By JOE DODD
As the final seconds ticked off the Longview Lobo Stadium scoreboard, and both teams converged at midfield to shake hands; thousands of Gilmer Buckeyes’ fans stood in stunned silence, shaking their heads in unrehearsed unison, refusing to believe the 39-36 score that sent the state’s No. 1-ranked team home after the first game of the playoffs.
After Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor congratulated Liberty-Eylau head coach Pat Brady, the Buckeyes’ boss found himself apologizing, instead of commenting on the next-round opponent. “I’m extremely sorry, I really am; to the team and the fans,” said a subdued Traylor in an interview with the Buckeyes’ Broadcasting Team. “Our team was good enough to do it, but we just didn’t get it done.”
Despite a perfect 10-0 regular season record, and breaking a 46-year old Class 3A scoring record, the Buckeyes will watch the remaining month of the high-school playoffs from the sidelines. Traylor was quick to credit the Liberty-Eylau Leopards for his team’s early off-season. “They outplayed us tonight,” Traylor said. “They played a perfect ball game. They had no turnovers, and we had two turnovers; and that was the difference in the ball game.”
Those two turnovers came in a 5-play stretch of the second half and helped the Leopards keep Gilmer off the field for all but six minutes after halftime. Until that 5-play stretch; the Buckeyes looked deserving of the Associated Press’ No. 1 ranking bestowed on them earlier in the week.
Gilmer elected to receive the opening kickoff, and start the game with the state’s most prolific offense on the field. As usual, Gilmer scored on their first possession, completing an unusually long 3:39 drive with a 5-yard G.J. Kinne touchdown run. Matt Burgin kicked the first of four extra points, to make the score 7-0.
Liberty-Eylau did their best Gilmer impression on their first series, answering the Buckeyes’ score with a 68-yard, 3-play touchdown drive that took only 22 seconds off the clock. Leopards’ quarterback Will Middlebrooks did the honors on a quarterback keeper from two yards out, evening the score at 7-7.
Inspired by the Leopards’ quick score, the Buckeyes’ offense came out on fire, going 72 yards in four plays, scoring on Kinne’s 39-yard pass to Lamar Harris, just 1:25 after the Leopards score. Justin Johnson ran in the 2-point conversion for a 15-7 Buckeyes’ lead.
Liberty-Eylau’s second possession would be a sign of things to come, as the Leopards kept the football for almost five minutes, and took advantage of a questionable fourth down penalty called against the Buckeyes’ defense to keep a touchdown drive alive. The drive started from the Liberty-Eylau 34-yard line. Twelve plays later, the Leopards faced a daunting 4th-down-and-8-yards-to-go from the Gilmer 20-yard line. Middlebrooks’ pass sailed over the head of his intended receiver and landed incomplete out of the back of the end zone. As Gilmer fans cheered in celebration, game officials called an interference penalty on a Buckeyes’ defender, despite the pass being uncatchable. Two plays later, Leopards’ running back LaMichael James made the Buckeyes’ defense look silly with an amazing 20-yard catch and run for a touchdown. Liberty-Eylau’s 2-point conversion attempt failed, so Gilmer kept the lead, 15-13, with 1:36 to play in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes ended their third possession and the first quarter with a punt following a rare 3-and-out series. But the Leopards couldn’t take advantage of the Gilmer punt, as the Black Flag Defense stopped a Liberty-Eylau 4th down attempt, and returned the football to the Gilmer offense at their own 35-yard line. Thanks in large part to a costly 3rd down penalty, the Buckeyes suffered a second straight 3-and-out series on their next possession, forcing Buckeyes’ punter Jake Manning to attempt back-to-back punts for the first time this season.
The Leopards returned the favor on their next series, when Midlebrooks’ punted for the first time. Curtis Brown watched the 66-yard punt sail over his head, before he caught up with the ball and returned it to the Gilmer 32-yard line. The Buckeyes scored 5 plays later when Kinne hit Brown in the end zone with a perfect 33-yard touchdown pass for a 22-13 lead with 3:19 left to play in the half.
