From the Longview News-Journal:
Buckeyes roll to 77-21 homecoming win
From the Tyler Morning Telegraph:
It’s All Buckeyes On Homecoming
From The Gilmer Mirror:
Buckeyes rain on Wildcats' upset bid
By JOE DODD
The Gilmer Buckeyes scored an amazing 56 first half points on only 19 offensive plays, erasing an early 8-0 lead by the Rains Wildcats to win their homecoming game 77-21 before a crowd of almost 4,000 Friday night at Buckeye Stadium.
After stopping the Wildcats' first drive after only three plays, and starting their own first possession with great field position at their own 49-yard line, Gilmer proved a gracious host when quarterback Stump Godfrey took the first snap from center and fired a pass directly to the Wildcats' Dakota Barker in the left flat. Barker raced into the endzone 52 yards later for the touchdown. Rains added to their lead when Taylor Marshall found Colby Hoover in the endzone for a 2-point conversion pass, giving the Wildcats an 8-0 lead with only 1:07 off the clock.
“That's not the way you want to start the game off,” said Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor, who saw his team improve to 2-0 on the season and extend their home and regular season winning streak to 26 games, despite the early turnover.
The Buckeyes responded with three touchdowns in the next 4:48. The first came when Godfrey completed a perfectly executed screen pass to J.T. Beecham, who followed a line of blockers 55 yards for the score. The Buckeyes' 2-point attempt was stopped short after a low snap, and Gilmer trailed 8-6 with 8:53 to play in the first quarter.
“I think we lost our focus at the beginning; we weren't ready to play,” said Beecham. “But after they got that interception and scored, I guess that was a wake-up call for us.”
Not content with just closing the gap, Traylor called for an onside kick, which Braylon Webb recovered after a perfect kick from Adan Olivares.
“I just thought we had to get the momentum back really fast,” explained Traylor. “I thought their kids really thought they were in it for a while, and I was just trying to do something to snatch the momentum back, and it just worked.”
Three plays later, Godfrey took off on a quarterback keeper to his left before reversing field and twisting and turning his way between several Rains defenders to score from 10 yards out. Olivares' kick was good, and Gilmer had a 13-8 lead with 7:57 to go in the first quarter.
“Once again Stump came back from adversity and handled it very well,” said Traylor, who saw his junior quarterback run for one touchdown and throw for 273 yards and four more touchdowns, after his first interception of the season.
The Buckeyes' defense pushed Rains backwards 11 yards in three plays, forcing the Wildcats to punt to the Buckeyes' Paul Chesnut, who returned the punt 33 yards to the Rains 16-yard line. “It sets up our offense to make big plays,” said Chesnut of the special teams' stellar returns.
Two plays later, Jeremy Jackson ran through two Wildcats defenders for the first of his three touchdown runs. Beecham took a quick snap from center and ran in the Buckeyes' 2-point conversion for a 21-8 lead with 6:05 remaining in the first quarter.
Rains temporarily plugged the hole in the dam by going on a 79-yard, 16-play drive that ate up 7:27 of the clock, capped off by a 1-yard Travis Gibson touchdown run to make the score 21-15 with 10:38 to play in the second quarter.
Gilmer answered the Wildcats score with five touchdowns over the next 9:35 to put the game out of reach. “It gets demoralizing when they score so fast,” admitted Rains head coach Brannon Kidd.
Jackson started the avalanche of touchdowns with another 16-yard scoring run to complete a 3-play, 55-yard scoring drive that took only 35 seconds off the clock following a failed onside kick attempt by Rains.
Following another 3-and-out by Rains, Wildcats' quarterback Taylor Marshall attempted a quick kick from inside his own 20-yard line. The kick hit a Wildcat blocker and rolled backwards, where it was recovered by the Buckeyes at the Rains' 16-yard line.
On the next play, Godfrey hit Webb with a 16-yard strike for another touchdown and a 35-15 Buckeyes' lead with 9:00 to play in the half.
Three plays later, the Buckeyes' Mikey Wilson intercepted a Marshall pass at the Rains 43-yard line and returned it for a touchdown with 7:31 remaining in the half.
The Wildcats slowed things down on their next possession, covering 45 yards in 13 plays and 5:17 off the clock before failing to convert a fourth down attempt at the Buckeyes' 29-yard line with 2:14 to play in the half.
Gilmer traveled the 71 yards in three plays, scoring on a 25-yard run by Gus Osborne to push the Buckeyes' lead to 49-15 just 22 seconds after taking possession of the football.
After another 3-and-out stop by the Gilmer defense, the Buckeyes' Chesnut provided another big punt return, catching the Wildcats' punt at his own 45-yard line and returning it to the Rains 25-yard line. “Our punt-return team was just absolutely huge,” praised Traylor, who saw his offense get the ball back with 40 seconds left in the half.
That was more than enough time for the Buckeyes, who needed only eight seconds to score when Godfrey whipped a touchdown pass to Kedon Franklin on the very next play for the 56-15 halftime lead.
The halftime statistics were hard to believe. Gilmer had scored 56 points on only 19 offensive plays, controlling the football for only 4:25, compared to Rains' 46 offensive plays taking 19:35 of clock time.
The second half statistics looked much the same, minus the points explosion for the Buckeyes. Rains controlled the clock for another 19:19 on 30 plays while Gilmer ran only 16 offensive plays in 4:41 of possession time.
That was enough time for Jackson's third touchdown run of the game, this time a 70-yarder on the Buckeyes' second possession of the half to make the score 63-15 with 6:27 to play in the third quarter.
After Gilmer's Xavier Easley picked off a Marshall pass at the Wildcats' 35-yard line, Godfrey threw his fourth touchdown pass of the night, hitting Ben Griffith on the next play for a 70-15 lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter.
The Wildcats fought back with another long scoring drive on their next possession, keeping the football for 11:15 during a running clock, scoring on Gibson's 8-yard run with 4:32 to go in the game to cut the score to 70-21.
The Buckeyes' Josh Thompson answered the Rains touchdown with 2:39 to play, when he scored on a 28-yard run to make the final score 77-21. The 77 points were the fifth most points in team history, tying the Buckeyes' 1928 and 1929 teams, who put up 77 points against Jacksonville and Jefferson respectively.
“They're a talented, explosive offense,” marveled Kidd, who added, “I truly believe that in another year we are going to be right up there with them.”
“We're not near as good as that score shows,” cautioned Traylor, while commending some of his players. “Xavier Easley, a sophomore, came up big with an interception, two tackles and four assists. Mikey Wilson had another good game; another interception, this one for a touchdown, six tackles and two assists. Braylon Webb had eight tackles, three assists and some big hits. Marlon Granville had six tackles and six assists. Josh Thompson had five tackles, three assists and three quarterback pressures.”
Traylor also praised the effort of his backs and receivers, as well as his offensive line. “[Jared] Harborth and [Jacob] Jenkins played especially well.”
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
GILMER'S JEREMY JACKSON scores from 16 yards out, one of his three touchdown runs against Rains.
Galleries:
Buckeyes vs. Rains
Gilmer Homecoming Ceremony
Buckeyes vs Rains Wildcats
Video Highlights from the Rains County Leader
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