By JOE DODD
The Gilmer Buckeyes' football game against the Tatum Eagles might be moved from a scheduled Friday night meeting at Eagle Stadium in Tatum to a Thursday night contest at Tyler's Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. The move would accommodate a possible live television broadcast by Fox Sports Southwest.
Tatum head coach Andy Evans told the Longview News-Journal that he had been contacted by Titus Sports Marketing, the promoters of the Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic, to see if he would be interested in moving the game to the Classic's open Thursday night, Sept. 6 slot. Evans was reluctant to give up a home game, but at the request of his team captains, decided to pursue the possibility of playing in a televised game.
Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor, whose Buckeyes have a 4-1 record against Tatum since Traylor took over the program in 2000, said that the decision to move the game is Eagle's alone. “It's Tatum's home game and we're going to play when and where ever they tell us to.”
“Andy's looking out for his kids. He's going to do what's best for Tatum's kids,” said Traylor. “He's stayed in contact with me and let me know what is going on, and I just reassured Andy that whatever he wants to do, we'll do whatever they want to do.”
The Buckeyes and Eagles are arguably the two most successful programs in East Texas. Gilmer sports an impressive 71-14 record under Traylor, and won a Class 3A state championship in 2004. Tatum's record since 2000 is 68-21, including a Class 3A state championship in 2005 and a Class 2A title last season.
Those impressive numbers should be plenty of reasons for television networks to be interested. But Traylor cautions that the possibility of a televised game has been presented before. “It never has come through,” stated Traylor. “So I'm not getting my hopes up too high because I don't want my kids to be disappointed if we're not on TV.”
While the location and date of the game might be up in the air, Traylor said that doesn't matter. “We're going to play them in Tatum, or we'll play them in Tyler, on whatever day they want to play or where ever they want to play. If its on TV good; if it's not, that will be fine too.”
The Gilmer Buckeyes' football game against the Tatum Eagles might be moved from a scheduled Friday night meeting at Eagle Stadium in Tatum to a Thursday night contest at Tyler's Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. The move would accommodate a possible live television broadcast by Fox Sports Southwest.
Tatum head coach Andy Evans told the Longview News-Journal that he had been contacted by Titus Sports Marketing, the promoters of the Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic, to see if he would be interested in moving the game to the Classic's open Thursday night, Sept. 6 slot. Evans was reluctant to give up a home game, but at the request of his team captains, decided to pursue the possibility of playing in a televised game.
Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor, whose Buckeyes have a 4-1 record against Tatum since Traylor took over the program in 2000, said that the decision to move the game is Eagle's alone. “It's Tatum's home game and we're going to play when and where ever they tell us to.”
“Andy's looking out for his kids. He's going to do what's best for Tatum's kids,” said Traylor. “He's stayed in contact with me and let me know what is going on, and I just reassured Andy that whatever he wants to do, we'll do whatever they want to do.”
The Buckeyes and Eagles are arguably the two most successful programs in East Texas. Gilmer sports an impressive 71-14 record under Traylor, and won a Class 3A state championship in 2004. Tatum's record since 2000 is 68-21, including a Class 3A state championship in 2005 and a Class 2A title last season.
Those impressive numbers should be plenty of reasons for television networks to be interested. But Traylor cautions that the possibility of a televised game has been presented before. “It never has come through,” stated Traylor. “So I'm not getting my hopes up too high because I don't want my kids to be disappointed if we're not on TV.”
While the location and date of the game might be up in the air, Traylor said that doesn't matter. “We're going to play them in Tatum, or we'll play them in Tyler, on whatever day they want to play or where ever they want to play. If its on TV good; if it's not, that will be fine too.”
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