By JOE DODD
The Gilmer Buckeyes exploded for a season-high 628 total yards en route to a 62-12 victory over the Mineola Yellowjackets Friday night in Mineola. The Buckeyes’ sported a balanced offense that gained 319 yards passing and 309 yards rushing to garner the team’s 27th consecutive district win. With the win, Gilmer improves their season record to 8-0, and their district record to 3-0. Mineola falls to 2-6 on the season, and 1-2 in district play.
The Buckeyes’ 62 points marked the fourth time this season that the Buckeyes have eclipsed the 60-point plateau, and left quite an impression on Mineola head coach Steve Wells. “That team right there is one of the best 3A teams that I’ve seen,” said Wells. “I think they have a legitimate shot to win it all.”
Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor was quick to downplay Wells’ remarks. “We were okay,” said Traylor, who improved his career record to 69-13 with the 50-point win. “I was proud that so many kids were productive on offense. We had a lot of kids touch the ball; and we had a lot of kids have success when they touched the ball.”
Nine Buckeyes were on the receiving end of passes from quarterbacks G.J. Kinne and Stump Godfrey; while six Buckeyes ran the football for Gilmer. Junior running back Justin Johnson was especially impressive with 166 yards rushing and three touchdowns on only nine carries. Johnson also caught one pass for 36 yards. “I can say that I’m back to 100 percent now,” claimed Johnson, who has been nursing an ankle injury most of the season. Johnson’s performance certainly pleased his head coach. “He’s getting healthy,” Traylor said. “He’s starting to get in shape, and he’s starting to look like a running back again. I’m excited for him, and I was glad to see that”
Sophomore Devane Clark led the Buckeyes’ receivers with three catches for 112 yards and one touchdown. “I was excited for Devane Clark; he really had a big break-out game. That’s a kid that didn’t even play football. This is his first year to ever play football, and I was very proud of him,” stated Traylor of the Buckeyes’ basketball guard. “Devane has been out there, but we just hadn’t been throwing it to him because he didn’t really know what he was doing because this is his first year to play football. But he’s a very smart kid, and he works hard.”
Kinne had his usual impressive game, going 12-of-22 for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He was replaced in the third quarter by freshman Godfrey, who went 4-of-6 for 67 yards, and had a touchdown rushing.
The Yellowjackets were overmatched from the start, as the Buckeyes’ Kezie Camp intercepted a Richie Brandon pass on the game’s seventh play, giving the Gilmer offense the football at their 14-yard line. The Buckeyes’ traveled the 86 yards in seven plays, with Kinne scoring the game’s first touchdown on a 1-yard dive with 7:12 left in the first quarter. Matt Burgin kicked the first of his seven extra points on the night.
Following a Mineola 3-and-out on their next possession, the Buckeyes needed only four plays to score again, as Johnson ran untouched up the middle 25 yards for the second score, giving Gilmer a 14-0 lead with 4:33 to play in the first. “The line did an excellent job again tonight,” stated Johnson, whose assessment was confirmed by Traylor. “On the offensive line; Daniel Jenkins, Dakota Hagler and Dexture Carr all played real well,” stated Traylor.
The Yellowjackets fumbled the ball on their first play of the next possession. Evin Wilson recovered the fumble for the Buckeyes at the 50-yard line, but Gilmer’s drive stalled at the Mineola 26-yard line, forcing a rare Buckeyes’ punt by Jake Manning.
Mineola responded by almost scoring a touchdown. On 3rd down-and-5 from their 19-yard line, Mineola running back Cory Jones took the hand-off and went around the left side untouched down the sideline. Despite no Gilmer defenders near enough to force him out, Jones started weaving, and accidentally stepped out of bounds at the Buckeyes’ 25-yard line. Mineola would advance the ball to the Gilmer 9-yard line before turning the ball over on downs, when the Yellowjackets halfback pass sailed out of the end zone on fourth down.
It took the Buckeyes five plays and 1:42 off the clock to score their third touchdown of the night, this time on a 54-yard Kinne pass to Clark, giving Gilmer a 21-0 lead with 7:38 to play in the half.
Mineola ’s woes continued on their next possession, when the Buckeyes’ Camp recovered a Yellowjackets’ fumble at the Mineola 23-yard line. After an incomplete pass, Johnson took the handoff, bulled over a defender at the line of scrimmage and raced the 23 yards for a touchdown, giving Gilmer a 28-0 lead with 6:35 remaining until halftime.
