Chapel Hill 41, Gilmer 26
By Elwyn Henderson
The Gilmer Buckeyes had their 2025 home opener at Jeff Traylor Stadium in Gilmer when they hosted the Chapel Hill Bulldogs. The Buckeyes were hoping to get redemption for the 2023 home loss to the Bulldogs by the score of 71-53 and the 33-29 loss on the road last year but unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards as the Bulldogs bested Gilmer 41-26 to move their season record to 2-0 while Gilmer drops to 1-1 with the loss.
The game was a tale of two halves. Gilmer looked really good the better part of the first half but couldn’t overcome the adversity they faced in the second half.
Chapel Hill won the coin toss to open the game and chose to receive to open the game.
Miguel Casteaneda kicked off for Gilmer. The ball went to the Chapel Hill 34 where a Bulldog made a fair catch.
Malik Gee brought the visitors out for their first possession. The Bulldogs managed two first downs and then the Black Flag Defense shut the door, forcing a punt from midfield down to the Buckeye 23 where Zade Taylor brought his offensive teammates on the field for their first possession.
After picking up two first downs Taylor was intercepted by Timontrea Jenkins in the end zone and the visitors went back on offense at their 20. After picking up first downs on consecutive plays and then the Black Flag shut the door and forced what turned into an 8 yard punt and Gilmer was back in business at their 44.
It took just 4 plays for the Buckeyes to find the end zone for the first time. Taveon Horne ran into the end zone from 16 yards out with 3:18 left I the first quarter. Casteaneda kicked the PAT and Gilmer led 7-0.
The Buckeyes kicked onside but Chapel Hill covered the ball at their 35 where Gee brought his charges back on the field.
Taylor led the team on an 11-play, 61-yard drive that consumed 4:53 off the clock. The score came on a 1-yard TD run by Horne with 8:26 left in the first half. The extra point attempt was no good but Gilmer increased the lead to 13-0.
The ensuing kickoff was taken at the Bulldog 49 but he Black Flag forced a three-and-out and the punt went down to the Gilmer 24 and Taylor and company hit the field again with 7:04 left in the half.
It took just 37 seconds and 3 plays for the Bucks to move the 76 yards down the field and find the end zone for the third time in the game. The score came with 6:27 left in the half. The extra point was good and Gilmer went up 20-0.
The ensuing kick was returned to the Gilmer 28. The Bulldogs took just 3 plays to crack the scoreboard. The score came on a 15-yard TD pass from Gee to Damarcion Blaylock with 5:19 left in the half. Estavan Sandoval kicked the extra point and the Buckeye lead was down to 20-7.
The next kick was onside but went out of bounds and Gilmer took over on their 36. It was a quick three-and-out and Celson James punted the ball down to the CH 32 and Gee hit the field once again hoping to get back closer before the half ended.
They managed to pick up two first downs and then the Black Flag forced a punt from the 47 to the Gilmer 15 and Solomon Jackson returned the ball up to the 23.
Gilmer went three-and-out and after a nice 43-yard punt and the return went down to the Gilmer 46. Chapel Hill garnered one first down but then the Black Flag forced an incomplete pass on 4th and 5 and the Bux got the ball back at their 31 with 41 seconds left in the half. Taylor went into victory formation and after 1 play the half ended with Gilmer leading 20-7 and set to get the opening kickoff of the second half.
Sandoval’s onside kick was recovered by a Bulldog and Chapel Hill took over at the Gilmer 46. The Bulldogs took only 5 plays and 2:05 to move the 46 yards into the end zone for their second TD of the game. The score came on a 20-yard pass from Gee to Blaylock with 9:55 left in the third quarter. The extra point was no good but Chapel Hill was back to within a TD, trailing 20-13.
Another onside kick attempt went out of bounds and Gilmer went to work at their 30. After a quick three-and-out and a 33-yard punt the Bulldogs went back on offense.
It took just 44 seconds and 3 plays for Gee to get his team into the end zone yet again. Gee connected from 31 yards out with Blaylock with 7:30 left in the third quarter. The point after was good and the game was tied 20-20.
Jackson returned the next kickoff up to the Gilmer 37 and Taylor brought the offense back to the field urgently needing to get a score.
