By JOE DODD
With an offensive performance not seen since 1930, and a defensive domination that made the final score deceptive, the Gilmer Buckeyes dismantled the Tatum Eagles 71-28 Thursday night in the opening game of the Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic in Tyler.
Before an estimated crowd of 9,000 fans at Rose Stadium, the Buckeyes unleashed a scoring fury last witnessed by Buckeye fans 77 years ago when Gilmer downed Atlanta 88-0. Fueled by senior running back Justin Johnson’s 173 yards rushing and three touchdowns, and sophomore quarterback Darian Godfrey’s 225 yards and four touchdowns passing, along with two rushing touchdowns; the Buckeyes’ offense rolled up 516 total yards.
Gilmer’s Black Flag Defense harassed the Eagles all night, forcing three Tatum turnovers and dropping the Eagles for 12 tackles for losses and four sacks. Vaunted Eagle running back Bryce Beall was limited to only 23 yards rushing on 10 carries. The rest of the Eagles’ backs didn’t fare any better against the Buckeyes, gaining a total of 109 yards on 42 carries for the game.
“When you play great defense and you run the football, you’ve always got a chance,” understated Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor, who ran his record against the Eagles to 5-1. “Our defense and our offensive line was totally the difference,” Traylor said.
The Buckeyes’ massive front line opened the holes for six rushing touchdowns and an average of 9.2 yards per play, while the defense held Tatum to just 21 second quarter points before the Eagles scored their final touchdown with only four seconds remaining in the game.
That final score ended a Gilmer run of 47 unanswered points that started after Tatum scored with 3:21 to play in the second quarter, cutting the Buckeyes’ lead to 27-21. “I thought early in the game we played really hard until we got tired,” stated a subdued Tatum head coach Andy Evans after the game. “We knew that depth was going to be an issue.”
Tatum, the 2nd-ranked team in Class 2A, and Gilmer, the 5th-ranked team in Class 3A, looked to be evenly matched for most of the first half. The Buckeyes got on the scoreboard first when Johnson ran in from 10 yards out for a 6-0 lead with 6:11 to play in the first quarter. That scoring drive covered only 18 yards, thanks to the Buckeyes’ defensive rush that forced a 9-yard punt from Tatum’s goal line.
Gilmer scored again two minutes later when Godfrey hit a streaking Devane Clark at the Gilmer 45-yard line, and then watched Clark shed a defender and race the remaining 55 yards for the touchdown. Johnson converted the 2-point play with a 3-yard run to make the score 14-0 with 4:10 left in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes’ defense came up big on the Eagles next possession when senior Dustin Jones stopped the Tatum drive with an interception at Gilmer’s 10-yard line with 10 seconds to play in the first quarter. Gilmer returned the favor six plays later when Zach Jones took a reverse handoff and attempted to throw the ball with two Tatum defenders in his face to a wide-open Godfrey. Instead the errant pass was picked off by the Eagles Calvin Stoker.
“I tried a little trick play that was stupid on my part,” explained Traylor. “They stunted right into it. My quarterback was wide open, but Zach just couldn’t get it off. But that’s just the way I coach. My kids like it. It’s fun when it works and it’s not fun when it doesn’t.” The Eagles took advantage of the Gilmer mistake with a 75-yard drive that ended with a 14-yard Cashas Pollard touchdown pass to D.J. Whiting on 4th-and-11 to cut the Buckeyes’ lead to 14-7 with 9:52 remaining in the second quarter.
The Buckeyes and Eagles traded punts on the next two possessions, before Gilmer took control of the football at their own 20-yard line with 5:59 to play in the half. Johnson picked up most of the yards on an impressive 48-yard run, before Godfrey connected with Clark for a touchdown two plays later from 18 yards out, giving the Buckeyes a 21-7 lead with 4:27 to go in the half.
After taking possession at their own 20-yard line, Tatum needed only one play to score. Pollard found Danny Bradley, who took a short pass, broke a Buckeyes’ tackle and raced 80 yards for the touchdown, to make the score 21-14 with 4:09 left in the half.
The Buckeyes scored 29 seconds later when Johnson took an inside handoff at the 14-yard line and blasted through two eagle defenders into the end zone for a 27-14 Gilmer lead with 3:40 until halftime.
Not to be outdone, Tatum scored 19 seconds later when Pollard hit Whiting from 11 yards out, making the score 27-21 with just 3:21 remaining in the first half.
