorrow’s film will be so imperative that we do a great job of learning and take that next step. Next week will be another great test.”

We closed by asking his thoughts on the Buckeye Army and what they brought to the team.

“The Buckeye Army was amazing. I mean they were roaring tonight. You could just feel it. They created energy for us. They did a great job I thought of recognizing downs and when they were in the red zone and things and really got loud. It was a really good job by our crowd tonight.”

The team will now turn their attention to the Chapel Hill Bulldogs and work toward win number two on the young season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Breaking News, Sports

Leave a Comment