The Bucks did just that, moving 63 yards in 5 plays that took 2:14 off the clock. The extra point was blocked but Gilmer took the lead back 26-20 with 5:16 left in the quarter. The score was set up by a 49-yard pass from Taylor to Jackson.
The kickoff after the score went out of bounds at the Bulldog 7 and Gilmer had to kick again from their 35. The kick was fumbled but Chapel Hill recovered. They were flagged after the play for a personal foul and began their next drive at their 24.
They moved the 76 yards to the end zone in 4:17 and took 10 plays to score again. The TD came with 59 seconds left in the quarter. The extra point was good and for the first time in the game Gilmer trailed 27-26.
After the kickoff Gilmer took over on their 44 and on the first play of the possession an errant handoff resulted in Peaira Allen recovering the ball at the Gilmer 34.
The ‘Dogs took the final 39 seconds of the quarter and scored again as the quarter came to a close. The score came on an 8-yard run by Gee. The PAT was good and the Buckeyes trailed 34-26.
The Buckeyes got the ball back at their 40 and managed one first down and were forced to punt the ball away again. After the kick the visitors set up on their 20 and took just 3 plays to find the end zone again. The score was set up by a 52-yard run by Sey’Dadrian Darden down to the 1. The next play aw a 1-yard TD run by Gee with 9:07 left in the game. The extra point was good and Chapel Hill advanced their lead to 41-26.
Gilmer began their next drive at their 20 but they were not able to get a first down. James hit a beautiful 56-yard punt down to the 38 and the Bulldogs went on the offensive again with 7:18 left in the game. They moved down to the Gilmer 30 and turned the ball over on downs with 59 seconds left in the game and the Buckeyes got one last gasp to find the end zone for the first time in the second half.
The offense picked up one first down and turned the ball over on downs with 4 straight incomplete passes at their 33 with 15 seconds left in the contest. After a 10-yard loss the clock ran out and the Buckeyes fell 41-26 and dropped to 1-1 on the year with a trip to Kilgore on the agenda next week.
We talked with Buckeye Head Coach Alan Metzel after the game and asked his thoughts about what happened to the team.
“Well I thought the first half went the way we would script it. I thought we were physical, I thought we made plays and I thought defensively we were being consistent in our fits and so forth. In the second half they came out and got that little onside kick thing and it popped over our guy’s head and the momentum turned and we didn’t handle it well. That’s kind of what caused the meltdown. It is what it is; you have to own it. We didn’t play well from that point on. They were executing and we weren’t. They kind of flipped the script and we didn’t get it stopped.”
“I felt like we had an opportunity or two to make a catch at the right time or whatever and we didn’t make it. The game is all about making a play in the time that it has to be made and we didn’t get that accomplished in the second half. We’ve got to get that fixed. We’ve got to have guys step up, be more mentally tough and I’ve got a week to get that done, so there you go.”
The coach continued, “We know these first 5 are a gauntlet, you know. We played a really good team tonight and like we said, I prefer to win them but even in a night when you don’t finish the way you want it’s that win or learn thing. If you lose it means you didn’t learn. You lost on the scoreboard but you also didn’t learn. If we can use this to drive us to a higher place, and hopefully you can see that next week against another extremely good opponent, we’ll continue to chip away and take steps each of the next 3 weeks until we get to our bye.”
We finished up by asking if he agreed the game was a very well officiated contest and he said, “It was and that was one of the things that did frustrate me is we lost our cool on several occasions; we had a 3rd and 11 and we got a 15-yarder. We had another stop and we give them a first down. That kind of stuff can be fixed. You know, we’ve got to make the choice but that was at two very inopportune times when you’re in a position where you can get the ball back and go do something. It’s part of growing up and we’re in that rough spot right now. We’ve gotta dig in and understand who’s in the foxhole with you and go to work.”
We know that the coaches, the team and the fans were all disappointed with how the game
turned out but we ask you to stay with these young men and encourage them as they work to “right the ship.” The Buckeyes need you to be behind them now more than ever when they make the drive down to Kilgore next week to face a gritty and very talented Bulldog team. Do your best to make it to the game and let them know you support them 100%. There’s still a lot of games to go in this season and this team WILL improve as the season goes on.
