Gilmer 31, Van 23
By Elwyn Henderson
The Gilmer Buckeyes returned home to the friendly confines of Jeff Traylor Stadium in Gilmer Friday night as they entertained the Van Vandals in a key District 7-4A DII matchup. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine had Gilmer picked to win the district with Pleasant Grove coming in second and Van coming in third, so this matchup was one of three to determine the exact seeding for the playoffs.
According to CalPreps Score Predictor which this writer has used for quite a few years, Gilmer came into the game favored to win by a 35-28 score. After the four quarters of play were over the Buckeyes did indeed grab the victory, winning by a score of 31-23. The second of the three seeding games takes place next Friday, October 25th when Gilmer travels to Texarkana to take on the Pleasant Grove Hawks in a 7 PM contest in what will almost certainly decide the District Championship.
Gilmer won the opening coin toss and elected to receive to begin the game. Aiden Moore kicked off for the Vandals. The kick traveled down to the Gilmer 28 and Brady McCown brought the Buckeye offense to the field for their first possession.
McCown led his unit on a 7-play, 71-yard drive that took 2:07. The score came on an 8-yard TD run by Zade Taylor. Brayden Pate nailed the PAT and Gilmer led 7-0.
Pate’s kickoff after the score was returned to the Van 29 where Jaxon Moffatt brought his offense onto the field.
Moffatt led the Vandals on a 71-yard TD drive that took 7 plays and 3:37. The score came on a 6-yard run by Austin Moffatt with 6:56 left in the first quarter. Moore hit the extra pint and the game was tied 7-7.
Gilmer wasted little time to take the lead back, as McCown and company took just 3 plays and 1:22 to move 69 yards for a second TD. The score came on a 60-yard TD run by Trill Butler with 5:09 left in the opening quarter. Pate kicked the extra point and Gilmer led 14-7.
Van’s next possession was a brief one, as on the first play Moffatt was intercepted by Brendan Webb at the Buckeye 44 and he returned the ball to the Van 45.
McCown led the offense on a 10-play, 45-yard drive that took 4:29 off the clock. The score came on a 1-yard TD run by Taylor with 42 seconds left in the first quarter. Pate’s extra point try was good and Gilmer led 21-0.
Van’s next possession began on their 36 after a 16-yard return. The Vandals ran 10 plays and on a 4th down pass Tyler Hagler intercepted Moffatt at the Van 48 and the Buckeye Black Flag set the offense up in great position.
Cadon Tennison came in a quarterback on the possession and he led the offense on a 3-play, 48-yard TD drive that took just 1:16 off the second quarter clock. Pate was true on the extra point and Gilmer extended the lead to 28-7 with 5:08 left in the first half. The score came on a 1-yard TD run by Butler. Key play on the drive was a 42-yard completion from Tennison to Trace Haynes.
Van began their next drive at their 15 with their backs to the wall, due in big part to the two turnovers the Black Flag came up with. Moffatt and his charges were determined to close the gap before the half, knowing they would get the ball to begin the second half. Moffatt moved his offense methodically down the field, but the Black Flag came up big when they needed it, forcing a 25-yard Moore field goal with 21 seconds left in the half, moving the score to 28-10 Gilmer. The drive was 17 plays, 77 yards and consumed 4:47.
After Moore’s kickoff McCown took a knee and the first half ended with the Buckeyes in control with the 28-10 lead. Everyone in the stadium knew there would be a challenge by the visitors in the second half. The Bucks knew they couldn’t take their foot off the accelerator.
Pate’s kickoff to the second half was taken at the Van 10 and returned to the 28 where Moffatt brought his unit back on the field for the first possession of the second half.
The Vandals garnered two first downs and ran 10 plays and were forced to punt the ball away by the Black Flag. The punt died at the Gilmer 13 and McCown brought the offense back for their first possession of the second half. After managing one first down Pate came in to punt the ball away. The kick was fair caught at the Van 36 and the Vandals went back on the offensive.
Moffatt led his team on an 8-play, 64 yard drive that took 3:37 off the clock. The TD came on a 13-yard pass from Moffatt to Matt Oxford with 1:13 left in the third quarter. Moore hit the extra point and Van trailed 28-18.
Moore kicked onside on the ensuing kickoff and the Vandals recovered the ball at midfield and set his team up with a chance to make a game of the contest.