Following a Mineola punt, the Buckeyes took possession of the ball at their 47-yard line, and quickly went downfield, scoring five plays later when Kinne hit junior tight end Justin Fielden from six yards out, for Fielden’s first touchdown on the season. “It was great. It surprised me; I didn’t know it was coming. It was pretty awesome,” said Fielden, who gave Gilmer a 35-0 halftime lead.
The Buckeyes added to that lead quickly, and often in the second half. Johnson got things started with a spectacular 55-yard run on the half’s first play. Three plays later, Kinne hit Lamar Harris for a 5-yard touchdown, giving the Buckeyes a 42-0 lead with only 1:02 off the clock.
The Yellowjackets first drive of the second half ended at the Mineola 47-yard line, when Ray Martin’s pass off a fake punt attempt sailed over the heads of two wide-open Mineola receivers. Four plays later, Johnson found the end zone from 19 yards out, pushing the Buckeyes lead to 49-0 with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter.
The Yellowjackets and Buckeyes traded punts on the next two possessions, before Mineola finally got on the scoreboard when Martin busted through the Gilmer defense for a 33-yard touchdown run. The Buckeyes’ Wes Wynn blocked the extra point attempt, but the Yellojackets were on the board with 8:57 left in the 4th quarter.
Gilmer recovered the onside kick at their 41-yard line, and traveled the 59 yards in only 5 plays, capping off the drive when Godfrey faked a hand-off and followed his running back 15 yards into the end zone; untouched around the left side of the line for the 55-6 lead with 6:42 left to play. “I was proud of the way Stump Godfrey played. He came in and executed the offense well,” said Traylor.
Zach Jones added to Mineola ’s misery on the Yellowjackets’ very next play, as the sophomore picked off another Brandon pass, giving Gilmer the football at the Mneola 47-yard line. Eight plays later, Braylon Hawley carried the ball across the goal line from four yards out, ending the Buckeyes’ scoring at 62 points with 1:25 to play in the game.
Mineola returned the kickoff to their 41-yard line, where Martin rewarded the few remaining Mineola fans with a nice 59-yard touchdown run just 22 seconds following the Buckeyes’ final score. The Yellowjackets’ 2-point conversion attempt failed, making the final score 62-12.
Mineola ’s two fourth quarter touchdowns did not please Traylor. “I thought defensively, for the first time since the Daingerfield game, we took a step backwards,” said Traylor. “Granted, Mineola did have three pretty good skill kids, and most of the yards were against our [second team], but we expect them to make plays.”
Johnson added; “We actually wanted a shutout and we didn’t get that again.”
Not only did the Buckeyes defense not get the shut-out, Gilmer allowed 238 yards on the ground. The Buckeyes’ Arsenial Richardson who led the team with 9 tackles and a forced fumble, was practical in his opinion of his unit’s play. “I think we did pretty good; but we’ve still got a long way to go,” stated the senior linebacker. Despite the step back, Traylor still saw some positives from his defense. “Donte Harris had a great game; he had nine tackles. Kezie Camp had six tackles, one interception, he caused a fumble, and he recovered a fumble, so he had a break-out game,” Traylor said.
Traylor also praised his special teams’ leaders. “Jake Manning had two good punts, and he had a touchdown saving tackle,” said the Buckeyes’ Boss. “Matt Burgin kicked three kickoffs into the end zone; he’s really getting better at his kickoffs.”
Along with all of the praise, Traylor added some words of caution to his team. “We did enough to get through the game; I’m a little concerned that we’ve done that for three weeks in a row, and now we got to get our motors going Friday night.”
STATISTICS
Gilmer Mineola
28 First downs 10
31-309 Rushes-yds 38-238
16-28-0 Passing 2-10-2
319 Passing yds 35
628 Total yds 273
6-37 Penalties-yds 2-10
0 Fumbles lost 2
22:54 Time of possession 25:06
SCORE BY QUARTERS
1 2 3 4 T
Gilmer 14 21 14 13 62
Mineola 0 0 0 12 12
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
G.J. KINNE (16) picks up yardage on the ground against Mineola there last Friday night as Cody Lee (72) looks on. Gilmer’s senior QB ran for one touchdown and threw for three more as the Buckeyes (8-0; 3-0) routed the ’Jackets, 62-12.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
A CONVOY OF players from both teams follow Justin Johnson as he bursts into the end zone, scoring a first quarter touchdown. The Gilmer running back played both ways as he came back full-time from an injury earlier ths year.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
KEZIE CAMP snatches an interception in the first quarter to stop an early Mineola drive and give Gilmer possesion. Turnovers plagued the Yellow jackets and gave Gilmer short fields to work from.
