Gilmer 33, Pleasant Grove 27
Buckeyes’ transformation on full display in 33-27 victory over Pleasant Grove
By Joe Dodd
GILMER — Pleasant Grove needed one more opportunity.
Trailing Gilmer by six points with just over five minutes remaining Friday night at Jeff Traylor Stadium, the Hawks needed only to get the football back for a chance to erase the Buckeyes’ lead and possibly steal a victory in one of East Texas’ most anticipated district matchups.
They never got that opportunity.
Facing third-and-23 on the game’s final possession, Gilmer quarterback Zade Taylor broke loose for a 25-yard gain that kept the drive alive and helped the Buckeyes run out the remaining time for a 33-27 victory over the Hawks.
The play was a fitting illustration of a Gilmer team that has developed a dramatically different offensive identity, one built around physicality, a powerful running game and the ability to control the football for extended periods.
And on a night when Pleasant Grove repeatedly threatened to take control, that identity helped the Buckeyes deliver their biggest victory of the season.
“I’ll say this one particular play,” Gilmer head coach Alan Metzel said of Taylor’s third-down conversion. “You’re third and 23, and Zade’s able to go get 25 or 27. I thought that play was just monumental.”
Metzel said the play was about considerably more than Taylor’s individual effort. The offensive line provided the initial blocking, with additional help from lead blockers and receivers downfield.
“Everyone was doing their job,” Metzel said.
The victory improved Gilmer to 5-1 overall and gave the Buckeyes their fifth consecutive win since opening the season with a 52-40 loss at Longview Pine Tree.
It also ended Pleasant Grove’s three-game winning streak in the series and, perhaps more significantly, snapped the Hawks’ 18-game district winning streak, providing an early statement in the District 7-4A Division II championship race.
“Well, it’s a signature win,” Metzel said. “They’re highly ranked.”
Metzel called the matchup an example of the quality of football being played by two of the state’s better programs.
“That was as good a high school football as you can ask for in the state,” he said. “Two really good teams that played well, and I think when you come out on top, it gives you a certain level of confidence. There’s a certain level of momentum that you’re going to gain from that.”
Perhaps the most remarkable statistic from Friday’s game was not the final score, but how long Gilmer kept Pleasant Grove’s explosive offense standing on the sideline.
The Buckeyes controlled the football for 32 minutes and 38 seconds, compared with just 15:22 for the Hawks — an advantage of 17 minutes and 16 seconds in a 48-minute game.
Gilmer accumulated 400 yards of total offense, including 256 rushing, and converted 14 of 17 third-down opportunities. The Buckeyes also produced 23 first downs while limiting Pleasant Grove to 18.
Those numbers reflected a deliberate strategy.
Metzel acknowledged that keeping Pleasant Grove’s offense off the field was an important consideration, but said the value of Gilmer’s extended possessions went beyond simply controlling the clock.
“There’s a winning the time of possession, which keeps their offense off. There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But secondly, there’s a certain physicality that our identity is tied to right now, which I think makes that twice as important because there’s just a grinding effect of it.”
For years, Gilmer’s offense was known for its ability to score quickly, sometimes needing only a handful of plays to cover the field.
This season’s Buckeyes have shown they can still produce explosive plays, but their most important offensive characteristic may be the ability to sustain long, physical drives against quality defenses.
That was especially evident against Pleasant Grove, a program with a reputation for its defensive strength.
Gilmer put together a 15-play touchdown drive in the second quarter that consumed 7:42 and another lengthy scoring possession that stretched from late in the third quarter into the fourth.
Metzel said executing successfully over that many consecutive plays requires a different kind of discipline.
“It’s not easy,” he said. “We had like two 15-plus-play drives. You know, that was a lot of plays to execute on.”
The Buckeyes were far from flawless, losing the turnover battle 2-1 against a Pleasant Grove team capable of capitalizing on mistakes.
