Gilmer Buckeyes

By JOE DODD The 6th annual Buckeyes’ Booster Club 7-on-7 Tournament proved a big success for the Gilmer football program as the host Buckeyes won the Junior Varsity division and finished second in the Varsity division. The varsity squad finished the tournament with a 4-1 record, losing to class 4A Sulphur Springs 41-13 in the championship game. Gilmer’s Junior Varsity team ended the day with a perfect 5-0 record, including a 39-18 thumping of Class 4A Pine Tree in the championship game. "It was great," stated Buckeyes’ head coach Jeff Traylor. "We had a lot of success, that is always good." Traylor was upbeat despite his team’s loss in the varsity championship game. "We got down in the Sulphur Springs game, and I was awaiting to see if there was going to be some quit in us, but we had great leadership, and just kept battling." The Buckeyes’ varsity squad finished pool play 3-0, defeating White Oak 26-6, Pleasant Grove 38-7, and Pine Tree 39-18. Gilmer then...

Mirror Photo / M.L. Kirby DISCUSSING THE new facilities of the Gilmer Buckeye Field House Sunday afternoon, May 20, at the facility’s open house are Superintendent Rick Albritton, left, former school board member Layman Beavers and new board members Jeff Rash and Mike Tackett.

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By JOE DODD The new $2.3 million Gilmer High School Field House will debut to the public on Sunday, May 20 at an open house from 3-5 p.m. The 16,000-square-foot building is located just north of Buckeye Stadium, and can be accessed from Bradford Street. RPR Construction Co., Inc., of Tyler was general contractor for the project, while Thacker/Davis Architect Inc. of Longview designed the cinder-block and brick building. The building, new equipment and furnishings, along with the parking lot cost approximately $1.85 million. An additional $450,000 was spent on dirt work preparation for the building and any future expansion of the high school. The old field house, originally constructed in 1962, featured only 3,500 square feet, along with another 1,500 in a metal building. Plumbing problems, frequent staph infections, and a leaky roof were common concerns for the approximately 170 student-athletes and more than a dozen coaches that used the facility. The new facility includes several new...

By JOE DODD The 6th annual Buckeyes’ Booster Club 7-on-7 Tournament will be held Saturday, May 19, at Buckeye Stadium and the adjoining practice fields northwest of the stadium. Eight schools are scheduled to participate at the varsity level including Gilmer, White Oak, Pine Tree, Pleasant Grove, Spring Hill, New Boston, Elysian Fields and Sulphur Springs. All varsity level games will take place on the Buckeye Stadium field with two games being played on each half of the field every hour starting at 9 a.m. The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. The same eight schools also plan on participating at the junior varsity level, with all games played on the main practice field. Gilmer won both the varsity and junior varsity championships last year, but head football coach Jeff Traylor said winning isn’t the reason the Buckeyes play 7-on-7. "We don’t get to have spring ball," stated Traylor. "So this is our turn to get a good look at some guys getting to try to make plays...

By JOE DODD For the second straight season, the Gilmer Buckeyes will open the football season with an out of state opponent. The Richwood Rams from Richwood, Louisiana will visit Buckeye Stadium on Friday, August, 31. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Last season the Buckeyes defeated Las Vegas Bishop Gorman 56-14 in the East Texas Football Classic in Tyler. The Classic has moved from week zero to week one, and the Buckeyes are scheduled to visit back-to-back state champion Tatum in week one. Richwood High School, with an enrollment of 783 students, is located five miles south of Monroe, La. The Rams went 8-5 last season, losing in Louisiana’s Class 3A state semifinals. Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor has not seen any video of the Rams, but has talked to other coaches who have. “I know they are very, very athletic,” said Traylor. “I’ve heard they are incredibly talented, incredibly fast. They sound a lot like Liberty-Eylau and Tatum. That’s why I wanted to play them.” The game will mar...

Gilmer ISD recently sought bids for a new set of grand stand seats for Buckeye Stadium. A public notice advertisement in The Gilmer Mirror stated that proposal requirements and specifications were available from Thacker/Davis Architects Inc.; 1100 Judson Road, Suite 620; P.O. Box 2723; Longview, TX 75606, or by calling 903-236-3771. Supt. Rick Albritton said the new grand stand section will include 250 seats, and will be built north of the visitors’ seating at Buckeye Stadium, straddling a drainage ditch there. “It will be facing the home-side seats, and will be for the Buckeye Band and the Stars drill team,” Albritton said. Bids were accepted until 2 p.m. May 15 in the board room of the Gilmer ISD Adminstration Building at 500 South Trinity in Gilmer.

BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS Sports Correspondent GILMER—An open house will be held sometime next month for the new $2.3 million Gilmer High School athletic field house at Buckeye Stadium. The athletic program moved into the facility a few weeks ago from the old nearby field house, the oldest part of which was constructed in 1962, said Gilmer Independent School District officials. The former field house had problems ranging from overcrowding and staph infections to plumbing woes and leaking, school officials said. The 16,000 square-foot new structure, which is more than triple the size of the old one, will house not only one of the premiere football programs in East Texas, but each sport in Gilmer ISD. “It’s nice,” head football coach/athletic director Jeff Traylor said while showing the facility to a representative of the Tyler Paper on Thursday. “My kids are just so proud of it, and we’re (coaches) proud of it, too.” “They’re already proud of the program,” said Traylor, whose Buckeyes have wo...