The Gilmer Buckeyes exploded for a season-high 628 total yards en route to a 62-12 victory over the Mineola Yellowjackets Friday night in Mineola. The Buckeyes’ sported a balanced offense that gained 319 yards passing and 309 yards rushing to garner the team’s 27th consecutive district win. With the win, Gilmer improves their season record to 8-0, and their district record to 3-0. Mineola falls to 2-6 on the season, and 1-2 in district play.
The Buckeyes’ 62 points marked the fourth time this season that the Buckeyes have eclipsed the 60-point plateau, and left quite an impression on Mineola head coach Steve Wells. “That team right there is one of the best 3A teams that I’ve seen,” said Wells. “I think they have a legitimate shot to win it all.”
Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor was quick to downplay Wells’ remarks. “We were okay,” said Traylor, who improved his career record to 69-13 with the 50-point win. “I was proud that so many kids were productive on offense. We had a lot of kids touch the ball; and we had a lot of kids have success when they touched the ball.”
Nine Buckeyes were on the receiving end of passes from quarterbacks G.J. Kinne and Stump Godfrey; while six Buckeyes ran the football for Gilmer. Junior running back Justin Johnson was especially impressive with 166 yards rushing and three touchdowns on only nine carries. Johnson also caught one pass for 36 yards. “I can say that I’m back to 100 percent now,” claimed Johnson, who has been nursing an ankle injury most of the season. Johnson’s performance certainly pleased his head coach. “He’s getting healthy,” Traylor said. “He’s starting to get in shape, and he’s starting to look like a running back again. I’m excited for him, and I was glad to see that”
Sophomore Devane Clark led the Buckeyes’ receivers with three catches for 112 yards and one touchdown. “I was excited for Devane Clark; he really had a big break-out game. That’s a kid that didn’t even play football. This is his first year to ever play football, and I was very proud of him,” stated Traylor of the Buckeyes’ basketball guard. “Devane has been out there, but we just hadn’t been throwing it to him because he didn’t really know what he was doing because this is his first year to play football. But he’s a very smart kid, and he works hard.”
Kinne had his usual impressive game, going 12-of-22 for 252 yards and three touchdowns. He was replaced in the third quarter by freshman Godfrey, who went 4-of-6 for 67 yards, and had a touchdown rushing.
The Yellowjackets were overmatched from the start, as the Buckeyes’ Kezie Camp intercepted a Richie Brandon pass on the game’s seventh play, giving the Gilmer offense the football at their 14-yard line. The Buckeyes’ traveled the 86 yards in seven plays, with Kinne scoring the game’s first touchdown on a 1-yard dive with 7:12 left in the first quarter. Matt Burgin kicked the first of his seven extra points on the night.
Following a Mineola 3-and-out on their next possession, the Buckeyes needed only four plays to score again, as Johnson ran untouched up the middle 25 yards for the second score, giving Gilmer a 14-0 lead with 4:33 to play in the first. “The line did an excellent job again tonight,” stated Johnson, whose assessment was confirmed by Traylor. “On the offensive line; Daniel Jenkins, Dakota Hagler and Dexture Carr all played real well,” stated Traylor.
The Yellowjackets fumbled the ball on their first play of the next possession. Evin Wilson recovered the fumble for the Buckeyes at the 50-yard line, but Gilmer’s drive stalled at the Mineola 26-yard line, forcing a rare Buckeyes’ punt by Jake Manning.
Mineola responded by almost scoring a touchdown. On 3rd down-and-5 from their 19-yard line, Mineola running back Cory Jones took the hand-off and went around the left side untouched down the sideline. Despite no Gilmer defenders near enough to force him out, Jones started weaving, and accidentally stepped out of bounds at the Buckeyes’ 25-yard line. Mineola would advance the ball to the Gilmer 9-yard line before turning the ball over on downs, when the Yellowjackets halfback pass sailed out of the end zone on fourth down.
It took the Buckeyes five plays and 1:42 off the clock to score their third touchdown of the night, this time on a 54-yard Kinne pass to Clark, giving Gilmer a 21-0 lead with 7:38 to play in the half.
Mineola ’s woes continued on their next possession, when the Buckeyes’ Camp recovered a Yellowjackets’ fumble at the Mineola 23-yard line. After an incomplete pass, Johnson took the handoff, bulled over a defender at the line of scrimmage and raced the 23 yards for a touchdown, giving Gilmer a 28-0 lead with 6:35 remaining until halftime.
