Gilmer 50, North Lamar 7
By Elwyn Henderson
The Gilmer Buckeyes successfully closed out their 2025 regular season on Senior Night at Jeff Traylor Stadium in Gilmer Friday night with a 50-7 plastering of the winless North Lamar Panthers in a District 7-4A DII contest. The win pushes Gilmer to 4-6 on the season and 3-2 in district dustups while the Panthers head to round ball season.
For the 25th year in a row the Buckeyes will move into Phase 3 and begin playoff competition Friday night, November 14th in 7:30 PM clash against the Athens Hornets at Henderson Lions Stadium.
As the officials met at midfield with the captains from both teams Friday night, North Lamar won the coin toss to begin the game and they chose to receive to open the contest.
Miguel Castaneda kicked off and the ball was returned from the 30 up to the 34 yard line and the Panthers began their first possession of the night from that point.
The Black Flag Defense forced a quick three-and-out and after a 19-yard punt Zade Taylor brought the Buckeyes offense out for the first time in the game.
Taylor led the offense on a 3-play, 50 yard scoring drive that lasted just 57 seconds. The score came on a 52-yard TD pass from Taylor to a wide open Trace Haynes in the middle of the field. The PAT kick by Castaneda was good and Gilmer led 7-0 with 8:41 left in the first quarter of play.
The Panthers managed one first down on their next possession that began on their 31 and then they had to punt on the next series.
The Bucks set up on their 34 and took 6 plays and 1:14 to move the 66 yards into the end zone for their second TD of the night. The score came on a 30-yard pass from Taylor to Austin Blakeley with 5:20 left in the opening frame. Tayveon Horne ran into the end zone for a 2-point conversion and Gilmer led 15-0.
On their next possession after a fumble Brendan Darnold recovered for Gilmer at the NL 23 and the Bucks were back in business again. It took just 2 plays and 24 seconds for the Buckeyes to get into the end zone again. The score came on a 31-yard pass from Taylor to Soloman Jackson with 4:22 left in first quarter. The extra point was good and Gilmer led 22-0.
The Panthers garnered one first down before Zaylen Johnson intercepted a Jack Rusack pass at the Buckeyes 28 and Taylor and company went back on the offensive once again. It took 8 plays and 3:10 for the home team to get into the end zone again. The score came on an 8-yard TD pass to Jackson with 10:49 left in the first half of play. The point after was good and Gilmer led 29-0.
The visitors had another three-and-out and after a short punt the offense came back on the field at the North Lamar 49 and backup quarterback Carter Johnston came in to lead the offense.
It took 6 plays and 2:55 for the team to move the 49 yards for another TD. The score came on a 3-yard run by Horne with 6:26 left in the first half. The extra point was good and Gilmer put the game on ice, leading 36-0.
There was no more scoring the rest of the first half and the teams headed to the locker room with Gilmer set to receive the second half kickoff.
North Lamar kicked onside and Gilmer recovered at their 43 and Johnston led the offense back on the field. The Buckeyes moved the 57 yards for another score in just 4 plays and 2:10. The score came on a 19-yard TD pass to Gauge Trossbach with 9:50 left in the third quarter. The extra point kick by Carlos Sanchez was good and the Gilmer advantage moved to 43-0.
The next possession was yet another three-and-out and Gilmer set up on their 40 for their next possession. They went three-and-out and after the first Gilmer punt of the night the Panthers set up on their 32. On the first play the Panthers fumbled the ball and Gilmer recovered at the Panthers 31 and Johnston brought the offense back again.
The Buckeyes hit half a hundred at the conclusion of the possession. The drive was a 7-play, 36-yard affair that consumed 3:47 off the clock. The score came on a 1-yard TD run by Samuel Sutton-Williams with 7 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Panthers set up at midfield after the kickoff return. With a running clock the visitors got their only TD of the game as they moved the 50 yards in 8 plays over 7:26. The score came in garbage time against a throng of backup Buckeyes players on a 2-yard run by Dallas Foster with 4:34 left in the game. The extra point was also kicked by Foster, making the score 50-7.
Gilmer moved down to the Panthers 8 and the clock expired with Gilmer taking the win 50-7.
We visited with a jubilant Buckeye Coach Alan Metzel after the big win and began by congratulating him on the great game.
“Thank you. I’m so pleased you know, seniors’ last night (home game), energy here at Jeff Traylor Stadium. That means a lot to these guys. Six years of sweat and work and practices; 7on7, competition and all of that and games. A night like that is special and I’m really pleased with the way we finished Phase 2.”