But unlike the season opener at Pine Tree, when four turnovers helped undermine the Buckeyes’ efforts, Friday’s mistakes did not prevent Gilmer from maintaining its offensive approach.
Metzel identified two major developments since the Pine Tree game: the team has embraced its offensive identity, and it has significantly reduced the turnovers that proved so costly in the opener.
“When you make a radical change in who you are, there’s a certain level of hesitancy that you have to overcome,” he said.
The opening loss, Metzel explained, helped convince the Buckeyes that they needed to commit completely to their new approach.
“Finding our identity has been one of the most important components of this whole season,” he said.
That identity begins with Taylor and running back Tayveon Horne, who continued a remarkable season-long streak Friday.
Taylor rushed 15 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns, while Horne carried 27 times for 133 yards and another score.
It marked the sixth consecutive game in which both players have rushed for at least 100 yards — every game Gilmer has played this season.
Taylor also completed 11 of 18 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns, both to Kaden Canady.
Canady finished with five receptions for 64 yards, while Kipton Neighbors caught three passes for 50 yards.
Although Gilmer’s offensive approach emphasizes the running game, Metzel said opponents increasingly must commit additional defenders near the line of scrimmage, creating opportunities for the Buckeyes to attack through the air.
“We are confident that they’re going to have to start adding people in there,” Metzel said.
That adjustment can leave receivers in single coverage, and Metzel said he expects Gilmer to continue throwing approximately 15 to 20 passes in many games.
Against Pleasant Grove, the combination of a productive running game and timely passing helped Gilmer overcome one of its toughest defensive challenges of the season.
The Buckeyes struck first when Taylor connected with Canady for a 48-yard touchdown with 9:49 remaining in the opening quarter. The missed extra point left Gilmer ahead 6-0.
Neither team scored again in the first quarter, but Gilmer extended its advantage to 13-0 when Taylor scored on a two-yard run with 2:24 remaining in the first half.
Pleasant Grove responded quickly.
Palmer Gibbs broke loose for a 36-yard touchdown run just 34 seconds later, trimming Gilmer’s lead to 13-7.
The Buckeyes answered with one of their most important possessions of the night.
Taking over at their own 39 with 1:50 remaining, Gilmer drove for another touchdown, with Taylor finding Canady for a one-yard scoring pass with just five seconds left before halftime.
The touchdown gave the Buckeyes a 20-7 advantage and appeared to put them firmly in control.
But Metzel knew Pleasant Grove was too talented to disappear quietly.
“We know they’re going to make a push,” he said of his halftime message. “We know that they’re too good of a team to not make a push.”
The Hawks proved him right.
Marcus Floyd scored on a 19-yard run with 9:37 remaining in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 20-14.
Gilmer answered with Taylor’s 16-yard touchdown run to restore a 27-14 advantage, but Pleasant Grove responded with two touchdown passes from quarterback Colt Yancey.
Yancey connected with Rykeim Richie for a 35-yard score at the 6:07 mark, although the extra point failed.
Less than two minutes later, following a Gilmer fumble, Yancey found Adam Orr for a seven-yard touchdown. The extra point tied the game at 27 with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter.
In a matter of minutes, Gilmer’s 13-point halftime lead had disappeared.
But the Buckeyes did not abandon the approach that had carried them through their five-game winning streak.
Instead, they began another extended possession, taking over at their own 33 and methodically working downfield.
The drive eventually covered 67 yards and consumed 7:52, ending when Horne scored on a two-yard run with 8:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Gilmer missed the extra point, leaving Pleasant Grove within six points at 33-27.
The Hawks still had time to respond, but Gilmer’s defense delivered another critical stop.
Pleasant Grove’s ensuing possession ended on downs at the Gilmer 26 with 5:07 remaining.
For Metzel, the defensive performance was another indication of the team’s growth.
Pleasant Grove finished with 291 total yards, including just 89 passing, and converted only three of nine third-down opportunities.
Gilmer also produced several important fourth-down stops, including an end-zone pass breakup that Metzel singled out in his postgame assessment.
