Gilmer 24, Kilgore 22
By Elwyn Henderson
The 0-2 Gilmer Buckeyes returned to the friendly confines of Jeff Traylor Stadium in Gilmer Friday night to take on the 2-0 Kilgore Bulldogs in the annual Homecoming Game. In addition to all those festivities, the State Championship football teams from 2004, 2009 and 2014 were honored at the game, making it a very special evening for the Army of Buckeyes.
And just to add to the excitement, the Buckeyes pulled off a dramatic heart-stopping 24-22 upset win over the previously undefeated Bulldogs. That bodes very well for the team for the remainder of the season considering Kilgore defeated Carthage on the road 20-15 in Week 1 and plastered Whitehouse 27-7 last week. As Gilmer fans know, if just a couple of plays would have ended a little differently, the Bucks could have easily been 2-0 after the first two weeks.
Kilgore won the coin toss and elected to defer to begin the game. Brady McCown brought the offense out for their first possession.
The Bucks moved the ball from their 38 down to the Kilgore 39 but an incomplete fourth down pass turned the ball over to the Bulldogs.
The Black Flag Defense forced a three-and-out and after a 35-yard punt Cadon Tennison came in at quarterback. The offense picked up nine yards on three downs and Brayden Pate came in to punt the ball away. The kick traveled 40 yards down to the Bulldog 15 with no return where Kayson Brooks brought his team out again.
It took just three plays for the visitors to find the end zone. The score came on a 64-yard screen pass from Brooks to Jayden Sanders with 5:52 left in the first quarter. Jimenez added the PAT and Kilgore led 7-0. The drive took just 1:12.
The ensuing kick was returned from the Gilmer 10 up to the 28 and McCown came out at quarterback for the possession. He drove the team down to the Kilgore 30, but the ball turned over on downs on a fourth down incomplete pass into the end zone with 2:44 left in the opening quarter.
The Bulldogs moved down the field again with ease against the Buckeyes, but the Black Flag stiffened, forcing a 34-yard field goal by Eddie Jimenez with 10:30 left in the first half. The 9-play, 54-yard drive took 4:14 off the clock, putting the visitors up 10-0.
The Bucks started their next drive at their 35, knowing they desperately needed to get into the end zone to get some momentum back. McCown began the possession at quarterback but appeared to hurt a finger on his throwing hand early in the possession and Zade Taylor came in for a bit and then Tennison entered the game once again.
The Buckeyes managed to do just that, moving the 65 yards in 13 plays and taking 6:20 off the clock. Tennison scored from eight yards out as his teammates pushed the pile into the end zone. Pate split the uprights on the extra point try and Gilmer pulled to within 3, at 10-7 with 4:10 left in the half.
Pate kicked onside following the score and Atavian Ector recovered the ball at the Kilgore 33. Facing a 4th and 6, Tennison hit Webb on an 8-yard completion and a first down. The next series resulted in the Buckeyes facing a 4th and 10 and Pate came in and nailed a 40-yard tying field goal with 1:23 left in the half, making the score 10-10. The 7-play drive took 2:57.
Pate tried another pooch kick and Kilgore recovered at their 44. Brooks moved his unit down to the Gilmer 21 and then threw a pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Taj Manson in the end zone, then fumbled and recovered by Gilmer for a touchback. The teams went into their respective locker rooms tied at 10-10.
Kilgore got the ball to start the second half. On the third play of the possession, Brooks was intercepted by Trillyon Butler at the Kilgore 40 and returned down to the Bulldog 25. It took just 2:30 and seven plays for the Bucks to move the 25 yards into the end zone for a go-ahead score. The TD came on a 3-yard run by Alec Sims with 8:58 left in the quarter. The PAT by Pate was good and Gilmer took a 17-10 lead.
The next kickoff was returned to the Gilmer 44 by the ‘Dogs and it took them just two plays to find the end zone again. The score came on a 36-yard pass from Brooks to Graves with 7:38 left in the quarter. The extra point by Jimenez was no good and Gilmer still led 17-16.
The ensuing kick was returned to the 50 by Gilmer, but on the second play of the possession Tennison was intercepted and the ball was returned to the Gilmer 48.
The Black Flag, thanks to a 10-yard holding call on Kilgore, forced a three-and-out, and following a punt Gilmer set up on their 39 with 4:56 left in the third quarter.
McCown and company managed one first down but had to punt from the Kilgore 45 down to the 4 on a beautiful coffin corner kick with 1:54 left in the quarter. Kilgore picked up two first downs and then the Black Flag forced another punt. Gilmer set up on their 43 after a 15-yard return.
Sadly, it was quick three-and-out and after a Pate punt and return by Kilgore they set up shop on their 44 with exactly 10 minutes left in the game.
The Black Flag came through and forced another three-and-out and following another punt the Bucks set up on their 13 with 8:56 left in the game.
Tennison came in a quarterback on the possession and the offense managed to pick up one first down and, thanks to a 15-yard loss on a fumble, Pate had to punt the ball away on fourth down. He hit a 39-yard kick that went out of bounds at the Kilgore 33 and Brooks went back to work with 5:54 left in the game.
The Bulldogs managed two first downs with one coming on a 15-yard personal foul on the Buckeyes for a late hit, but on the third series after a 2-yard loss, the Buckeyes took over on downs at their 40. Unfortunately, it was a quick three-and-out and Pate kicked the ball down to the Kilgore 24 with 2:26 left in the game. Gilmer was also tagged with a 15-yard late hit, moving the ball up to the 38.
On the next play Brooks hit a 62-yard TD pass to Lakeyleon Sanders, taking just 12 seconds off the clock. A pass for a 2-point conversion was incomplete, but the visitors took a 22-17 lead with 2:12 left in the game.