Liberty-Eylau tried to answer, but the Buckeyes’ defense held firm, stopping the Leopards four yards short of a first down on a third down play with about 45 seconds left on the clock. The Buckeyes elected to not use one of their remaining two time-outs, allowing the clock to run down as the Leopards attempted another fourth down conversion. But the snap was fumbled by Middlebrooks, who fell on the football at the Liberty-Eylau 49-yard line with only 9 seconds remaining in the half. Kinne took a knee on the next snap, and the Buckeyes went to the locker room ahead by 9.
The Buckeyes kicked off to Liberty-Eylau to start the second half, and watched as the Leopards went on another long scoring drive kept alive by a questionable fourth down penalty called against the Buckeyes’ defense. Nine plays after starting at their 39-yard line, the Leopards faced a 4th-and-4 from the Buckeyes’ 19-yard line. Liberty-Eylau lined up to attempt a 36-yard field goal, only to have one of the Leopards’ lineman jump offsides. But when the referee announced the penalty, Gilmer fans were shocked to hear a 5-yard penalty called against the Buckeyes, giving the Leopards another first down. Three plays later, Middlebrooks took the ball into the end zone from 2 yards out, but failed on the 2-point attempt that followed, cutting the Buckeyes’ lead to 22-19 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
Liberty-Eylau’s kickoff was fair-caught by the Buckeyes at their 18-yard line. Two plays later, the Buckeyes’ tailspin began when Gilmer lineman Cody Lee was injured with 6:18 left in the third quarter. After an almost 15-minute delay, the junior guard was removed from the field on a stretcher with a broken leg. The shaken Buckeyes returned to the field, only to turn the ball over two plays later when Kinne fumbled at the 32-yard line following a vicious hit.
The Buckeyes’ defense stiffened with the short field, forcing a Leopards’ third down and four yards to go from the 26-yard line. Once again, Middlebrooks’ pass fell incomplete to the cheers of Gilmer fans; and once again, the Leopards were given new life with a questionable Buckeyes’ penalty. A late flag, thrown from the other side of the field, was announced to the crowd of 8,000 as a defensive holding penalty against Gilmer, giving Liberty-Eylau a first down at the Buckeyes’ 15-yard line. James beat the Buckeyes’ defenders to the end zone on the next play, giving the Leopard’s their first lead of the game, 26-22, with 4:21 to play in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Buckeyes’ Justin Johnson had the ball ricochet off of his chest, allowing the Leopards’ William Cridell to recover the fumble at the Gilmer 23-yard line. The Buckeyes’ defense managed to force another fourth down attempt by the Leopards, but this time Liberty-Eylau didn’t need help from the officials to convert the first down, as James picked up 10 yards on another impressive run, giving the Leopards a first down at the Buckeyes’ 4-yard line. Two plays later James finished the drive with a 5-yard scoring run, extending Liberty-Eylau’s lead to 32-22 after the Buckeyes blocked the point-after attempt.
Needing a score to keep the game within reach, the Buckeyes started their next possession from their 21-yard line. Gilmer could only manage one positive-yardage play in the series. Facing a fourth down, and needing 11 yards for a first down, Gilmer elected to punt to the Leopards on the first play of the fourth quarter.
That was all Liberty-Eylau needed, as the Leopards consumed another 5:03 off the clock with a 9-play, 63-yard drive consisting of all rushing plays, capped off by James’ third touchdown, giving the Leopards a 39-22 lead with only 6:46 to play in the game. James finished with 134 rushing yards on 22 carries, and added 58 yards on 6 catches.
“We couldn’t get a stop when we needed one,” lamented Traylor. “We just never could stop them when we had to have one.”
Down by 17, the Buckeyes’ offense came to life. Starting from their own 11-yard line, Gilmer traveled the 89-yards in 2:26, scoring on their 12th play when Kinne connected with Harris from 9 yards out, cutting the Leopards’ lead to 39-29 with 4:20 remaining.