Following a Mineola punt, the Buckeyes took possession of the ball at their 47-yard line, and quickly went downfield, scoring five plays later when Kinne hit junior tight end Justin Fielden from six yards out, for Fielden’s first touchdown on the season. “It was great. It surprised me; I didn’t know it was coming. It was pretty awesome,” said Fielden, who gave Gilmer a 35-0 halftime lead.
The Buckeyes added to that lead quickly, and often in the second half. Johnson got things started with a spectacular 55-yard run on the half’s first play. Three plays later, Kinne hit Lamar Harris for a 5-yard touchdown, giving the Buckeyes a 42-0 lead with only 1:02 off the clock.
The Yellowjackets first drive of the second half ended at the Mineola 47-yard line, when Ray Martin’s pass off a fake punt attempt sailed over the heads of two wide-open Mineola receivers. Four plays later, Johnson found the end zone from 19 yards out, pushing the Buckeyes lead to 49-0 with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter.
The Yellowjackets and Buckeyes traded punts on the next two possessions, before Mineola finally got on the scoreboard when Martin busted through the Gilmer defense for a 33-yard touchdown run. The Buckeyes’ Wes Wynn blocked the extra point attempt, but the Yellojackets were on the board with 8:57 left in the 4th quarter.
Gilmer recovered the onside kick at their 41-yard line, and traveled the 59 yards in only 5 plays, capping off the drive when Godfrey faked a hand-off and followed his running back 15 yards into the end zone; untouched around the left side of the line for the 55-6 lead with 6:42 left to play. “I was proud of the way Stump Godfrey played. He came in and executed the offense well,” said Traylor.
Zach Jones added to Mineola ’s misery on the Yellowjackets’ very next play, as the sophomore picked off another Brandon pass, giving Gilmer the football at the Mneola 47-yard line. Eight plays later, Braylon Hawley carried the ball across the goal line from four yards out, ending the Buckeyes’ scoring at 62 points with 1:25 to play in the game.
Mineola returned the kickoff to their 41-yard line, where Martin rewarded the few remaining Mineola fans with a nice 59-yard touchdown run just 22 seconds following the Buckeyes’ final score. The Yellowjackets’ 2-point conversion attempt failed, making the final score 62-12.
Mineola ’s two fourth quarter touchdowns did not please Traylor. “I thought defensively, for the first time since the Daingerfield game, we took a step backwards,” said Traylor. “Granted, Mineola did have three pretty good skill kids, and most of the yards were against our [second team], but we expect them to make plays.”
Johnson added; “We actually wanted a shutout and we didn’t get that again.”
Not only did the Buckeyes defense not get the shut-out, Gilmer allowed 238 yards on the ground. The Buckeyes’ Arsenial Richardson who led the team with 9 tackles and a forced fumble, was practical in his opinion of his unit’s play. “I think we did pretty good; but we’ve still got a long way to go,” stated the senior linebacker. Despite the step back, Traylor still saw some positives from his defense. “Donte Harris had a great game; he had nine tackles. Kezie Camp had six tackles, one interception, he caused a fumble, and he recovered a fumble, so he had a break-out game,” Traylor said.
Traylor also praised his special teams’ leaders. “Jake Manning had two good punts, and he had a touchdown saving tackle,” said the Buckeyes’ Boss. “Matt Burgin kicked three kickoffs into the end zone; he’s really getting better at his kickoffs.”
Along with all of the praise, Traylor added some words of caution to his team. “We did enough to get through the game; I’m a little concerned that we’ve done that for three weeks in a row, and now we got to get our motors going Friday night.”
STATISTICS
Gilmer Mineola
28 First downs 10
31-309 Rushes-yds 38-238
16-28-0 Passing 2-10-2
319 Passing yds 35
628 Total yds 273
6-37 Penalties-yds 2-10
0 Fumbles lost 2
22:54 Time of possession 25:06
SCORE BY QUARTERS
1 2 3 4 T
Gilmer 14 21 14 13 62
Mineola 0 0 0 12 12
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
G.J. KINNE (16) picks up yardage on the ground against Mineola there last Friday night as Cody Lee (72) looks on. Gilmer’s senior QB ran for one touchdown and threw for three more as the Buckeyes (8-0; 3-0) routed the ’Jackets, 62-12.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
A CONVOY OF players from both teams follow Justin Johnson as he bursts into the end zone, scoring a first quarter touchdown. The Gilmer running back played both ways as he came back full-time from an injury earlier ths year.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
KEZIE CAMP snatches an interception in the first quarter to stop an early Mineola drive and give Gilmer possesion. Turnovers plagued the Yellow jackets and gave Gilmer short fields to work from.
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