Pittsburg 58, Gilmer 56
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Turnovers, missed opportunities undo Gilmer in 58-56 loss to Pittsburg
Buckeyes overcome two double-digit deficits and rush for 446 yards, but Pirates win on field goal as time expires
By Joe Dodd
GILMER — Alan Metzel had worried about the possibility of an emotional letdown following Gilmer’s dramatic victory over Pleasant Grove. Add the distractions of Yamboree Week and a Pittsburg team he believed was far more dangerous than its 3-3 record suggested, and the Buckeyes’ head coach saw the ingredients for a potential upset.
Friday night, his concerns became reality.
Despite building a 21-6 lead, rushing for 446 yards and repeatedly battling back from double-digit deficits, Gilmer couldn’t overcome four turnovers and a series of costly mistakes as Pittsburg escaped Jeff Traylor Stadium with a stunning 58-56 victory on Jeremias Flores’ 32-yard field goal as time expired.
The loss snapped Gilmer’s five-game winning streak and dropped the Buckeyes to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in District 7-4A Division II.
Metzel acknowledged that the combination of circumstances he had identified before the game contributed to the defeat.
“I think when you added those things together, it worked to certain distractions where you don’t play as clean, and you turn the ball over, and you’re sloppy, and you get beat by a team that has just enough guys and make just enough plays to get you beat,” Metzel said. “That’s very frustrating, but it is what it is. That’s what happened.”
Perhaps the most frustrating part was that Gilmer appeared to have the game firmly in its grasp early, only to watch Pittsburg score 29 consecutive points before the Buckeyes began a remarkable series of comebacks.
And even after all the mistakes, Gilmer was just 75 seconds away from pulling out another improbable victory.
From early control to a 14-point deficit
Gilmer struck first when freshman Kaden Canady returned a Pittsburg punt 74 yards for a touchdown with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes immediately recovered an onside kick at the Pittsburg 49 and marched downfield for another touchdown. Tayveon Horne scored on a three-yard run and added the two-point conversion, giving Gilmer a 14-0 lead.
Pittsburg answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Johnson to Seven Duffey, but Gilmer responded with another scoring drive. Kipton Neighbors’ nine-yard touchdown run extended the Buckeyes’ advantage to 21-6 with 10:40 remaining in the first half.
At that point, the game seemed to be unfolding in Gilmer’s favor.
Then everything changed.
Pittsburg running back Tamar Palmer scored on runs of two and nine yards, the second following the Pirates’ recovery of a pooch kick at the Gilmer 28. A successful two-point conversion tied the game at 21 with 4:54 left in the half.
Gilmer’s next possession ended with an interception, and Johnson connected with Cam Doddy on a 68-yard touchdown pass to give Pittsburg a 28-21 halftime advantage.
A 15-point Gilmer lead had disappeared in less than nine minutes.
Metzel attributed the collapse to mistakes that compounded one another, including defensive lapses on critical plays.
“They hard counted us on a third and short. We jumped. They went on with the play. Our defender stops and the guy goes by and he’s wide open,” Metzel said. “So you’re talking about a mental thing. It wasn’t like our defense isn’t working right. It was a mental freeze.”
He also pointed to a fourth-and-nine play on which Pittsburg scored.
“If you give people enough opportunities, and they’re athletic enough, they’re going to hit some,” he said.
Metzel made his displeasure clear in the locker room.
“I got after them pretty good,” he said. “I asked them, ‘Do I need to throw something? Is that what I have to do to get you awake?’ I didn’t throw anything, but I got after them pretty good because it was a matter of lack of focus.”
The second half began with another costly development.
Gilmer appeared to recover its opening onside kick, but officials ruled that the Buckeyes touched the ball before it traveled the required 10 yards. Pittsburg was awarded possession at the Gilmer 49.
Two plays and just 14 seconds later, Johnson found Doddy for a 30-yard touchdown, extending the Pirates’ lead to 35-21.
Metzel believed Gilmer had executed the kickoff correctly but declined to make officiating the explanation for the loss.
“I can’t control the officials,” he said. “I have to coach and we have to be good enough where they can miss it and it doesn’t matter.”
Asked how significant the ruling was, particularly after Gilmer had surrendered its early lead, Metzel answered, “Tremendous. Especially after we had allowed them to catch up and now you’re in a dogfight to catch back up.”
A game of extraordinary momentum swings
Gilmer responded to its 14-point deficit by doing what it had done throughout the season: running the football.
Horne scored on a seven-yard run midway through the third quarter, and Neighbors added a six-yard touchdown with 3:58 remaining in the period to tie the game at 35.
But the tie lasted only 42 seconds.
Pittsburg took advantage of excellent field position and scored on Duffey’s one-yard run to regain the lead, 42-35.