“I thought our coverage was probably the best we’ve had all year,” Metzel said. “We really did a good job in coverage. We slowed their running backs down.”
Although Pleasant Grove scored 20 points in the third quarter, the Hawks were held scoreless in the first and fourth periods.
Metzel believes the defensive effort represented a significant step forward.
“I think it’s easy to say our best defensive game of the season,” he said.
The importance of those stops became even clearer when considering the number of possessions available to each team.
Gilmer scored five touchdowns in 10 possessions, while Pleasant Grove scored four in eight possessions.
In a game featuring two capable offenses, Gilmer’s ability to produce a few additional defensive stops — and then maintain possession long enough to capitalize — ultimately made the difference.
Metzel also credited his players for responding when Pleasant Grove tied the score.
“There were things we did where we could have done better, where we maybe missed a tackle, or maybe we didn’t fit right or whatever, and they made us pay, because they’re a good team,” he said.
“But that means you’ve got to go back to cleaning that up. You’ve got to get people down, which we did later in the fourth quarter.”
The victory was particularly meaningful when viewed against Gilmer’s schedule.
After losing its opener, the Buckeyes faced five consecutive opponents that had won their previous meetings with Gilmer.
The streak included Chapel Hill, Kilgore, Sulphur Springs, Sunnyvale and Pleasant Grove.
Gilmer defeated all five.
Metzel said the coaches did not emphasize that historical sequence to the players. Instead, the focus has been on improving each week rather than dwelling on previous results.
“We’re trying to teach a mindset of you deal with the week and you deal with the day,” he said. “Anything outside of that becomes peripheral, and what is happening now is what you control.”
He believes the results have reinforced the players’ commitment to that approach.
“There’s a mental toughness that this team is buying into, and they’re watching and they’re seeing tangible evidence of if we’ll do this, we’re going to gain ground this week, and we’ll be better this Friday than we were last Friday.”
Against Pleasant Grove, that mental toughness was tested repeatedly.
The Buckeyes had to overcome turnovers, a furious third-quarter comeback and the possibility of surrendering the lead in the final minutes.
Instead, they finished the game by doing what they had done throughout much of the night: running the football, converting a crucial third down and controlling the clock.
Taylor’s third-and-23 conversion kept Gilmer’s final possession alive, but it was Horne who delivered perhaps the clearest illustration of how completely the Buckeyes have embraced their new identity.
Breaking free from the Pleasant Grove 27-yard line, Horne had an opportunity to score. Instead, after gaining 12 yards, he deliberately slid at the Hawks’ 15, sacrificing a potential touchdown to keep the football away from Pleasant Grove.
The two-minute timeout followed, but with a fresh set of downs and the Hawks out of timeouts, Gilmer had everything it needed to finish the game without surrendering possession.
The Buckeyes ran out the clock, securing a 33-27 victory without giving Pleasant Grove another opportunity.
In a game defined by physicality, discipline and the ability to control possession, perhaps no play better captured Gilmer’s transformation than the touchdown Horne chose not to score.
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QUICK POSTGAME REACTION:
In a top-10 showdown that felt more like a playoff preview, the Gilmer Buckeyes made a statement that echoed across East Texas.
Behind a dominant ground game and a gutsy fourth-quarter drive, the tenth-ranked Buckeyes knocked off previously undefeated and third-ranked Pleasant Grove, 33-27, in the District 8-4A Division II opener for both teams at Jeff Traylor Stadium Friday night .
The victory moves Gilmer to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in district play, while the Hawks suffer their first loss of the season, falling to 5-1 and 0-1 .
“I think it shows a lot about who we are. In the last two years it’s been a team loss or a team win. The kids have just bought in and it’s a team win,” Gilmer head coach Alan Metzel said. “We felt like the game plan was solid. We’ve just got to clean up some little things. I think there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
Turning Point: A Defensive Stand and a Clock-Eating Drive
After Pleasant Grove rallied from a 20-7 halftime deficit to tie the game at 27-27 late in the third quarter, the Buckeyes’ offense answered with a methodical 14-play, 77-yard drive that consumed nearly eight minutes of game clock .