The Buckeyes’ onside kick was recovered by the Leopards at their own 48-yard line, but Gilmer’s defense came up big, holding Liberty-Eylau to only their second three-and-out series of the game, forcing the Leopards to punt with 2:52 to play. The Buckeyes decided to go for the punt block, bringing all 11 players to the line of scrimmage, and not dropping a man deep to return the punt. The Buckeyes didn’t get the block, but Middlebrooks shanked the ball out of bounds at the Gilmer 35-yard line, with 2:44 left on the clock.
On the Buckeyes’ first play, Kinne hit Brown on a shovel pass. On what would turn out to be his final catch as a Buckeye, the senior receiver left Gilmer fans with an effort for the ages, breaking about seven tackles on his way to a 44-yard gain down to the Leopards’ 21-yard line. Brown finished with 171 total yards on only 9 offensive touches. Five plays later, Kinne dropped off a screen pass to Justin Johnson, who bulled his way in for the touchdown from 9-yards out, making the score 39-36 with 1:36 to play.
Out of time-outs, the Buckeyes had to recover the on-side kick for a final chance to tie or win the game. Burgin lined up facing the left-side of the field, only to come back to the right side with the dribbling kick. The Buckeyes executed the play perfectly, with four players blocking the Leopards away from the ball, and one Buckeyes’ player waiting to recover the ball once it traveled the required 10-yards. But the kick would only manage 8 yards before rolling out of bounds to the horror of the Gilmer crowd. The Leopards declined the re-kick and took the football at the Gilmer 48-yard line.
Four straight kneel-downs by Middlebrooks ended the game, and the Buckeyes’ hopes for a state championship. Traylor took the blame for the loss, admitting that he should have been more aggressive. “There are a couple of things I regret,” said Traylor, whose record fell to 71-14 in his seven years in Gilmer. “I regret punting the football on 4th-and-10. If I had to do it over again, I’d go for it. I thought we could stop them and we didn’t. And I regret right before halftime not calling a time out. We had played so well, I didn’t want to risk something bad happening right before halftime. I was willing to go in up nine points. When you look back now, those are two things I wish I could do over again. But hindsight is 20/20.”
Despite Traylor’s confession, he insisted that the Buckeyes’ were ready to face the Leopards. “Our coaches worked harder than they ever have. Our players worked harder than they ever have. This is the most prepared we’ve ever been.”
When asked his thoughts on his Buckeyes nearly coming back from 17 points down to win, Traylor simply said, “They don’t ever surprise me; they’re going to fight you till the death.”
Traylor said that his message to the team after the season’s final game is always the same. “It hasn’t changed in seven years. We’ve told every group the same thing the last game. In 20 years, I hope that they have successful jobs, and I hope they have children that love them. And I hope they’re proud of what the program is in 20 years when they come back. I hope they sit up in those stands and know what we’re teaching those young men. We want them to be successful men. If they don’t do that, then they didn’t learn anything from us.”
STATISTICS
Gilmer Liberty-Eylau
18 First downs 21
22-69 Rushes-yds 49-175
18-29-0 Passing 13-17-0
298 Passing yds 172
367 Total yds 347
6-39 Penalties-yds 8-75
2 Fumbles lost 0
17:31 Time of possession 28:53
SCORE BY QUARTERS
1 2 3 4 T
Gilmer 15 7 0 14 36
L-E 13 0 19 7 39
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
GILMER’S CURTIS BROWN (3) takes the handoff from QB G.J. Kinne (16), left, in the first half and follows the block of Justin Johnson (22), right, to pick up yardage against Texarkana Liberty-Eylau Friday night. One of Brown’s patented direction-changing runs sparked the Buckeyes’ final touchdown drive. Liberty-Eylau staved off a Gilmer comeback to win the Class 3A Division I bi-district game at Lobo Stadium in Longview, 39-36.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
BUCKEYE DEFENDERS Arsenial Richardson (44), left, and David Smith (33) try to stop LaMichael James and Darian Godfrey (20) closes in as James uses a handstand to vault himself into the end zone for the final Liberty-Eylau touchdown. In background is Kezie Camp (18).
