By JOE DODD
The offenses of the Gilmer Buckeyes and Liberty Hill Panthers featured in Saturday’s Class 3A Division I championship game could not be more different, despite the two teams’ almost mirror-image production.
No matter which team receives the opening kickoff slated for 4 p.m. at Baylor University’s Floyd Casey Stadium, fans will be treated to one of the state’s premier offensive machines.
Gilmer’s spread offense is averaging a state best 49.2 points per game, while racking up 497.5 total yards per game. Liberty Hills’ wing-t offense is averaging 46.5 points and 477.9 yards per game.
“It’s going to be a great matchup of two different styles of offense,” predicted Liberty Hill head coach Jerry Vance, whose team is riding a 23-game winning streak and attempting to defend last season’s state title.
Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor agreed. “In the state of Texas, you couldn’t have one drawn it up any better. It’s an incredible matchup.”
Traylor’s spread offense averages almost 302 yards rushing and 196 yards passing per game in an offense that has seen the Buckeyes average almost 33 rushes and 21 passes per game.
Vance’s wing-t offense averages 478 yards per game, with almost all of that coming on the ground. In fact, the Panthers average almost 54 rushes per game while throwing only 34 passes all season.
“It starts with their offense, marveled Traylor. “There’s no way I can describe it; you’ll have to come to the game to see it. It’s really indescribable because you don’t see anything like that any more.”
The wing-t offense was popular about 40 years ago, but with only a handful of programs employing it today, it is a novelty. “It’s just so different,” Traylor said. “It’s kind of like we used to be in the spread and we were one of the only ones who did it, and we were so different we had a tremendous advantage.”
“They’re smart because they’re doing something that nobody sees; so they have a great advantage there,” Traylor added.
Vance said the reason the Panthers run the wing-t offense is not that complicated. “That’s what I grew up with,” admitted Vance. “When I got into coaching that’s what everybody was running. That’s what I’m comfortable with, that’s what I know. I’m too close to retirement to change and do the fancy stuff.”
Why would he? Since 2001 when Vance arrived in Liberty Hill, the Panthers are 74-17, including a 20-4 record in the playoffs. “Ours is kind of a brand new offense, especially for a lot of young coaches who have never seen this type of thing,” explained Vance.
But Vance said that his wing-t offense shares the same goal as Gilmer’s spread offense. “Our philosophy is not any different than those [teams] in the spread,” insisted Vance. “They want to get the ball to their skill kids as quickly as possible and let them do what they do best. Then if somebody misses a tackle; they go the distance. And that’s much the same way as ours. We’re going to get the ball into the hands of our best kids, and if we get three or four yards we’re happy. And if you miss a tackle, maybe we’ll get more.”
The Panthers and Buckeyes both have skill players that have put up amazing numbers this season. Liberty Hill’s Dustin Gonzalez has 2,139 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns on only 155 carries. Gilmer’s Justin Johnson has 2,160 yards and 25 touchdowns on 191 carries.
The Panthers also boast a 1,689-yard rusher in Doug Allman who has 28 touchdowns on 258 carries. The Buckeyes counter with sophomore quarterback Darian Godfrey who has 2,617 passing yards with 37 touchdown passes to go along with his 613 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.
Godfrey’s two favorite targets through the air have been Houston Tuminello with 951 yards and 15 touchdowns and Lamar Harris with 687 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Traylor and Vance agree that both offenses’ success can be attributed to their talented offensive lines. “Their line is as good as our line,” said Traylor. “And I think our line is the best in the state of Texas so I think you’re going to see the two best offensive lines in the state of Texas battle each other this week.”
When you add it all up, the two teams are averaging 95.7 points and 928.6 yards per game. So what role will the defenses play in this championship matchup?
“Our defense is going to have to have a mindset this week that is just totally different,” admitted Traylor. “It is going to be a battle of absolute will. At some point they think you’re going to say, I surrender. Our defense has just got to be so physical, and just hang in there and keep battling.”
Vance assigns the same importance to the defensive battle. “I think it’s going to come down to the defenses, and who can slow whoever down.”
Just like the two offenses, the Buckeyes and Panthers defenses have very similar numbers. Gilmer allows an average of 14.9 points per game while Liberty Hill has given up 14.2 points per game. The Buckeyes have held opponents to 233 total yards per game, while the Panthers have been a little stingier, allowing an average under 193 yards per game.
