Athens 57, Gilmer 49
By Elwyn Henderson
The Gilmer Buckeyes began Phase 3 of the 2025 high school football season Friday night in Henderson when they took on the Athens Hornets in a Class 4A DII Bi-District playoff contest. Athens came into the game with an 8-2 season record after finishing second in district play behind Carthage, favored by 14 points. Gilmer came in a 4-6, but that record was very deceiving considering the Murderer’s Row non-district Phase 1 where they went 1-4 before going 3-2 in district play in Phase 2. And of course, the Buckeyes had to replace 10 starters on offense and 8 starters on defense this season and a large number of the new starters suffered long term injuries in the first two weeks of the season. So looking at the large picture everyone expected a battle royal in the game and that is exactly what fans in attendance saw.
When the final seconds ran off the clock, Athens escaped with a 57-49 win and they will move on next week to take on Krum in an Area matchup.
Athens won the coin toss to begin the game and deferred.
Juan Robles kicked off. The Buckeye offense came out on the field for their first possession in the win or go home game.
Zade Taylor led the Buckeyes with precision 75 yards down the field with Gauge Trossbach both catching key passes and running the ball some as well. The drive ended when Tayveon Horne ran into the end zone from the 2 with 8:59 left in the first quarter. Miguel Castaneda kicked the PAT and Gilmer led 7-0.
Athens began their first drive at their 34 after a fair catch and on the first play of the possession David Richardson was intercepted by Jerzyri Johnson and he returned the ball 2 yards down to the Hornets 43.
On the third play of the possession the Buckeyes returned the favor with a fumble and Rhys Groom recovered the ball at the 19.
Richardson led his unit the 81 yards into the end zone in 8 plays over 3:27. The drive ended with a 55-yard TD run by Julious Brewer with 4 minutes left in the opening quarter. The extra point was blocked by Tyler Hagler and Gilmer still led 7-6.
The ensuing kickoff saw Gilmer penalized for an illegal block and they began at their 10 on their next drive.
The Buckeyes put together another beautiful drive, moving the 90 yards in 4:35 and 9 plays. The big play in the drive was a 16-yard run on 3rd down on a wildcat run by Ismael Camara. The score came on a 12-yard run by Jackson with 11:25 left in the first half. The extra point was good and Gilmer led 14-6.
Special teams, which has been an issue at times through the 2025 season, failed to get the job done on the kickoff as D’Marcus Davis caught the pooch kick at his 30 and raced into the end zone for a touchdown in 12 seconds. The extra point was good and just like that the Hornets were back within 1, trailing 14-13.
The Buckeyes recovered what looked to be a pooch kick that hit a Gilmer player at their 47 and they were back in business again.
The offense ticked like a new clock, moving the 53 yards in 10 plays and taking 4:43 off the clock. The score came on a 20-yard pass from Taylor to Solomon Jackson. The extra point was good and Gilmer led 21-13.
The Hornets began their next drive on their 20. IT took just 3 plays and 58 seconds for Athens to find the end zone again. The score came on a 56-yard TD pass from Davidson to Moore with 5:23 left in the half. The Hornets went for 2 and Davidson hit Charli Kiser in the end zone and the game was tied for the first time, 21-21.
Aiden Thomas took the kickoff after the score at the Gilmer 10 and returned the ball to the Athens 21 and it took just 6 plays and 2:01 for the Bucks to find the end zone again. The score came on a 4th and goal from the 7 when Taylor found Jackson in the end zone with 3:02 left in the half. The Buckeyes went for 2 out of the swinging gate and Horne ran into the end zone around right end, putting Gilmer back up 29-21.
Gilmer attempted an onside kick after the score but Athens recovered at the 46 and the Bucks were called off sides on the kick and after a 5 yard mark off the Hornets were in business at the Gilmer 49.
Richardson led his team the 49 yards to another score, taking 6:12 off the clock and 7 plays. The score came on a 4-yard TD run by Richardson with 36.7 seconds left in the half. Hagler blocked his second extra point of the game but the Buckeyes lead was trimmed to 29-27 and Athens was set to receive the second half kickoff.