As the final seconds ticked off the Longview Lobo Stadium scoreboard, and both teams converged at midfield to shake hands; thousands of Gilmer Buckeyes’ fans stood in stunned silence, shaking their heads in unrehearsed unison, refusing to believe the 39-36 score that sent the state’s No. 1-ranked team home after the first game of the playoffs.
After Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor congratulated Liberty-Eylau head coach Pat Brady, the Buckeyes’ boss found himself apologizing, instead of commenting on the next-round opponent. “I’m extremely sorry, I really am; to the team and the fans,” said a subdued Traylor in an interview with the Buckeyes’ Broadcasting Team. “Our team was good enough to do it, but we just didn’t get it done.”
Despite a perfect 10-0 regular season record, and breaking a 46-year old Class 3A scoring record, the Buckeyes will watch the remaining month of the high-school playoffs from the sidelines. Traylor was quick to credit the Liberty-Eylau Leopards for his team’s early off-season. “They outplayed us tonight,” Traylor said. “They played a perfect ball game. They had no turnovers, and we had two turnovers; and that was the difference in the ball game.”
Those two turnovers came in a 5-play stretch of the second half and helped the Leopards keep Gilmer off the field for all but six minutes after halftime. Until that 5-play stretch; the Buckeyes looked deserving of the Associated Press’ No. 1 ranking bestowed on them earlier in the week.
Gilmer elected to receive the opening kickoff, and start the game with the state’s most prolific offense on the field. As usual, Gilmer scored on their first possession, completing an unusually long 3:39 drive with a 5-yard G.J. Kinne touchdown run. Matt Burgin kicked the first of four extra points, to make the score 7-0.
Liberty-Eylau did their best Gilmer impression on their first series, answering the Buckeyes’ score with a 68-yard, 3-play touchdown drive that took only 22 seconds off the clock. Leopards’ quarterback Will Middlebrooks did the honors on a quarterback keeper from two yards out, evening the score at 7-7.
Inspired by the Leopards’ quick score, the Buckeyes’ offense came out on fire, going 72 yards in four plays, scoring on Kinne’s 39-yard pass to Lamar Harris, just 1:25 after the Leopards score. Justin Johnson ran in the 2-point conversion for a 15-7 Buckeyes’ lead.
Liberty-Eylau’s second possession would be a sign of things to come, as the Leopards kept the football for almost five minutes, and took advantage of a questionable fourth down penalty called against the Buckeyes’ defense to keep a touchdown drive alive. The drive started from the Liberty-Eylau 34-yard line. Twelve plays later, the Leopards faced a daunting 4th-down-and-8-yards-to-go from the Gilmer 20-yard line. Middlebrooks’ pass sailed over the head of his intended receiver and landed incomplete out of the back of the end zone. As Gilmer fans cheered in celebration, game officials called an interference penalty on a Buckeyes’ defender, despite the pass being uncatchable. Two plays later, Leopards’ running back LaMichael James made the Buckeyes’ defense look silly with an amazing 20-yard catch and run for a touchdown. Liberty-Eylau’s 2-point conversion attempt failed, so Gilmer kept the lead, 15-13, with 1:36 to play in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes ended their third possession and the first quarter with a punt following a rare 3-and-out series. But the Leopards couldn’t take advantage of the Gilmer punt, as the Black Flag Defense stopped a Liberty-Eylau 4th down attempt, and returned the football to the Gilmer offense at their own 35-yard line. Thanks in large part to a costly 3rd down penalty, the Buckeyes suffered a second straight 3-and-out series on their next possession, forcing Buckeyes’ punter Jake Manning to attempt back-to-back punts for the first time this season.
The Leopards returned the favor on their next series, when Midlebrooks’ punted for the first time. Curtis Brown watched the 66-yard punt sail over his head, before he caught up with the ball and returned it to the Gilmer 32-yard line. The Buckeyes scored 5 plays later when Kinne hit Brown in the end zone with a perfect 33-yard touchdown pass for a 22-13 lead with 3:19 left to play in the half.