Gilmer answered again.
Zade Taylor capped the Buckeyes’ next possession with a 24-yard touchdown run, tying the game at 42 with 11:04 remaining in the fourth quarter.
At that point, despite all that had gone wrong, Gilmer had erased two 14-point deficits and appeared to have regained control of its destiny.
Then came the two turnovers Metzel considered the most damaging of the night.
Following a Pittsburg punt, Gilmer lost a fumble at its own 33. Three plays later, Johnson scored on a two-yard run, giving the Pirates a 49-42 lead with 8:16 remaining.
Gilmer fumbled again on its next possession, this time at its own 27.
Two plays later, Palmer broke loose for a 24-yard touchdown run. Although Gilmer blocked the extra-point attempt, Pittsburg had scored twice in less than two minutes to build a 55-42 lead with 6:37 remaining.
The Buckeyes had fought back to tie the game at 42, only to surrender 13 consecutive points because of two turnovers deep in their own territory.
Metzel said the mistakes overshadowed the team’s determined effort.
“We played hard. We didn’t play well. We played hard,” he said. “Perfect effort puts you in the game. Then you got to have a certain level of execution, and we didn’t have that level.”
Still, Gilmer wasn’t finished.
Canady fielded the ensuing kickoff and raced 81 yards for his second return touchdown of the night, trimming Pittsburg’s lead to 55-49 with 6:15 remaining.
After the Buckeyes’ defense stopped Pittsburg on downs, Gilmer took over at its own 23 with 2:08 left.
The Buckeyes needed only 53 seconds to cover 77 yards. Neighbors scored his third touchdown of the night on a seven-yard run, and Alan Sanchez’s extra point put Gilmer ahead 56-55 with 1:15 remaining.
After trailing by 13 points with less than seven minutes to play, Gilmer had regained the lead.
Metzel believed the Buckeyes had done enough to win.
“I thought when we made that last drive, we would win,” he said.
But he also recognized that Pittsburg still had time.
The Pirates began their final possession at their own 48 and advanced into Gilmer territory. Facing a critical fourth down, Johnson completed a slant pass to keep the drive alive, and Pittsburg moved the ball to the Gilmer 15 before stopping the clock.
Flores then kicked the game-winning 32-yard field goal as time expired.
Metzel acknowledged that, in retrospect, he would have preferred Gilmer’s final touchdown drive to consume more time.
“It’s a catch-22 thing,” he said. “And honestly, we weren’t trying to score that fast. We kept getting big chunks, and in hindsight, yeah, I wish we could have gotten 30 more seconds off of the game clock.”
On Pittsburg’s final possession, the Pirates simply made the play they needed.
“We came within a play of being in good shape, and they threw a slant, and their guy made a great catch, and were able to down the ball and kick it through,” Metzel said. “So, credit to them. They made a play on fourth down where they had to get it done, and they did.”
An offense that did almost everything but win
The loss was particularly difficult to accept because Gilmer produced the kind of offensive performance that ordinarily would be more than enough to win.
The Buckeyes amassed 464 total yards, including 446 rushing, averaged 8.4 yards per carry and never punted. They scored eight touchdowns, converted both fourth-down attempts and accumulated 21 first downs to Pittsburg’s 15.
Three Gilmer players rushed for more than 100 yards.
Horne led the Buckeyes with 189 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Taylor added 141 yards and a touchdown on 18 attempts, while Neighbors rushed 13 times for 113 yards and three scores.
The three combined for 443 of Gilmer’s 446 rushing yards.
Metzel said the running game’s effectiveness gives the Buckeyes confidence that they can move the football against quality opponents, even under difficult conditions.
“From a coaching standpoint, it gives you a certain confidence,” he said, noting that a dependable rushing attack becomes especially valuable during cold or inclement weather in the playoffs.
“I like the persona. I like a team that’s tough and is able to grind it out,” he said.
The Buckeyes attempted only eight passes, completing three for 18 yards. Metzel said Gilmer felt it could run successfully against Pittsburg and continued doing so rather than forcing more passing opportunities.
He also praised the willingness of receivers and other offensive players to contribute through blocking and special teams instead of concentrating on individual statistics.
Canady’s two return touchdowns provided perhaps the most spectacular individual highlights of the night, but Metzel emphasized that they were team efforts.
“Caden is just so talented, great instincts, incredible hands, and he’s really fast,” Metzel said.
He also credited the blocking on both returns, particularly a block by Neighbors on Canady’s 80-yard kickoff return.
Metzel singled out Ismael Camara for an outstanding blocking performance, estimating that he recorded 12 knockdowns.
But the offensive highlights couldn’t overcome the mistakes.