Castaneda’s kick was fair caught at the Athens 43 and Davidson and company hit the field to begin the second half. Gilmer knew they urgently needed a stop in order to maintain the lead.
It looked as though the Black Flag had the stop as one official ruled a 4th down pass was incomplete, but after the officials gathered they ruled it a catch and 2 plays later Jabori Taylor ran into the end zone from the 2 with 8:54 left in the third quarter. A 2-point try was good on a pass to Moore and Athens had their first lead, 35-29.
They kicked onside and caught the Buckeyes off guard and recovered the ball at the Gilmer 47.
It took just 4 plays and 50 seconds for Richardson to move his unit for another score. The TD came on a 28-yard pass from Richardson to Kiser with 8:04 left in the third quarter. A pass for a 2-point try was incomplete but the damage was done and Gilmer trailed 41-29.
The next kickoff went out of bounds at the 25 and after a 5 yard assessment the Bux set up on their 30.
The never-say-die Buckeyes bowed their necks and moved 70 yards for another touchdown in 10 plays that took 5:07 off the third quarter clock. The score came on a 23-yard TD pass to Jackson with 2:57 left in the quarter.
Castaneda kicked onside on the kickoff and Gilmer recovered at the Athens 49 and were in position to take the lead back.
The offense moved down to the 26 and faced a 4th and 4 from there. After calling a timeout to discuss the play the Buckeyes showed a lot of motion back and forth and at the snap Taylor ran 26 yards into the end zone for the score on a quarterback draw with 34.2 seconds left in the quarter. The extra point was good and Gilmer led 43-41.
The Buckeyes tried another onside kick but Athens recovered their 47. On the first play of the possession Brewer ran into the end zone for a 47-yard TD pass with 19.2 seconds left in the quarter. They went for 2 once again and Richardson was given credit for getting into the end zone after Gilmer looked as though the punched the ball loose before he crossed the goal line, but the officials ruled in favor of Athens, making the score 49-43.
Gilmer fair caught the next kickoff at their 35 and Taylor brought the offense back on the field.
The Buckeyes moved all the way down to the Athens 4 and faced a 4th and 4 and a pass intended for Jackson was broken up in the end zone and Athens took over with 5:22 left in the game. Gilmer held the ball for 6:58 in the drive that consumed 16 plays.
On the third play of the possession the Hornets put the final nail in the coffin of the Buckeyes as they got a 59-yard pass down to the Gilmer 25. The began milking the clock knowing they were in great shape. They put the exclamation point when Davidson hit Moore on a 20-yard TD pass with 2:58 left in the game. A 2-point conversion pass was good and Athens sealed the win, leading 57-43.
Gilmer took over on their 23 after the kickoff. The Bucks moved quickly down the field and scored with 1:16 left in the game when Taylor ran in from the 2, capping a 9-play, 77-yard drive that took 1:42 off the clock. The extra point hit the upright and was no good, making the sore 57-49.
Everyone knew another onside kick was coming. The kick was recovered by Athens at the Hornets 46. Richardson ran 3 plays and the clock ran out giving the Hornets the 57-49 victory.
When we talked with Coach Alan Metzel we brought up the fact that the team gave everything they had and left it all on the field.
“I told them tonight that there’s been times that we have won so many more games and finished with gold balls and so forth and not gotten what this group got by this week. Now from the standpoint of not moving on it just makes you sick to your stomach. I hate so bad for them that they improved as much as they did and then didn’t get to play this next week and have that opportunity. It breaks my heart for them. As a coach I could not be more proud of them and the way they played—their effort, the way they became a family to live up to their motto, the way they made plays tonight. I’m so proud of them and credit to Athens. They’re a dang good team.”
Next we asked if he agreed that the play that really changed the game was when the team came up short on 4th and goal at the 4 with an incomplete pass after moving down the field 16 plays and holding onto the ball for over 6½ minutes.
“Yeah we’re close. We felt like we had a chance to get in the corner, there was a collision and we weren’t able to get out there and that’s the game. You know, that’s part of football. I don’t mean that play was the game but that’s part of football; to be able to overcome when things don’t go right and then you go and make the next play and tonight they made a few more plays than we did.”
