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Gilmer 49, Gladewater 21
Buckeyes win battle of G-Towns

From the Longview News-Journal
From the Tyler Morning Telegraph

By JOE DODD
The Gilmer Buckeyes claimed their sixth straight undefeated district championship Friday night at Jack V. Murphy Stadium in Gladewater as the Buckeyes dominated the Bears 49-21. Gilmer improved their district winning streak to 29 games, and finished regular season play with a perfect 10-0 record for the third time in the past four years.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a commanding 28-0 first quarter lead, and then held on as Gladewater used ball control, big plays, and Gilmer fumbles to play the Buckeyes to a 21-21 draw for the remaining three quarters.
“You have to give Gladewater credit. Their kids played hard and never quit,” said Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor. “It was a good wake-up call for us the last three quarters; so we’ve got a lot to work on,” added Traylor, who will lead the Buckeyes against Liberty-Eylau in the first round of the playoffs this Friday night.
Gilmer’s Jamell Kennedy returned the opening kickoff to the Buckeyes’ 38-yard line. It took the Buckeyes only four plays to cover the 62 yards, as Gilmer quarterback G.J. Kinne delivered a strike to Curtis Brown from 24 yards out for a touchdown. Matt Burgin kicked the first of seven straight extra-points, giving the Buckeyes a 7-0 lead with only two minutes off the clock.
The Bears didn’t seem fazed by the Gilmer score, as they took the kickoff back to their 45-yard line and proceeded on an impressive drive into Buckeyes’ territory. But on first down from Gilmer’s 32-yard line, Bears’ quarterback Brandon Gibbons fumbled to the Buckeyes’ Wes Wynne, who recovered the football at the 33-yard line. Gilmer’s Justin Johnson returned the favor on the next play, coughing up the ball to the Bears’ Devvyn Eddington at the 39-yard line.
Gladewater’s offense picked up where it had left off, driving down to the Gilmer 26-yard line, before the Buckeyes’ Lamar Harris stepped in front of a Gibbons pass at the 18-yard line and returned the interception 88 yards for a touchdown. “The play of the game to me was Lamar Harris’ interception return for a touchdown,” Traylor said. “It was still 7-0 at that point, and they were in our end of the field with the wind at their back. That was the turning point of the ball game.”
Traylor took advantage of the momentum swing, electing to attempt an onside kick, which the Buckeyes’ Dunterius Goodman recovered at the Bears’ 44-yard line. Three plays later, Kinne hit Brennan Thompson on an 11-yard touchdown to take a 21-0 lead with 3:19 remaining in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes opted again for an onside kick, due in large part to a gusting wind in their face; but this time the Bears recovered at the 50-yard line. The Buckeyes’ Black Flag defense accepted the short-field challenge, and forced the Bears to punt four plays later. Gladewater’s Dwight Johnson boomed the punt to the Gilmer goal line, where the Buckeyes’ Dustin Jones returned the punt to the 9-yard line.
On the next play, Kinne handed the ball off to Justin Johnson, who went untouched up the middle for a 91-yard touchdown run, giving Gilmer a 28-0 lead with only 24 seconds left in the first quarter. “We played really well the first quarter,” understated Traylor who added, “From the second quarter on, we looked like the Dallas Cowboys. We had turnovers, we had tons of penalties, and we gave up big plays. The second quarter on, was as bad as we’ve played in a while.”
The Bears looked like a different team in the second quarter, as Gladewater controlled the clock for nine minutes and kept the Buckeyes off the scoreboard. The Bears’ first drive of the quarter lasted almost seven minutes, but ended with another punt that pinned the Buckeyes at their 3-yard line. This time, there was no big play for Gilmer, as the Buckeyes punted the ball back to the Bears four plays later.
Gladewater took possession of the football at their 42-yard line and proceeded on an 8-play, 58-yard drive, punctuated with a 7-yard touchdown run by the Bears’ Edwin Harris with only 52 seconds to play in the first half cutting the Buckeyes lead to 28-7.
Despite the short amount of time remaining in the half, the Buckeyes’ offense was looking to score, and got off to a great start when Kinne found Brown for a 49-yard gain on the series first play. But the Gilmer drive would stall, and force a Buckeyes’ field goal attempt. Burgin’s 24-yard kick was good, but the Buckeyes were flagged for an offensive penalty, that took the points off the scoreboard, and forced Burgin to try again from 29 yards out. This time the Bears broke through the Gilmer line and blocked the kick as time expired in the first half.
The Bears received the second-half kickoff and managed only 4 yards in 3 plays, before punting to the Buckeyes’ 38-yard line. Gilmer’s Justin Johnson took the hand-off on the next play, and had the ball stripped from him for the second time in the game, giving the ball back to the Bears at the Gladewater 38-yard line.
The Bears used 7 straight runs to methodically move down to the Gilmer 6-yard line, before the Buckeyes’ defense came to life with an inspired goal line stand that turned the Bears back on four straight runs inside the 6-yard line, forcing Gladewater to turn the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line.
The Buckeyes’ offense made use of the momentum shift, going 99 yards in only 3 plays, with Kinne finding a wide-open Kennedy for a 59-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 remaining in the third quarter to advance Gilmer’s lead to 35-7.
Gladewater took advantage of an overly aggressive Buckeyes’ defense on their next possession. Faced with a 2nd down-and-23 from their own 22-yard line, Gibbons scrambled under heavy pressure from the Gilmer pass rush, desperately throwing the football high into the air downfield. The Bears’ Dirk Martin outjumped the Buckeyes’ remaining secondary, caught the ball, turned around and raced untouched the remaining 60 yards to the end zone for a touchdown, cutting the Gilmer lead to 35-14 with 11:46 to play in the game.
The Buckeyes’ offense responded quickly; just two plays later, Kinne hit Brown across the middle on a wide-receiver screen. Brown caught the ball and bounced off a vicious hit from a Bears’ defender, then turned on the speed and raced 56 yards for his second touchdown of the game; giving the Buckeyes a 42-14 advantage only 46 seconds after the Bears’ score. Brown finished with 129 yards on only 3 catches, but was not happy with his team’s overall performance.
“We played real bad, I think. We should have had at least 60 points,” claimed Brown. “We made stupid mistakes, so we’ve got to fix that.”
The Buckeyes’ defense forced another Bears’ 3-and-out on the next series, giving the Gilmer offense the football on their 25-yard line. The Buckeyes final scoring drive of the game consisted of 8 plays, and was capped off with Kinne’s screen pass to Justin Johnson, who took it 37 yards for his second touchdown of the game. Justin Johnson finished with 232 total yards on only 12 touches, and earned the praise of his head coach, who forgave the junior running back for his two fumbles. “He’s a great running back, that’s all there is to say about him,” Traylor said.
After yet another 3-and-out series by the Bears; the Buckeyes’ backups gave Gladewater a gift when the Bears’ Eddington picked up a Ross Stevens fumble at the 12-yard line and scooted into the end zone untouched for the touchdown, making the final score 49-21.
“We didn’t play very well at all,” opined Kinne, who finished the game with 300 yards passing and 5 touchdowns to 4 different receivers. Despite Kinne’s assessment of the team’s performance against the Bears, the senior quarterback admitted that this undefeated regular season has been special. “It feels good. It was a total team effort; linemen, receivers, running backs, defense; everyone stepped it up and we just had a really great year, and hopefully we’ve got five more games.”