Turnovers and field position tell the story
Gilmer’s four turnovers consisted of two interceptions and two lost fumbles, but Metzel cautioned against placing all the blame for the interceptions on Taylor.
He explained that the first interception was affected by a receiver lining up incorrectly and failing to run the precise route called. On the second, an offensive lineman turned the wrong direction on a blocking assignment, allowing a defender to pressure Taylor and causing the quarterback to release the ball a second or two later than intended.
The two fourth-quarter fumbles were even more costly.
Pittsburg recovered those at the Gilmer 33 and 27 and turned both into touchdowns, converting a 42-42 tie into a 55-42 lead.
“Those were the killers,” Metzel said. “The rest of them we weathered to some degree.”
The turnovers were especially damaging because of their effect on field position.
Pittsburg’s average offensive possession began at the Gilmer 49.7-yard line, while Gilmer’s began at its own 35.3. Measured from each team’s own goal line, that represented an average starting-field-position advantage of approximately 15 yards for the Pirates.
It was a dramatic departure from Gilmer’s first six games, when no opponent had averaged starting beyond its own 44-yard line.
Pittsburg began seven of its 13 offensive possessions in Gilmer territory and scored touchdowns on six of those seven drives.
The Pirates also benefited from recovering a pooch kick at the Gilmer 28 in the second quarter, adding another short field to those created by the fourth-quarter fumbles.
Metzel said the cumulative effect made an already difficult defensive assignment nearly impossible.
“You really had three that are around the 30-yard line,” he said, referring to the two fumbles and the recovered kickoff. “Quite frankly, how in the world can you ask your defense to not give up points?”
Pittsburg finished with 397 total yards, including 255 rushing and 142 passing.
Palmer led the Pirates with 175 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries. Johnson completed only four of 14 passes, but three went for touchdowns. Doddy caught three passes for 112 yards and two scores, while Duffey caught a 30-yard touchdown pass and added a rushing touchdown.
Despite those explosive plays, Gilmer actually outgained Pittsburg by 67 yards and had six more first downs.
For Metzel, those statistics reinforced the importance of protecting the football.
“Most of them were Gilmer errors and those are fixable things,” he said of the turnovers. “Turnovers are what have contributed to us losing two games, and when we don’t do that, we’re in pretty good shape to win.”
Gilmer also failed to force a turnover, another area Metzel identified for improvement.
“We’ve got to do a better job of getting the ball back,” he said.
Learning from a painful defeat
The loss came one week after Gilmer’s 33-27 victory over Pleasant Grove, a game that had given the Buckeyes considerable momentum entering the heart of their district schedule.
Now, instead of celebrating another dramatic victory, Gilmer must address the mistakes that turned an extraordinary offensive performance into its second defeat of the season.
Metzel said the Buckeyes have to examine everything from ball-carrying technique and exchanges to how the team prepares during its off week and handles the distractions surrounding Yamboree.
He also accepted responsibility for ensuring his players are mentally prepared.
“That’s on me,” Metzel said. “I have to do a better job of making sure that we’re focused. The whole deal had to do with our ability to stay focused and in the moment. And we didn’t do that well Friday.”
He isn’t ready to become preoccupied with the many possible district standings and playoff tiebreaker scenarios. Metzel believes those will become clearer as the remaining district games unfold.
More importantly, he believes Gilmer’s demanding schedule has already demonstrated that the Buckeyes can compete with the caliber of teams they are likely to encounter in the postseason.
The challenge is turning that competitiveness into more consistent execution.
Metzel rejected the notion that a difficult loss is somehow better for a team than an imperfect victory. But he said a defeat must at least produce improvement.
“Some people say, well, sometimes it’s better for you to lose. I don’t ever say that. I don’t think it’s better to lose,” he said. “What I do agree with is the idea of win or learn.”
For a Gilmer team that scored 56 points, rushed for 446 yards and overcame a 14-point deficit and a later 13-point deficit, there was plenty of evidence of the talent and determination necessary to win.
But Friday’s final score provided an equally unmistakable reminder that those qualities alone aren’t always enough.
“We earned the loss,” Metzel said. “We have to own it.”
Pirates Stun No. 6 Gilmer on Walk-Off Field Goal in Instant Classic at Jeff Traylor Stadium
GILMER — For the better part of three decades, Pittsburg walked into Gilmer and walked out a loser. That all changed on Friday night, Oct. 16, when Jeremias Flores drilled a 32-yard field goal as time expired, lifting the Pirates to a stunning 58–56 victory over the sixth-ranked Gilmer Buckeyes in a District 8-4A Division II shootout at Jeff Traylor Stadium.