Liberty-Eylau tried to answer, but the Buckeyes’ defense held firm, stopping the Leopards four yards short of a first down on a third down play with about 45 seconds left on the clock. The Buckeyes elected to not use one of their remaining two time-outs, allowing the clock to run down as the Leopards attempted another fourth down conversion. But the snap was fumbled by Middlebrooks, who fell on the football at the Liberty-Eylau 49-yard line with only 9 seconds remaining in the half. Kinne took a knee on the next snap, and the Buckeyes went to the locker room ahead by 9.
The Buckeyes kicked off to Liberty-Eylau to start the second half, and watched as the Leopards went on another long scoring drive kept alive by a questionable fourth down penalty called against the Buckeyes’ defense. Nine plays after starting at their 39-yard line, the Leopards faced a 4th-and-4 from the Buckeyes’ 19-yard line. Liberty-Eylau lined up to attempt a 36-yard field goal, only to have one of the Leopards’ lineman jump offsides. But when the referee announced the penalty, Gilmer fans were shocked to hear a 5-yard penalty called against the Buckeyes, giving the Leopards another first down. Three plays later, Middlebrooks took the ball into the end zone from 2 yards out, but failed on the 2-point attempt that followed, cutting the Buckeyes’ lead to 22-19 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
Liberty-Eylau’s kickoff was fair-caught by the Buckeyes at their 18-yard line. Two plays later, the Buckeyes’ tailspin began when Gilmer lineman Cody Lee was injured with 6:18 left in the third quarter. After an almost 15-minute delay, the junior guard was removed from the field on a stretcher with a broken leg. The shaken Buckeyes returned to the field, only to turn the ball over two plays later when Kinne fumbled at the 32-yard line following a vicious hit.
The Buckeyes’ defense stiffened with the short field, forcing a Leopards’ third down and four yards to go from the 26-yard line. Once again, Middlebrooks’ pass fell incomplete to the cheers of Gilmer fans; and once again, the Leopards were given new life with a questionable Buckeyes’ penalty. A late flag, thrown from the other side of the field, was announced to the crowd of 8,000 as a defensive holding penalty against Gilmer, giving Liberty-Eylau a first down at the Buckeyes’ 15-yard line. James beat the Buckeyes’ defenders to the end zone on the next play, giving the Leopard’s their first lead of the game, 26-22, with 4:21 to play in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Buckeyes’ Justin Johnson had the ball ricochet off of his chest, allowing the Leopards’ William Cridell to recover the fumble at the Gilmer 23-yard line. The Buckeyes’ defense managed to force another fourth down attempt by the Leopards, but this time Liberty-Eylau didn’t need help from the officials to convert the first down, as James picked up 10 yards on another impressive run, giving the Leopards a first down at the Buckeyes’ 4-yard line. Two plays later James finished the drive with a 5-yard scoring run, extending Liberty-Eylau’s lead to 32-22 after the Buckeyes blocked the point-after attempt.
Needing a score to keep the game within reach, the Buckeyes started their next possession from their 21-yard line. Gilmer could only manage one positive-yardage play in the series. Facing a fourth down, and needing 11 yards for a first down, Gilmer elected to punt to the Leopards on the first play of the fourth quarter.
That was all Liberty-Eylau needed, as the Leopards consumed another 5:03 off the clock with a 9-play, 63-yard drive consisting of all rushing plays, capped off by James’ third touchdown, giving the Leopards a 39-22 lead with only 6:46 to play in the game. James finished with 134 rushing yards on 22 carries, and added 58 yards on 6 catches.
“We couldn’t get a stop when we needed one,” lamented Traylor. “We just never could stop them when we had to have one.”
Down by 17, the Buckeyes’ offense came to life. Starting from their own 11-yard line, Gilmer traveled the 89-yards in 2:26, scoring on their 12th play when Kinne connected with Harris from 9 yards out, cutting the Leopards’ lead to 39-29 with 4:20 remaining.
