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Spring Hill plays host to Buckeyes Friday night

By JOE DODD

After watching video of his number one ranked Gilmer Buckeyes’ dominating 45-7 win over Chapel Hill last week, Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor had a scary assessment of his undefeated team. “We’re getting better every week,” said Traylor.

That should be cause for concern for the Spring Hill Panthers (2-4; 1-1 district) who host the Buckeyes Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Longview.

“We’ve got our hands full, just like everybody else that’s played them,” conceded Panthers head coach Robert Bero who saw his Panthers knock off Chapel Hill 29-28 two weeks ago before getting hammered 40-28 in Gladewater last week.

“We’ve kind of been on a roller coaster and we’ve got to get more consistent these next three weeks, or we won’t have a chance of making the playoffs,” admitted Bero.

Traylor believes that last week’s loss to the Bears will inspire the Panthers. “Spring Hill is going to give a great effort because they got beat by Gladewater last week. So you know they are going to rally the troops,” Traylor said. “They’ll come out and play us hard; they always do over there.”

Bero expects nothing less. “Our kids are going to go out and they’re going to play hard and they’re going to get after it. I don’t doubt that at all. We’re going to get after Gilmer.”
Traylor is convinced that week 8 is a turning point in the football season. “This is really when football season begins,” explained Traylor. “You could have done everything bad so far this year and get right these last three weeks and win a state championship.”

“This is when a lot of people stop playing football and the good ones start playing,” stated Traylor. “This is an exciting time of the year.”

Bero confirmed that the Panthers are excited. “I think any time you get to play the number one ranked team in the state it’s a great opportunity for your football program,” Bero said.

“Gilmer is an outstanding football team. They are very well coached,” said Bero who added that this Buckeyes’ team is different than any he’s seen in the past. “I think the biggest difference that I see at Gilmer is defensively they’re a lot better than they have been over the years. They are a lot more consistent. They chase the football real well. Their down linemen are playing the inside run well.”

The Buckeyes defense is allowing only 197.6 total yards per game and 13.9 points per game with 17 sacks, eight fumble recoveries and seven interceptions on the season. “I’ve said it from the beginning that I think they are the strength of our team,” agreed Traylor.

Spring Hill should provide a strong test for the Buckeyes’ defense, as the Panthers average 22 points and 297.5 total yards per game.

Bero traced his offense’s rise back to the open week before district play started against Chapel Hill. “We changed running backs,” explained Bero. “We felt like when we found Nathan Griffin and put him back at tailback that resolved a lot of our problems in the running game. And then we lost him in the third quarter when he had over 90 yards rushing for us. We felt like he was the missing link that we needed in our running game.”

The junior tailback only had seven carries for 33 yards against Gladewater. “We haven’t had him on a consistent basis since we made the change, so we’re still inconsistent running the football so that puts pressure on our passing game,” Bero stated.

That could cause a problem for the Panthers, who are 0-3 against Gilmer since Bero became head coach in 2005.

“In the past we’ve gone in and tried to slow the game down and take possessions away from them,” said Bero. “That doesn’t work. And I don’t think it especially works now with how good they are defensively. You’re just going to find yourself in a hole. You can try all you want to slow the game down. I don’t think that works. You want to try and make first downs and keep their offense off the field, but you’ve got to be able to put points on the board.”

That’s been a problem for Spring Hill in the last three games against the Buckeyes, as the Panthers have scored only seven points in each game while Gilmer has averaged over 58 points in each of those games.

“The key for our football team is that we have to go out and try to play error free football and then try to stop some of their big plays,” Bero said. “Gilmer gets six or seven big plays a game, and most of the time for scores and we’ve got to try and eliminate that as much as possible.”

Gilmer quarterback Stump Godfrey directs the Buckeyes’ quick strike offense and said the key to success is consistency. “We know that we’ve got to play hard no matter who we play,” said Godfrey.
Senior defensive lineman Luis Castro added, “We realize that we’re playing ourselves every game, especially now in district. So we still come out and practice hard every day.”

That seems improbable for a team that is riding a 41-game district winning streak that dates back to 2000, and has outscored district opponents 1,859-379 during that time. But senior safety Paul Chesnut claimed that streak keeps the Buckeyes motivated.

“We stay hungry. We’ll go out there and play our hardest,” said Chesnut.

That type of attitude makes the Buckeyes an easy team to coach, according to Traylor, who expects to see improvement next week when he watches video of the Spring Hill game.

“We’ll take our weaknesses this week and try to fix those,” said Traylor. “We need to have fewer penalties, correct some mistakes in the kickoff team and continue to throw the ball downfield. Things that we think we’re not good at; we’ll hammer the most. All of those things that make you get better.”

GAME NOTES

Gilmer’s 41-game district win streak is currently the longest among all schools in the state of Texas. (source: Joe Lee Smith)
Gilmer’s 41-game district win streak is the fifth best all-time in Class 3A (source: Joe Lee Smith)
Gilmer is 65-2 in regular season games since 2003
Gilmer has scored 70 or more points in three games this season. The school record is four games by the 1929 and 1930 Buckeyes
Gilmer’s Stump Godfrey’s 97 career touchdown passes ranks as fourth best all time in Class 3A and is the ninth best in all classifications. He needs four touchdown passes to tie Stephen McGee of Burnet for eighth place (source: Joe Lee Smith)
Gilmer’s Stump Godfrey’s 7,753 career passing yards ranks as eighth best all time in Class 3A. He needs 125 passing yards to pass Derek Thompson of Glen Rose for seventh place (source: Joe Lee Smith)
Gilmer quarterback Stump Godfrey needs 247 passing yards to give him 8,000 for his career
Gilmer quarterback Stump Godfrey needs 86 rushing yards to give him 2,000 for his career
Gilmer quarterback Stump Godfrey needs 333 total yards to give him 10,000 for his career

Bounty Hunter of the Week: Mikey Wilson
Special Teams Player of the Week: Ty Barr
Scout Team Players of the Week:
Zach Davidson, Offense; Renoire Horton, Defense

October 23- @ Spring Hill
Mascot: Panthers
Colors: Royal Blue & White
District: 17-3A
Enrollment: 524
Stadium: Panther Stadium
Stadium Age: 27 yrs.
Stadium Capacity: 5,844
Stadium Surface: Grass
Stadium Address: 3101 Spring Hill Rd., Longview, TX 75605
2008 Record: 3-7, 1-4 district
2009 Record: 2-4, 1-1 district
Last meeting: 2008, Gilmer won 55-7
Series Record: Gilmer leads 11-2
Head Coach: Robert Bero (5th season, 22-26, 115-63-3 overall)
Returning Starters: 8 Offense/9 Defense
Did you know? The Buckeyes’ 684 total yards against the Panthers in 2006 is the most in team history.

BUCKEYE TICKET LINE:
841-7777
LUNCH WITH THE COACH:
Noon Wednesdays, Buckeyes Booster Club meets at Gilmer Country Club
LIVE WEBCAST:
GilmerBuckeyes.com


Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
GILMER QB STUMP GODFREY scrambles out of trouble against Chapel Hill. The senior signal-caller and 3-year starter has already broken numerous school records and is among the state’s all-time statistical leaders in several categories.


Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
GUS OSBORNE scores on a 4-yard run last Friday night against Chapel Hill at Buckeye Stadium. The junior returned to action after a 5-game absence due to an injury. Other Buckeyes pictured are Barry Kennedy (56) and Beau Blair (70).


Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
VANCE GREEN gets loose for a long run here last Friday night against Chapel Hill.

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