STATISTICS
Gilmer Gladewater
20 First downs 13
15-209 Rushes-yds 40-140
14-23-0 Passing 5-14-1
324 Passing-yds 118
533 Total yds 258
10-71 Penalties-yds 11-80
3 Fumbles lost 2
15:11 Time of possession 32:49
SCORE BY QUARTERS
1 2 3 4 T
Gilmer 28 0 7 14 49
Gladewater 0 7 0 14 21


Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
AFTER CATCHING a G.J. Kinne pass, Brennan Thompson (12) scores from 11 yards out with blocking help from Chip Elms (54). Gilmer won, 49-21, to capture the District 15-3A title outright.

Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
ON FOURTH AND ONE foot, a wall of white forms to thwart Gladewater’s Edwin Harris in his run toward the end zone. Gilmer’s Wes Wynne (11), Jules Johnson (4), Dunterius Goodman (2), Jeremy Reeves (32) and David Smith (33) are joined by Darian Godfrey (20) in stopping the final Gladewater try.

Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
JOSH NELSON (28) leads the Gilmer Buckeyes onto the field in Gladewater last Friday night. The Buckeyes defeated the Gladewater Bears, 49-21, to achieve their sixth straight district championship without a loss. Gilmer also has now gone undefeated in regular season in three out of the last four years. “Son of a Champion” is this year’s team motto, a tribute to Nelson, who has been battling leukemia. The Buckeyes (10-0) will face the Liberty-Eylau Leopards (7-3) Friday night, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Longview’s Lobo Stadium. This will be a Class 3A Division I bi-district game.

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