We then pointed out that he checked off every box he wanted to check off in the game and he responded, “I agree, I agree. On offense, on defense, on special teams, we got to play lots of people and they actually made plays and really were effective. We had three different kickers score tonight. It was a team win from the first person on the roster to the last person on the roster and I’m so excited for the guys.”
Then we mentioned that two players got turnovers on defense who we hadn’t heard much from this season.
“Yeah, guys are starting to make plays, you know, they’ve just matured. And you’ve had guys that have gotten thrown into the fire here and they’ve had to work their way through it and we’ve made mistakes and lived through it and now they’re starting to make plays.”
We also discussed that the team didn’t have a single injury during the game.
“Yes, we’re very healthy. It was a very clean game and credit to North Lamar’s coach and their team. They played clean. It was a good solid win, like you say. We’re healthy, right mindset, ready to attack this weekend and get ready for Athens and Monday get working at 6:30 in the morning.”
Next we asked the coach if he agreed that the team could not be in any better position heading into Phase 3 now.
“You know, especially, it’s like exclamation, exclamation that we endured so much and hung in there and now we’re ascending and the guys have that feel and they’ve got confidence and they’ve been tried and tested. Our depth has improved so a lot of things are going in the right direction. Now, we’re going to have to take another step to go beat a really good team in Athens. I’m excited to be in this position and I think they guys are too. Tonight they didn’t come out and play sloppy. They played clean that’s a credit to them, that’s a credit to their discipline and we want to build on that.”
Then we brought up how intense the team played from start to finish against an inferior team rather than playing down to the level of the completion as teams do sometimes.
“Well, all week long and for every week we talk about we’re playing ourselves. Our opponent is ourselves. We kept talking about this week is a week to build into next week. That’s how they took it. Our focus was if you’re on the field you’re playing like you are playing a playoff game. If you’re on the sideline we’ll adjust with rotations and we’ll adjust our play calling, but if you’re on the field you’re playing like a playoff game and they did it tonight.”
We also asked if he agreed this is the most confidence the team has had all season and he said, “No doubt, and I can just stop right there; no doubt!”
We concluded our visit asking Coach Metzel what he would like to say to encourage our fans, a number of whom quite honestly have not been very supportive of the team at times this season.
“You know, we take all comers. Gilmer people, let’s go down to Henderson next Friday night at 7:30; it’s a 7:30 game, and go rock this thing. Let’s go be what we hoped when we started the year. You know, the season didn’t go like we’d hoped but we have a chance right now to right that. It’s going to take everybody, so I hope they show up regardless of where we’ve been throughout the year.”
With all the unfair treatment that the defense and Coach Tommy Edwards have faced during the injury-riddled trying season of 2025, we had to visit with him about the defensive dominance of the Black Flag Defense these last two games. We asked his thoughts about the lights out play his unit has had over these last two wins.
“You know, they’ve had a different attitude the last few weeks. We know we’ve got to grab our lunch pail if we want to make a run and we have to go to work and do the little things they’re supposed to do. In this game Coach Parker called an unbelievable game tonight. He was on point. The kids responded and we had a great week. You can’t get a false sense of hope and security, and it’s nothing against North Lamar, but they’re not of the caliber of teams we’ve been playing. You hate for the team that you didn’t get the shutout but we created turnovers, had some big time plays, so I’m proud of the kids.”
Next we talked about the fact that the two players who got the fumble and pass interference were not names we had heard a lot of this year.
“It’s one of those things. We haven’t created a lot of turnovers all season. We’ve been harping the last few weeks just practicing the tackle drills and turnover drills and takeaways and creating stuff to get the offense the ball back. It was good to see that play into tonight. I saw the kids digging it out and ripping it out. It’s good to see that and they can see it on video that you’re actually doing what we’re coaching you to do the little things that make us successful.”
We finished out short visit asking Coach Edwards if he agreed that the team’s confidence is through the roof right now and he said, “No doubt; it was a tough six or seven weeks there in a row and we’d just keep reminding them, ‘hey, we’ve seen it happen’ (turning a rough start into success). We’ve seen it turn into something special. ’23 was something special. It was tough at first. I mean I’m having ‘for sale’ signs in my yard and people wanting to stone me and then at the end, you know, you win the State Championship. It can be done guys, it can be done if you just keep grinding. If they decide to keep grinding the sky’s the limit for this group.”