Gilmer set up on their 33 after the kickoff. After an incomplete pass Kilgore was called for a facemask on McCown on the second down play and then an extra 15-yard penalty was added on the Kilgore bench, moving the ball down to the Kilgore 36.
After three straight incomplete passes, Gilmer faced a 4th and 10 at the ‘Dog 36. McCown came through, hitting Geramiah Noble on a 13-yard pass for a first down. On the next play, Butler ran up the middle for a TD with 1:26 left in the game. The plan was to go for two, but Gilmer was called for a false start and Pate came out and kicked the extra point, giving Gilmer a 24-22 lead with 1:26 left in the game.
Gilmer pinned Kilgore back at their 17 on the kickoff, but the Bucks were offsides and Kilgore wanted a re-kick. It turned out to be what could have been the death knell for Gilmer. A pooch kick was returned into Gilmer territory at the 45 and Brooks moved his unit down the field.
Without timeouts left, the seconds were running off the clock after each Bulldog play. With 26 seconds left ,Graves fell down on the field after a play and since Kilgore was out of timeouts the rules required a 10-second runoff of the clock. After the next play ended with the ‘Dogs inside the Gilmer 10 with six seconds left, another Bulldog player was down on the field, stopping the clock.
Apparently, due to the high stress for both coaching staffs and both teams with the nail-biting end to the contest, Kilgore had forgotten another 10-second runoff was required. They ran onto the field planning to spike the ball and then send in Jimenez to try to kick a game-winning field goal.
Instead, since there were only six seconds left on the clock at the time, the officials said the runoff signaled the game was over and the Buckeyes claimed the 24-22 win.
We talked with an excited but totally exhausted Coach Alan Metzel. We thought when the lights went out in Chapel Hill last week that most probably cost the Buckeyes a victory that was a crazy ending, but this game topped that, so we began our visit by asking him if he had ever seen a game end in such a crazy way.
“No, that was pretty bizarre, I’d have to say. It’s up in the top two or three finishes that I’ve gotten to be a part of.”
We stayed in that same vein and asked his thoughts about the fact that two 10-second runoffs ended up giving Gilmer the Homecoming win.
“Yeah, it ended up being the difference. Absolutely, that was 20 seconds of the game. I was down there with the line judge (after the second injury timeout) all the way on about the 10-yard line yelling like crazy and he was calling it in (to the referee) and the head referee was nodding his head but he was not giving any indication, so I didn’t know what was going on. I’m just down there losing my mind and then he stopped and called it. All I can think of is he was trying to think it through, and after he thought it through, he came to the conclusion, which is correct, that if you have an injury, regardless of the nature if the player is acting or really had a cramp or whatever, it doesn’t matter. Even if you have a legitimate injury, it still runs out (since there were just 6 seconds left after the second injury). It is what it is and the game was over.”
We then brought up the fact that we had more injuries in the game and the players forced to come in and play lived out the old phrase ‘next man up’ very well in the game.
“Yeah, they did. I think we may have played more people in tonight’s game off of our roster than maybe any game we’ve ever coached. We did have a whole lot, of some minor things, and some that were a bigger deal injury-wise and we were having to adjust and send in guys and guys were having to play real plays, you know. They were having trial by fire on multiple occasions and it’s a credit to the players getting in there and battling to the end and the coaches having them ready to go. Man, it was quite the war of attrition.”
Then we pointed out that even though you hate to have a player have to go in under those circumstances that it helps them when they have to go in again down the road.
“Absolutely, that is for sure, and so when you’ve been in a battle like that, and for some guys that was like their initial opportunity to play in that level of a game. Once you’ve done that, you’re more battle-tested and hopefully, you improve from there and your practice habits go up because you realize that anything can happen. You can be the guy; just so many lessons that can be learned.”
We also wanted to give Coach Metzel a chance to explain his reason for deciding to go for one point after the false start penalty moved the ball back to the 8 after the final Gilmer TD with the people were online after the game criticizing the decision. We felt like the coach had a legitimate reason for going for 1 after the penalty. You’ve got to remember, he has taken the team to the State Championship game three years out of the four he has been the head coach. We all need to understand that as Monday Morning quarterbacks, we DON’T always have the right thoughts. His explanation made very good sense, so please don’t criticize on Facebook or other social media or sports threads online.
“Well, you know, we went for 2. We were dealing with being a little bit rattled and so we called time out, we went with our play, we jumped offsides. In the midst of all that, we ended up throwing it to the other team but it didn’t count (because of the false start). So, they moved the ball back and I didn’t feel good about doing it from the 8 because we looked so poor from the 3 on our attempt, so we kick it and they were offsides. At that time, and I understand, if people disagree, they disagree. Yeah, they could have come down there and kicked a field goal and we’d have lost and they could have just been mad and so forth, but I went with my gut. I kept the point. I know some will say the 2 (point lead) didn’t help you, and in my mind I was thinking I didn’t want them getting 2. I didn’t want us messing up and putting us in a position where we could lose the ball and they could return it for 2 points and undo what we’d just done. So, that’s what I went with and people certainly have a right to disagree.”
Next week Gilmer travels to Lindale to take on the Eagles in a 7:30 PM game. We want to give a huge shout out to the Buckeye Army who showed up and were yelling and in the game all night long. You have done a fantastic job of showing up each of the first 3 weeks of the season and we’ve had more people at the first two home games than we had at any of our home games last year. Keep it up and make the short trip to Lindale next Friday as your Gilmer Buckeyes continue to grow and will look to move their season record to 2-2.