The Buckeyes’ onside kick was recovered by the Leopards at their own 48-yard line, but Gilmer’s defense came up big, holding Liberty-Eylau to only their second three-and-out series of the game, forcing the Leopards to punt with 2:52 to play. The Buckeyes decided to go for the punt block, bringing all 11 players to the line of scrimmage, and not dropping a man deep to return the punt. The Buckeyes didn’t get the block, but Middlebrooks shanked the ball out of bounds at the Gilmer 35-yard line, with 2:44 left on the clock.
On the Buckeyes’ first play, Kinne hit Brown on a shovel pass. On what would turn out to be his final catch as a Buckeye, the senior receiver left Gilmer fans with an effort for the ages, breaking about seven tackles on his way to a 44-yard gain down to the Leopards’ 21-yard line. Brown finished with 171 total yards on only 9 offensive touches. Five plays later, Kinne dropped off a screen pass to Justin Johnson, who bulled his way in for the touchdown from 9-yards out, making the score 39-36 with 1:36 to play.
Out of time-outs, the Buckeyes had to recover the on-side kick for a final chance to tie or win the game. Burgin lined up facing the left-side of the field, only to come back to the right side with the dribbling kick. The Buckeyes executed the play perfectly, with four players blocking the Leopards away from the ball, and one Buckeyes’ player waiting to recover the ball once it traveled the required 10-yards. But the kick would only manage 8 yards before rolling out of bounds to the horror of the Gilmer crowd. The Leopards declined the re-kick and took the football at the Gilmer 48-yard line.
Four straight kneel-downs by Middlebrooks ended the game, and the Buckeyes’ hopes for a state championship. Traylor took the blame for the loss, admitting that he should have been more aggressive. “There are a couple of things I regret,” said Traylor, whose record fell to 71-14 in his seven years in Gilmer. “I regret punting the football on 4th-and-10. If I had to do it over again, I’d go for it. I thought we could stop them and we didn’t. And I regret right before halftime not calling a time out. We had played so well, I didn’t want to risk something bad happening right before halftime. I was willing to go in up nine points. When you look back now, those are two things I wish I could do over again. But hindsight is 20/20.”
Despite Traylor’s confession, he insisted that the Buckeyes’ were ready to face the Leopards. “Our coaches worked harder than they ever have. Our players worked harder than they ever have. This is the most prepared we’ve ever been.”
When asked his thoughts on his Buckeyes nearly coming back from 17 points down to win, Traylor simply said, “They don’t ever surprise me; they’re going to fight you till the death.”
Traylor said that his message to the team after the season’s final game is always the same. “It hasn’t changed in seven years. We’ve told every group the same thing the last game. In 20 years, I hope that they have successful jobs, and I hope they have children that love them. And I hope they’re proud of what the program is in 20 years when they come back. I hope they sit up in those stands and know what we’re teaching those young men. We want them to be successful men. If they don’t do that, then they didn’t learn anything from us.”
STATISTICS
Gilmer Liberty-Eylau
18 First downs 21
22-69 Rushes-yds 49-175
18-29-0 Passing 13-17-0
298 Passing yds 172
367 Total yds 347
6-39 Penalties-yds 8-75
2 Fumbles lost 0
17:31 Time of possession 28:53
SCORE BY QUARTERS
1 2 3 4 T
Gilmer 15 7 0 14 36
L-E 13 0 19 7 39
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
GILMER’S CURTIS BROWN (3) takes the handoff from QB G.J. Kinne (16), left, in the first half and follows the block of Justin Johnson (22), right, to pick up yardage against Texarkana Liberty-Eylau Friday night. One of Brown’s patented direction-changing runs sparked the Buckeyes’ final touchdown drive. Liberty-Eylau staved off a Gilmer comeback to win the Class 3A Division I bi-district game at Lobo Stadium in Longview, 39-36.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
BUCKEYE DEFENDERS Arsenial Richardson (44), left, and David Smith (33) try to stop LaMichael James and Darian Godfrey (20) closes in as James uses a handstand to vault himself into the end zone for the final Liberty-Eylau touchdown. In background is Kezie Camp (18).
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