The win was Pittsburg’s first over Gilmer since 1996, snapping the Buckeyes’ five-game winning streak and stunning an East Texas power on its home field .
An Unlikely Upset
Nothing about the matchup suggested this kind of fireworks. Gilmer (5-1) entered the night ranked No. 6 in Class 4A Division II by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, riding a five-game win streak behind an offense that had been rolling all season . Pittsburg (3-3), meanwhile, was coming off a game in which it surrendered 62 points to top-ranked Carthage and had been searching for a signature moment .
The Pirates found it the hard way — by winning a 114-point track meet.
Palmer Paves the Way
Pittsburg running back Tamar Palmer was the engine of the offense, carrying the ball 33 times for 187 yards and three touchdowns. He was just as dominant on defense, racking up 16 tackles and two fumble recoveries in a two-way effort .
Quarterback Kevin Johnson added a rushing touchdown, threw for 141 yards and three scores, and contributed eight tackles and an interception on defense. Cam Doddy hauled in three passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns, while Seven Duffey rushed for 66 yards and a score and caught a 29-yard touchdown .
Buckeyes Answer Punch for Punch
Gilmer didn’t go quietly. Quarterback Zade Taylor, who entered the night with more than 1,500 total yards and 19 touchdowns on the season, rushed for 143 yards and a score . Tayveon Horne ground out 178 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, and Kipton Neighbors added 116 rushing yards and three scores . Kaden Canady gave Gilmer special teams life with a punt return and a kickoff return for touchdowns.
But when the Buckeyes’ defense — opportunistic all season — needed one final stop, it couldn’t get one, and Flores sent the Gilmer crowd home in silence.
Extra Motivation
The game carried personal stakes beyond the district standings. Pittsburg head coach John Huffstetler and defensive coordinator Brad Britton are both former Gilmer assistants, adding spice to an already heated rivalry, all played out amid the carnival atmosphere of Yamboree Week in Gilmer .
What’s Next
Pittsburg improves to 4-3 with the victory, while Gilmer falls to 5-2 . The Pirates host Spring Hill on Friday, Oct. 23, while the Buckeyes travel to Center on Thursday, Oct. 22 — a game moved up a day due to a shortage of officials .
For a Pittsburg program starving for a statement win, Friday night in Gilmer delivered one — by the narrowest of margins, in a game that will be talked about for a long time in East Texas.
Kimi
Pirates Outlast Buckeyes in Gilmer Thriller, 58-56
GILMER — The Pittsburg Pirates walked into Buckeye Stadium on Friday night and walked out with a 58-56 victory over the Gilmer Buckeyes in a District 8-4A Division II shootout that lived up to every bit of its billing .
The Pirates, who entered the night at 3-3 and had surrendered 62 points to top-ranked Carthage a week earlier, found just enough defense—or perhaps just enough luck—to survive a Gilmer offense that had been rolling through opponents during a five-game win streak . The Buckeyes, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A Division II by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, simply ran out of time .
Pittsburg’s offense, which had been averaging 36.8 points per game, exploded for its highest output of the season against a Gilmer defense that had sometimes been stingy during its winning streak. The Pirates leaned on a stable of playmakers: quarterback Kevin Johnson, running back Tamar Palmer, and versatile threats Seven Duffey and Cam Doddy, all of whom also start in the secondary . That two-way burden had been a concern for Pittsburg heading into the game, but on this night, the Pirates’ skill players made the big plays when it mattered.
Gilmer’s Zade Taylor, the senior quarterback who had already accounted for over 1,500 total yards and 19 touchdowns through six games, kept the Buckeyes in it until the final whistle . Tayveon Horne, who had rushed for 737 yards and 13 scores entering the night, also found running room against a Pittsburg defense that had been porous all season . But the Buckeyes’ defense, which had been opportunistic during the win streak, could not get the stop it needed in the closing minutes.
The game carried extra intrigue beyond the scoreboard. Pittsburg head coach John Huffstetler and defensive coordinator Brad Britton both previously served as assistants at Gilmer, adding a personal edge to an already heated district rivalry . The Yamboree Week atmosphere in Gilmer only amplified the stakes .
With the win, Pittsburg improves to 4-3 on the season and 1-0 in district play, while Gilmer drops to 5-2 and 0-1 in District 8-4A Division II . The Pirates will look to build on the momentum when they host Spring Hill on Friday night, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m., while Gilmer will try to regroup on the road against Center on Thursday night, Oct. 22, at 6:30 p.m. (This game was originally scheduled for Oct. 23, but has been moved to Oct. 22 because of the shortage of officials.)
For a Pittsburg program that had been searching for a signature win, Friday night in Gilmer delivered one—by the narrowest of margins, in a game that will be remembered for a long time in East Texas.
Claude