While the offenses and defenses appear equal on paper, Traylor hopes that the Buckeyes’ grueling playoff schedule will give them an edge over the Panthers. “In my opinion we’ve already beaten three great teams, and the 2004 state championship team beat two great teams,” said Traylor.
The Buckeyes’ four playoff wins have been by a total of 35 points, while the Panthers’ four playoff wins have been by an average of 33 points. “That’s always a concern of mine,” admitted Vance. “I think championship teams are put into the fire, and how they respond determines the championship. I think playing the close games that Gilmer has done is a great advantage for them.”
Buckeyes’ senior offensive lineman David Snow confirmed that Gilmer’s three fourth-quarter comeback wins in the playoffs were important. “It just instills a lot of confidence that we can get it done in the fourth quarter.”
“There’s something about this team,” said Traylor. “People can call us lucky or whatever they want to call us. This team just puts out a good karma; there’s something about these seniors.”
One of those seniors, Lamar Harris, said that this game is the culmination of six years of work. “It means a lot because we’ve been working on this since we were in seventh grade. Coach Traylor always said we were going to go to state and win it for him,” Harris said.
Traylor has a lot of faith in his seniors, despite being 7-point underdogs to the Panthers. “I can see why they are the number one ranked team in the state. I can see why everybody thinks they’re going to beat us. I can see that,” stated Traylor. “But we have a great team too, we don’t consider ourselves to be underdogs to anybody.”
Traylor had a simple message for his seniors this week. “This is the last week we’re ever going to coach them,” Traylor said. “Let’s go out and have a great week of practice. Let’s not have one negative play. Let’s have smiles on our faces. Let’s don’t worry, and enjoy this. Then go play your hearts out Saturday. Enjoy every bit of it.”
“We know we’re going to have to play a lot better next week than we did this week,” agreed senior receiver Houston Tuminello. “I think we’re going to be completely focused; have our best week of practice and come out next week and execute plays.”
“We’re excited to be there,” promised Traylor. “But we’re nowhere near satisfied.”
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
BUCKEYE DEFENDERS Braylon Webb, Paul Chesnut and Tristan Holt celebrate with Lamar Harris, center, as his game-ending interception as time ran out clinched Gilmer semifinal victory over Abilene Wylie last Saturday night in North Richland Hills.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
GILMER’S JUSTIN JOHNSON looks for an opening in the Bulldog defense Saturday night in the win over Abilene Wylie.
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
• This is Gilmer’s 27th playoff appearance, including 7 straight.
• This is Liberty Hill’s 10th playoff appearance, including 6 straight.
• Gilmer has a 42-19-1 record in 62 playoff games with 3 appearances in the state championship game (1981, 2004, 2007) and one state championship (2004).
• Liberty Hill has a 21-8-1 record in 30 playoff games with 2 appearances in the state championship game (2006 and 2007) and one state championship (2006).
• Liberty Hill has won 23 games in a row.
• Gilmer has won 24 out of its last 25 games.
• Both Gilmer and Liberty Hill’s previous state championships came in Class 3A Division II.
• Liberty Hill began the season as the No. 1-ranked Class 3A team in the Associated Press poll.
• Gilmer began the season ranked No. 7.
• This will be Gilmer’s second visit to Floyd Casey Stadium. The Buckeyes lost to Cameron Yoe 26-3 in the 1981 state championship game played at Floyd Casey Stadium.
• Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor is 85-14 in 8 seasons at Gilmer, including a 14-5 playoff record in 7 appearances. This will be Coach Traylor’s 100th game as Gilmer’s head coach.
• Liberty Hill head coach Jerry Vance is 74-17 in 7 seasons at Liberty Hill, including a 20-4 playoff record in 6 appearances.
• Gilmer has missed the playoffs once in Jeff Traylor’s 8 seasons.
• Liberty Hill has missed the playoffs once in Jerry Vance’s 7 seasons.
• In the last 5 seasons, Gilmer is 63-4 with 2 state championship game appearances.
• In the last 5 seasons, Liberty Hill is 60-10 with 2 state championship game appearances.
• Gilmer’s senior class has a 50-3 record and 1 state championship.