We brought up the fact that after going down by 12 points the team didn’t give up and scored and then recovered the onside kick and scored again and took the lead back. We noted that most 4-6 teams going into the playoffs when that happened would have been done and would have been blown out. We wanted his thoughts on the resilience of the team being able to make that comeback.
“Them being here tonight just shows you what they had learned in those first five weeks. We talked coming into the game that we were in the fire this year and I said tonight this game is going to be a fire and we live in. Let’s embrace it and just play and they played that way. That’s where it just hurts that they weren’t able to get over that mountain because if you had who knows what would have happened. They were ascending and like I said, I’m just so proud of them.”
We went back to the 16-play drive that ended with the ball turning over on downs and the coach said, “To our credit we made 15 plays and if we’d have made that 16th play then you know, we’d have been high-fiving right now and excited about running next week, I think. But we didn’t and the longer your drive goes, obviously, the odds of making a mistake go up and that’s the way it played out.”
We also brought up the fact that the team will have tons of players coming back next year with a ton of experience and with the way the team ended this year that he had to feel great about next year.
“I couldn’t agree more. Obviously, there’ll be plenty of time to discuss next year, but yes, to your point we had so many guys really who had to play at a time they were not ready and they just had to hang on and they did. Those are huge building blocks. I think we talked earlier in the year about 2018 and all the sophomores who had to play because of all the injuries and in ’20 those guys went to the State Championship. Those are things you want to catapult you forward and that’s sure something that we’ll be working on as we move into our off season.”
The last point we mentioned was that unlike several games this season the Army of Buckeyes showed up and supported the team.
“They were packed, it was rocking and it was loud. You felt every ounce of every person that was here. It was no doubt a benefit. That’s Buckeye football! That’s how it feels, that’s how it looks and I hate it for them that they go home and the season’s done.”
We finished the season asking the coach for his final thoughts on the 2025 season.
“I love this job, I love this town, I love my team and we’ll go back to work. They can count on that and we’ll come back stronger next year.”
We want to congratulate the 2025 Buckeyes for sticking together and never giving up this season. They could have easily crumbled at several points during the year but they remained focused on getting things together and they did that as the injured players returned to the lineup. They fought hard and gave it their all every game. Even though the season didn’t end as we had all hoped, we tip our hat to the team and thank them for never giving up this season. When you see these young men let them know how proud you are of how far they came this year against almost insurmountable odds.
Now that the season has officially come to a close this writer has an announcement to make to the Army of Buckeyes. I will turn 70 the 23rd of this month and I had said 20 years ago if I was blessed enough to still be alive and healthy enough to cover the Buckeyes until I turned 70 that no one would need to tell me it was time to hand off the torch. I am officially announcing that I am retiring from covering the team and this will be my last story.
I notified Coach Metzel and Gilmer Mirror Owner Russ Greene a couple of weeks back of my decision and after talking with Russ I contacted Joe Dodd and he has graciously agreed to take over covering the Buckeyes beginning with the 2026 season.
I first began covering the Gilmer games way back in 1975, a year after I graduated from Gilmer High School. I began doing color commentary with the enjoyable and very unique Jay Dugger calling the game via tape delay on KHYM Radio in Gilmer. Later I did color commentary on KLSQ 95.3 FM in Longview with my good friend Ronnie Morrison calling the play-by-play. I then wrote the games up for the Gilmer Mirror for a few years and then began doing the play-by-play for Gilmer Cable TV. I had various color commentators through those 8 years, but Russ Greene was the last one I worked with and he did a great job until we decided to give up doing the broadcasts after the 2005 season thanks to lesions I had on my vocal cords. Shortly after that Russ asked me to begin writing the games up for the Mirror again and I have been doing that since.
I have recently been covering the grandsons of young men who were on the team when I first began this venture. I want to thank all the former players who were and still are good friends today along with all the coaches I have been blessed to work with and interview all these years. And thanks especially to Russ Greene. Through the good times and the bad times during my early years of covering the team it has been an awesome ride!
I will still be a diehard Gilmer Buckeye until I die and will attend every game I can as long as my health allows. Thanks to everyone for all your kind words and support through the years. God Bless you all!