The drive culminated in a two-yard touchdown run by junior running back Tayveon Horne, giving Gilmer a 33-27 lead after a missed extra point with 8:23 remaining .
But the game wasn’t sealed until the Gilmer defense delivered the play of the night. With Pleasant Grove driving and threatening to tie, Buckeye sophomore Zaylen Johnson came off the edge for a massive sack on second-and-5 from the Gilmer 23-yard line, setting up third-and-long . The Hawks’ subsequent pass fell incomplete in the end zone, giving the ball back to Gilmer on downs.
“We have that bend but don’t break mentality. We just stayed calm and did our jobs,” senior quarterback Zade Taylor said. “We never panicked.”
Taylor then delivered the dagger. Facing a third-and-23 after a bad snap with 2:25 remaining, the senior signal-caller weaved through the Hawk defense for a 25-yard scramble and a crucial first down . A 12-yard run by Horne allowed Gilmer to kneel out the clock in victory formation.
By the Numbers: Taylor and Horne Lead the Way
The dynamic duo of Taylor and Horne accounted for 288 rushing yards and three touchdowns, proving too much for the Pleasant Grove defense to handle in critical moments .
Taylor finished the night completing 11 of 18 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns while adding 154 rushing yards and two more scores on 15 carries. Horne pounded his way to 134 rushing yards and a touchdown on 28 carries .
“We just had to keep fighting,” Taylor said. “We knew they were going to make a run. They’re a great football team. We just had to answer.”
Freshman receiver Kaden Canady continued his impressive debut season with five receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns, including a pivotal four-yard score with just five seconds left before halftime that sent Gilmer into the locker room with a 20-7 advantage .
How It Happened
The game began with chaos — and a highlight-reel play that set the tone. On the fifth play from scrimmage, a shotgun snap sailed over Taylor’s head, but the senior scooped up the loose ball and lofted a deep pass downfield for a 48-yard touchdown and an early 6-0 lead . The play would later be named the Fever Play of the Night .
Gilmer’s defense forced back-to-back turnovers on downs in the first half, holding the high-scoring Hawks to just one score before the break. After the second stop, the Buckeyes marched 94 yards on 16 plays, capped by a two-yard touchdown run and a 13-0 lead .
Pleasant Grove finally got on the board on a 19-yard touchdown run by Marcus Floyd with 1:50 left before halftime. But Gilmer answered quickly, driving down the field and connecting on Taylor’s four-yard touchdown pass to Canady with five seconds remaining for a 20-7 halftime lead .
The Hawks stormed back in the third quarter. A 35-yard touchdown pass from Colt Yancey to Rykeim Richie pulled Pleasant Grove within 27-20, and after a Gilmer fumble, the Hawks went for it on fourth-and-goal from the seven. Yancey found Adam Orr in the end zone to tie the game at 27-27 .
That set the stage for Gilmer’s game-winning drive and Johnson’s game-saving sack.
Pleasant Grove was led by Palmer Gibbs, who rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries, while Floyd added 99 rushing yards and a score on 17 attempts .
What It Means
Gilmer’s win snaps a two-game losing streak to the Hawks, including a 41-7 defeat at Jeff Traylor Stadium in 2025 . The Buckeyes remain perfect at home this season and have now positioned themselves as a serious contender in District 8-4A Division II.
For Pleasant Grove, the loss ends a 5-0 start and drops the Hawks into an early hole in district play. They will look to bounce back next week at home against the Center Roughriders .
Gilmer, meanwhile, will host the Pittsburg Pirates next Friday at 7 p.m., hoping to build on the momentum of what could be a season-defining victory .
“It’s a great win, but it’s just one game,” Coach Metzel said. “We’ve got a long way to go. But our kids believe. And that’s a powerful thing.”