• Liberty Hill’s senior class has a 49-8 record and 1 state championship.
• Liberty Hill is located in Williamson County 30 miles NW of Austin.
• Liberty Hill’s estimated population as of July 2006 was 1,510.
• Gilmer’s estimated population as of July 2006 was 5,143.
• Liberty Hill is Gilmer’s first opponent in the 2007 playoffs which reported a lower high school enrollment (599) than Gilmer’s (668.5) as of the last UIL realignment.
• Liberty Hill is Gilmer’s first opponent in the 2007 playoffs with a higher ranking in the polls than that of Gilmer.
• Liberty Hill’s Marlowe Poitier is the second cousin of actor Sidney Poitier.
• Gilmer’s 689 points scored in 14 games this season is a school record, surpassing the 665 points scored in 16 games during the 2004 season.
• Gilmer needs 337 total yards to surpass the school’s single-season record of 7,301 total yards gained in 16 games during the 2004 season.
• Gilmer’s Justin Johnson needs 3 rushing touchdowns to surpass the school’s single-season record of 27 set by Derek McKenzie in 2003.
• Gilmer’s Houston Tuminello needs 49 receiving yards to reach at least 1,000 yards for the 3rd straight season.
• Gilmer’s Jeremy Jackson needs 182 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season.
• Liberty Hill is predominantly a running team on offense, utilizing the Wing T (aka “Slot T”) formation.
• Gilmer is more balanced between running and passing, utilizing the spread offense/shotgun formation.
• For the second week in a row, Gilmer is facing a team whose school colors are purple and gold.
• Liberty Hill is the second team identifying with Panthers and the third team named after a cat the Buckeyes have played in the playoffs. The other two opponents’ mascots were a dog and a pony; thus, the Buckeyes have helped prevent the Class 3A Division I state championship game from being just another “dog and pony” show.
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The offenses of the Gilmer Buckeyes and Liberty Hill Panthers featured in Saturday’s Class 3A Division I championship game could not be more different, despite the two teams’ almost mirror-image production.
No matter which team receives the opening kickoff slated for 4 p.m. at Baylor University’s Floyd Casey Stadium, fans will be treated to one of the state’s premier offensive machines.
Gilmer’s spread offense is averaging a state best 49.2 points per game, while racking up 497.5 total yards per game. Liberty Hills’ wing-t offense is averaging 46.5 points and 477.9 yards per game.
“It’s going to be a great matchup of two different styles of offense,” predicted Liberty Hill head coach Jerry Vance, whose team is riding a 23-game winning streak and attempting to defend last season’s state title.
Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor agreed. “In the state of Texas, you couldn’t have one drawn it up any better. It’s an incredible matchup.”
Traylor’s spread offense averages almost 302 yards rushing and 196 yards passing per game in an offense that has seen the Buckeyes average almost 33 rushes and 21 passes per game.
Vance’s wing-t offense averages 478 yards per game, with almost all of that coming on the ground. In fact, the Panthers average almost 54 rushes per game while throwing only 34 passes all season.
“It starts with their offense, marveled Traylor. “There’s no way I can describe it; you’ll have to come to the game to see it. It’s really indescribable because you don’t see anything like that any more.”
The wing-t offense was popular about 40 years ago, but with only a handful of programs employing it today, it is a novelty. “It’s just so different,” Traylor said. “It’s kind of like we used to be in the spread and we were one of the only ones who did it, and we were so different we had a tremendous advantage.”
“They’re smart because they’re doing something that nobody sees; so they have a great advantage there,” Traylor added.
Vance said the reason the Panthers run the wing-t offense is not that complicated. “That’s what I grew up with,” admitted Vance. “When I got into coaching that’s what everybody was running. That’s what I’m comfortable with, that’s what I know. I’m too close to retirement to change and do the fancy stuff.”
Why would he? Since 2001 when Vance arrived in Liberty Hill, the Panthers are 74-17, including a 20-4 record in the playoffs. “Ours is kind of a brand new offense, especially for a lot of young coaches who have never seen this type of thing,” explained Vance.