The visitors took full advantage, moving the 50 yards to pay dirt in 7 plays. The score came on an 8-yard pass from Moffatt to Cadon Rowe with 9:07 left in the game. A pass on a 2-point try was intercepted by Taj Manson, but suddenly the Vandals trailed by just 5 points, 28-23.
Van pooched the next kickoff and Gilmer got the ball and it was returned up to the Buckeye 45 where McCown and the offense knew they urgently needed a score to stem the momentum that Van had gotten.
Things were looking good, but a pass on 4th and 3 fell incomplete and Van took over on downs at their 33 with 6:24 left in the contest.
The Vandals moved the ball down to the Gilmer 32 over 9 plays, but a 4th down pass was incomplete and the ball turned over on downs to the Bucks at that point with 3:23 left in the game.
On the first play of the possession Butler ran down the right sideline for 46 yards putting Gilmer in good shape. The offense moved the ball down to the Van 15, but the defense for the Vandals made a stand and Gilmer faced a 4th and 3 from the 15 with 1:38 left in the game. Coach Alan Metzel chose to send Pate in to attempt a 32-yard field goal. The kick was good and Gilmer advanced the lead to 31-28 in favor of the Buckeyes with 1:33 left in the game. The drive was 5 plays, 53 yards and took 1:50.
Pate’s next kickoff went to the Van 3 and was returned by Austin Moffatt at the Van 25.
Everyone knew the Vandals would be airing it out in the possession as time was running out if they wanted to steal the victory.
The Black Flag was ready for the challenge, forcing a 4th and 11 from the Van 24 with 43 seconds left in the game. A desperation 4th down pass fell incomplete and Gilmer took over on downs at the Van 24 and went into victory formation. One play was all McCown had to run as he took a knee and the clock ran out and Gilmer claimed the 31-23 victory. The win moves Gilmer to 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in District play while the loss drops Van to 5-2 on the season and 1-1 in District play.
After the big win we talked with Coach Alan Metzel and asked if he agreed the adversity the team faced in the second half would be good going into the PG game next week
“It is, yeah. I thought we came out and we were really hitting on all cylinders and scored I think 4 out of the first 5 drives. We came out in the second half and we got a stop and we had everything we wanted but we were in the wrong position and we just didn’t take advantage of the opportunity that was given to us and allowed them to get a stop and they go score and then they got the onside kick. We only ran 5 offensive plays in the third quarter. That’s on us. We didn’t get the first down and we didn’t play the right way on the onside. Those are things that we can really harp on and tighten up. We understand that next week will be a tough game and you know we’ve got to take it up another level.”
“We’ve got to hit on all cylinders (against Pleasant Grove). We know that, especially playing at their place. You know, they’ve got a great team. It’s going to be a good war and we’ll prepare this coming week. We’ll spend some time this weekend watching some film and get a good play and go get after them.”
We brought up the fact that McCown is continuing to improve and made a couple of big runs in the game.
“He is; it’s really more of an understanding of when to run and where it will be. There were certain things that they were trying to take away and as a result he moved if the run lane would be there. I though he did an excellent job moving in the pocket and running when he needed to.”
We also mentioned that the game had to go to the Black Flag Defense due to the two interceptions that led to touchdowns both times.
“Absolutely, and we know that. We have a really good defense and we lean on that like on the late game decision. I went ahead and kicked the field goal because I feel confident our defense is going to battle and put them in a bind to try and score 8 points. Scenarios like that; you make decisions off of the team that you have that year. Those guys are playing their tails off.”
We asked the coach about the great job the Black Flag did after Pate added the field goal to give the Bucks the 8-point lead.
“Yes, and first of all, great job covering the kickoff, which is big and we’ve improved on that. That was a weak spot earlier in the year. Then the defense just took it up a notch and was so physical and got us the ball right back.”
We concluded our visit by bringing up the fact that despite the Yamboree going on at the square we had a nice crowd and they were vocal during the game.
“They were, and we love them. Obviously, we know there were a lot of people up there on the square. It’s all good and as long as we take care of business we’re doing well.”
So now the Buckeyes almost certainly can complete their goal of winning the District Championship this year if they get the win in Texarkana against the Hawks next Friday night. It will be a stiffer challenge than Van was tonight and the Army of Buckeyes needs to travel en masse to that game.