Gilmer 64, Kilgore 50
Kilgore Game Statistics_FINAL
Buckeyes Outlast Bulldogs in 64-50 Shootout
By Joe Dodd
GILMER — One year after a 60-point loss to Kilgore left Gilmer searching for answers about more than football, the Buckeyes delivered an answer of their own Friday night.
And they did it emphatically.
Gilmer piled up 583 yards of offense, rushed for 411 and scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from Kilgore for a 64-50 victory at Jeff Traylor Stadium.
The result was a dramatic reversal from a year ago, when Kilgore defeated Gilmer 66-6. That loss was the fifth-largest by margin in Gilmer football history and became part of a 4-7 season, only Gilmer’s second losing season since 1996.
A year later, Gilmer coach Alan Metzel saw Friday’s victory as evidence of how far his program has come.
“I think it was almost a statement game,” Metzel said. “For one year’s time to understand, okay, we’re back where we want to be. We have a mindset of whoever we play, we’re going in to win this game, and you can walk with a swagger that you’ve earned.”
Metzel said the significance of last year’s Kilgore loss went well beyond the 66-6 score.
“It was more than just what was on the board,” Metzel said. “It was a gut check for our team last year.”
Metzel said Gilmer began responding to that challenge as the 2025 season progressed, and he believes that response has carried over into this season.
“It’s hard to predict 64 points, but I’m not surprised that we played very well,” Metzel said. “I’m not surprised that this team has a lot of potential to put points on the board.”
He was, however, happy to put last year’s loss behind them.
“Was I pleased? Absolutely,” Metzel said. “Thrilled to get that off of our back.”
Gilmer needed nearly all of those 64 points.
The Buckeyes led 21-7 after the first quarter and 29-21 at halftime, but Kilgore kept answering. The Bulldogs pulled even at 36-36 in the third quarter, setting up a fourth quarter in which Gilmer’s offensive line, size and running game increasingly took control.
Gilmer scored four touchdowns in the final period.
Metzel said the Buckeyes’ physical approach gradually wore down the Kilgore defense.
“I think the physical play, the style that we were playing wore them down,” Metzel said. “When you are big and you can lean on people, and they get fatigued, well, it’s harder to hold up when you’re physical.”
The difference wasn’t necessarily what Gilmer was calling. It was what the Buckeyes’ offensive line and backs were doing with it.
“We’re running the same play,” Metzel said. “We’re running an inside zone play, but you’re taking every play 14 and 15 yards that maybe was getting four to six in the first half.”
The numbers reflected the cumulative effect.
Tayveon Horne rushed 22 times for 154 yards, Zade Taylor added 139 yards on six carries and Kipton Neighbors ran five times for 76 yards. Together, the three accounted for 369 of Gilmer’s 411 rushing yards.
But the backs weren’t producing those numbers alone.
Metzel said Gilmer’s offensive line is improving both individually and collectively.
“Offensive line is improving weekly,” Metzel said. “They continue to gel, and you see individually they’re getting better, and across the board they’re getting better working together.”
Gilmer’s increasingly bigger personnel packages have become an important part of its physical, run-first approach. The Buckeyes have leaned more heavily on formations that put additional size around the five offensive linemen, allowing them to attack defenses physically while retaining elements of their spread offense.
Metzel said the objective is to find personnel and formations that “tip the needle” in Gilmer’s favor. In some of those heavier formations, the Buckeyes have seven offensive linemen at the point of attack while presenting those looks in different ways.
Taylor has flourished within that approach.
The senior quarterback completed 7 of 9 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Combined with his 139 rushing yards, Taylor accounted for 311 yards of total offense.
It continued a sharp turnaround from the season-opening loss at Pine Tree, when Taylor threw four interceptions. He has not thrown an interception in Gilmer’s two games since.
Metzel said part of the difference has been schematic as the Buckeyes have settled into their bigger, run-first approach. But part of it has simply been the maturation of his senior quarterback.
“He was as comfortable as I’ve ever seen him the other night during the game,” Metzel said. “That was in a big game against a good opponent, and he was the guy who you wanted to have the ball in his hands making the decisions.”
Metzel particularly praised Taylor’s decisions in Gilmer’s read-zone and run-pass option game.
“He just had a command that was what you want from a senior quarterback,” Metzel said.
And when Kilgore committed enough defenders to slowing Gilmer’s running game, Taylor took advantage of opportunities outside.
Freshman Kaden Canady caught five passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard scoring pass from Taylor.
Metzel said Gilmer had emphasized being able to capitalize when defenses gave the Buckeyes one-on-one opportunities.
“One of the things we talked about last week was being able to, when they give you one-on-ones, be able to hit it, and we hit several the other night,” Metzel said. “That was very encouraging.”
Gilmer’s offense wasn’t the only unit that had an answer when Kilgore threatened in the fourth quarter.