But Vance said that his wing-t offense shares the same goal as Gilmer’s spread offense. “Our philosophy is not any different than those [teams] in the spread,” insisted Vance. “They want to get the ball to their skill kids as quickly as possible and let them do what they do best. Then if somebody misses a tackle; they go the distance. And that’s much the same way as ours. We’re going to get the ball into the hands of our best kids, and if we get three or four yards we’re happy. And if you miss a tackle, maybe we’ll get more.”
The Panthers and Buckeyes both have skill players that have put up amazing numbers this season. Liberty Hill’s Dustin Gonzalez has 2,139 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns on only 155 carries. Gilmer’s Justin Johnson has 2,160 yards and 25 touchdowns on 191 carries.
The Panthers also boast a 1,689-yard rusher in Doug Allman who has 28 touchdowns on 258 carries. The Buckeyes counter with sophomore quarterback Darian Godfrey who has 2,617 passing yards with 37 touchdown passes to go along with his 613 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.
Godfrey’s two favorite targets through the air have been Houston Tuminello with 951 yards and 15 touchdowns and Lamar Harris with 687 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Traylor and Vance agree that both offenses’ success can be attributed to their talented offensive lines. “Their line is as good as our line,” said Traylor. “And I think our line is the best in the state of Texas so I think you’re going to see the two best offensive lines in the state of Texas battle each other this week.”
When you add it all up, the two teams are averaging 95.7 points and 928.6 yards per game. So what role will the defenses play in this championship matchup?
“Our defense is going to have to have a mindset this week that is just totally different,” admitted Traylor. “It is going to be a battle of absolute will. At some point they think you’re going to say, I surrender. Our defense has just got to be so physical, and just hang in there and keep battling.”
Vance assigns the same importance to the defensive battle. “I think it’s going to come down to the defenses, and who can slow whoever down.”
Just like the two offenses, the Buckeyes and Panthers defenses have very similar numbers. Gilmer allows an average of 14.9 points per game while Liberty Hill has given up 14.2 points per game. The Buckeyes have held opponents to 233 total yards per game, while the Panthers have been a little stingier, allowing an average under 193 yards per game.
While the offenses and defenses appear equal on paper, Traylor hopes that the Buckeyes’ grueling playoff schedule will give them an edge over the Panthers. “In my opinion we’ve already beaten three great teams, and the 2004 state championship team beat two great teams,” said Traylor.
The Buckeyes’ four playoff wins have been by a total of 35 points, while the Panthers’ four playoff wins have been by an average of 33 points. “That’s always a concern of mine,” admitted Vance. “I think championship teams are put into the fire, and how they respond determines the championship. I think playing the close games that Gilmer has done is a great advantage for them.”
Buckeyes’ senior offensive lineman David Snow confirmed that Gilmer’s three fourth-quarter comeback wins in the playoffs were important. “It just instills a lot of confidence that we can get it done in the fourth quarter.”
“There’s something about this team,” said Traylor. “People can call us lucky or whatever they want to call us. This team just puts out a good karma; there’s something about these seniors.”
One of those seniors, Lamar Harris, said that this game is the culmination of six years of work. “It means a lot because we’ve been working on this since we were in seventh grade. Coach Traylor always said we were going to go to state and win it for him,” Harris said.
Traylor has a lot of faith in his seniors, despite being 7-point underdogs to the Panthers. “I can see why they are the number one ranked team in the state. I can see why everybody thinks they’re going to beat us. I can see that,” stated Traylor. “But we have a great team too, we don’t consider ourselves to be underdogs to anybody.”
Traylor had a simple message for his seniors this week. “This is the last week we’re ever going to coach them,” Traylor said. “Let’s go out and have a great week of practice. Let’s not have one negative play. Let’s have smiles on our faces. Let’s don’t worry, and enjoy this. Then go play your hearts out Saturday. Enjoy every bit of it.”
“We know we’re going to have to play a lot better next week than we did this week,” agreed senior receiver Houston Tuminello. “I think we’re going to be completely focused; have our best week of practice and come out next week and execute plays.”
“We’re excited to be there,” promised Traylor. “But we’re nowhere near satisfied.”
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
BUCKEYE DEFENDERS Braylon Webb, Paul Chesnut and Tristan Holt celebrate with Lamar Harris, center, as his game-ending interception as time ran out clinched Gilmer semifinal victory over Abilene Wylie last Saturday night in North Richland Hills.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
GILMER’S JUSTIN JOHNSON looks for an opening in the Bulldog defense Saturday night in the win over Abilene Wylie.
Game Notes
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
• This is Gilmer’s 27th playoff appearance, including 7 straight.
• This is Liberty Hill’s 10th playoff appearance, including 6 straight.
• Gilmer has a 42-19-1 record in 62 playoff games with 3 appearances in the state championship game (1981, 2004, 2007) and one state championship (2004).
• Liberty Hill has a 21-8-1 record in 30 playoff games with 2 appearances in the state championship game (2006 and 2007) and one state championship (2006).
• Liberty Hill has won 23 games in a row.
• Gilmer has won 24 out of its last 25 games.
• Both Gilmer and Liberty Hill’s previous state championships came in Class 3A Division II.
• Liberty Hill began the season as the No. 1-ranked Class 3A team in the Associated Press poll.
• Gilmer began the season ranked No. 7.
• This will be Gilmer’s second visit to Floyd Casey Stadium. The Buckeyes lost to Cameron Yoe 26-3 in the 1981 state championship game played at Floyd Casey Stadium.
• Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor is 85-14 in 8 seasons at Gilmer, including a 14-5 playoff record in 7 appearances. This will be Coach Traylor’s 100th game as Gilmer’s head coach.
• Liberty Hill head coach Jerry Vance is 74-17 in 7 seasons at Liberty Hill, including a 20-4 playoff record in 6 appearances.
• Gilmer has missed the playoffs once in Jeff Traylor’s 8 seasons.
• Liberty Hill has missed the playoffs once in Jerry Vance’s 7 seasons.
• In the last 5 seasons, Gilmer is 63-4 with 2 state championship game appearances.
• In the last 5 seasons, Liberty Hill is 60-10 with 2 state championship game appearances.
• Gilmer’s senior class has a 50-3 record and 1 state championship.
• Liberty Hill’s senior class has a 49-8 record and 1 state championship.
• Liberty Hill is located in Williamson County 30 miles NW of Austin.
• Liberty Hill’s estimated population as of July 2006 was 1,510.
• Gilmer’s estimated population as of July 2006 was 5,143.
• Liberty Hill is Gilmer’s first opponent in the 2007 playoffs which reported a lower high school enrollment (599) than Gilmer’s (668.5) as of the last UIL realignment.
• Liberty Hill is Gilmer’s first opponent in the 2007 playoffs with a higher ranking in the polls than that of Gilmer.
• Liberty Hill’s Marlowe Poitier is the second cousin of actor Sidney Poitier.
• Gilmer’s 689 points scored in 14 games this season is a school record, surpassing the 665 points scored in 16 games during the 2004 season.
• Gilmer needs 337 total yards to surpass the school’s single-season record of 7,301 total yards gained in 16 games during the 2004 season.
• Gilmer’s Justin Johnson needs 3 rushing touchdowns to surpass the school’s single-season record of 27 set by Derek McKenzie in 2003.
• Gilmer’s Houston Tuminello needs 49 receiving yards to reach at least 1,000 yards for the 3rd straight season.
• Gilmer’s Jeremy Jackson needs 182 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season.
• Liberty Hill is predominantly a running team on offense, utilizing the Wing T (aka “Slot T”) formation.
• Gilmer is more balanced between running and passing, utilizing the spread offense/shotgun formation.
• For the second week in a row, Gilmer is facing a team whose school colors are purple and gold.
• Liberty Hill is the second team identifying with Panthers and the third team named after a cat the Buckeyes have played in the playoffs. The other two opponents’ mascots were a dog and a pony; thus, the Buckeyes have helped prevent the Class 3A Division I state championship game from being just another “dog and pony” show.
Find more videos like this on PrepTicket
Buckeyes Aiming For Title
Gilmer Lost At Floyd Casey In 1981
Gilmer O-Line Among State’s Best
Buckeyes Facing Potent Wing-T
All the Way to State!
Gilmer Aims For Clean Sweep Of State Champs
Football Fever in Gilmer
Three East Texas Football Teams Will Play for State
Only Gilmer stands in the way of Liberty Hill's pursuit for perfection
Liberty Hill's Panthers born to run
3A Fifth-Round Breakdown
Liberty Hill Video from CBS 42 in Austin
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