After the Bulldogs broke a 62-yard touchdown run to cut Gilmer’s lead to 49-43 with 10:33 remaining, Jerzyri Johnson answered on the very next play.
Johnson fielded the ensuing kickoff and raced 95 yards for a touchdown, restoring Gilmer’s two-score lead just 16 seconds after Kilgore had pulled within six.
It was Gilmer’s third kickoff return for a touchdown in as many games.
Johnson had a 97-yard return against Pine Tree, Horne returned one 68 yards against Chapel Hill and Johnson struck again against Kilgore.
Because complete kickoff-return records do not exist throughout Gilmer’s football history, it cannot be established conclusively that three consecutive games with a kickoff-return touchdown is a school record.
But what the returns have meant to this year’s team is much easier to measure.
Metzel said Johnson had to create much of Friday’s return himself.
“There were three guys unblocked,” Metzel said. “He made all three of them miss.”
Metzel also emphasized that Gilmer’s success in the return game has been a combination of talented returners, preparation and the work of the blockers on a unit the Buckeyes call their “House Party.”
“The front line guys, they’re impressive,” Metzel said. “They’re doing a lot of dirty work to put us in a position to break it.”
The timing of Johnson’s return was as important as the distance.
Metzel described Kilgore’s touchdown as a “gut punch.” Gilmer’s response was immediate.
“What do we do? We turn right back around and score,” Metzel said. “That is huge.”
The same pattern has occurred in each of Gilmer’s first three games — the opponent scores and the Buckeyes return the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.
“It turns that momentum right back and is an incredible asset,” Metzel said.
Gilmer’s defense had a much different night.
Kilgore finished with 459 yards, including 299 rushing, and scored seven touchdowns. Maddox Wright rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns, while Rayshaun Williams added 116 yards and two scores.
Metzel said the numbers concern him, but his evaluation after reviewing the film was more encouraging than the 50 points might suggest.
Gilmer repeatedly put Kilgore into situations in which the defense had an opportunity to get off the field, only to miss a tackle or fail to finish the play.
“We had them third and long several times and just didn’t make the play,” Metzel said. “We were there, we were in position, and didn’t get a guy down.”
That distinction matters to Metzel because he doesn’t believe the defensive problems require a wholesale schematic change.
“We have an answer,” he said. “We just got to get him down.”
The Buckeyes also recovered two Kilgore fumbles and won the turnover battle despite losing one fumble of their own.
Metzel acknowledged the defensive performance has to improve, but said playing quality opponents exposes mistakes that might be hidden against lesser competition.
“Is it concerning that we gave up that? Absolutely, I’m not going to tell you it doesn’t,” Metzel said. “But at the same time, there’s no way you’re at a raise-the-white-flag type thing.”
For now, he said, the issue isn’t the defensive scheme.
“We’re not there yet,” Metzel said. “It’s not schematic.”
Instead, Gilmer simply had to keep answering Friday night.
Kilgore scored. Gilmer answered. Gilmer appeared ready to create separation. Kilgore answered again.
Eventually, the Buckeyes delivered the last meaningful blows.
After Gilmer’s defense stopped Kilgore on downs with 5:45 remaining, the Buckeyes took over at their own 42. A delay-of-game penalty moved the ball back to the 37, but Neighbors broke loose for 60 yards on the next play to the Kilgore 3.
Three plays later, Neighbors scored from a yard out with 4:33 remaining to extend Gilmer’s lead to 64-43.
Kilgore answered with a touchdown 18 seconds later to make it 64-50, but this time the Bulldogs never got another opportunity.
Gilmer took possession with 4:15 remaining and put its developing offensive identity to use in another way. The same physical, run-first approach that had helped wear down Kilgore throughout the night allowed the Buckeyes to keep the football for the rest of it.
Gilmer ran five plays, picked up two first downs and exhausted the final 4:15 without giving Kilgore’s explosive offense another possession.
It was a different kind of finish for an offense capable of scoring quickly — and another benefit of an attack increasingly capable of controlling a game with its offensive line and running game.
Gilmer had gone from scoring six points against Kilgore a year ago to scoring 64.
The Buckeyes improved to 2-1 with their second consecutive victory after opening the season with a 52-40 loss at Pine Tree. They have since defeated Chapel Hill 54-31 and Kilgore 64-50.
There are still obvious things to fix, particularly on defense. Metzel made that clear.
But Friday also gave him something he wants his players to carry forward.
“We’re back where we want to be,” Metzel said.
Not because Gilmer erased what happened against Kilgore a year ago. The 66-6 loss is part of what this group went through.
But one year later, the Buckeyes answered it.
They did it with 583 yards, a physical offensive line and running game, another explosive special-teams play and enough answers to withstand everything Kilgore threw back at them.
And, as Metzel put it, Gilmer may have earned a little of that swagger back.