The Eagles tried a trick of their own on the kickoff trying to execute an onside kick, but Gilmer’s Lamar Harris picked up the loose football and returned it to Tatum’s 42-yard line. The Buckeyes handed the ball to Johnston five straight plays, with Johnson scoring his third touchdown of the half from four yards out while carrying three Eagles into the end zone. “We were just riding the Bus,” summed up Traylor, referring to Johnson’s nickname. Gilmer’s 2-point conversion was good on a pass from Godfrey to Ross Stevens for a 35-21 lead with less than two minutes to play in the half.
Stevens then made a big play on defense, intercepting a Pollard pass at the Tatum 40-yard line and returning it to the Eagles’ 13-yard line. Godfrey carried the football into the end zone just three plays later, giving the Buckeyes a commanding 43-21 lead at the half.
“It was a wild one the first half,” expressed Traylor. “It was everything we all thought it would be, it was just back and forth.” The Buckeyes’ final 16 points to end the half were just the first of 44 consecutive points that Gilmer would score.
The Buckeyes picked right up in the second half when Clark collected an Eagles’ fumble at the Buckeyes’ 45-yard line. Godfrey found Harris on a 37-yard pick-up before handing the ball off to Johnson the next two snaps. Then, he took it in himself from nine yards out, increasing the score to 50-21 just 1:12 into the second half.
Tatum’s next possession ended with a bobbled punt snap swarmed by the Gilmer defense, who turned the ball over to the offense at the Eagles’ 24-yard line. Backup running back Jeremy Jackson scored four plays later from nine yards out giving Gilmer a 57-21 lead with 7:52 left in the third quarter, as Tatum fans exited the stadium en masse.
After another Eagle punt, the Buckeyes needed just two plays to put another touchdown on the score board. With Gilmer at their own 38-yard line, Godfrey dropped the snap from center, reached down and picked the ball up and then fired a bullet down field for Houston Tuminello, who caught it at the 30-yard line over a falling defender, and took it in for the touchdown with 4:12 still to play in the third quarter, making the score 64-21.
The Buckeyes’ defense got the ball back for the offense at the Tatum 43-yard line following another rushed punt attempt, but Buckeyes’ backup quarterback Hunter Harrison turned the football back over to Tatum a few plays later. The Eagles returned the ball to Gilmer on a punt, and this time Harrison and Kedon Franklin led the offense down the field, with Harrison scoring his first varsity touchdown from a yard out ending the Buckeyes’ scoring barrage with 6:31 left to play.
Evans was impressed with the Buckeyes’ performance against his 2-time defending state champions. “They’re very polished. They’re well coached like always,” praised Evans. “I think their offensive line is the best offensive line that I’ve ever coached against.”
After the game, Traylor’s thoughts had already turned to the Buckeyes’ next opponent. “Daingerfield is in a perfect position because it is going to be hard for us to duplicate this effort,” worried Traylor. But leave it to the Buckeyes’ sophomore quarterback who had just made his second career start to assure his coach that the team is as focused as he is. “We still know that we’ve got Liberty-Eylau down the road, so we’ll keep practicing and get ready for them,” promised Godfrey.
Scoring Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Gilmer 14 29 21 7 71
Tatum 0 21 0 0 7 28
Game Statistics
Gilmer Tatum
Passing-Comp/Att/TD/Int 9-16-4-1 9-18-2-2
Passing-Yards 225 215
Rushes-Yards 40-291 42-109
Total Yards 516 324
First Downs 23 13
Time of Possession 20:37 27:23
Fumbles Lost 1 1
Penalties-Yards 6-55 4-32
Mirror Photo / M.L. Kirby
GILMER’S JUSTIN JOHNSON busts his way bareheaded during the Gilmer-Tatum game Thursday following the block of Garrett Adkins as Ross Stevens watches. Johnson finished the first half with 169 yards rushing, 3 TDs and a 2-point conversion. Gilmer led Tatum 43-21 at the half and went on to win 71-28 in the opener of the Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic.
Mirror Photos / M.L. Kirby
IN DESCENDING ORDER, Darian Godfrey scores, Brennan Thompson makes a tackle and Dustin Jones returns an interception.
With an offensive performance not seen since 1930, and a defensive domination that made the final score deceptive, the Gilmer Buckeyes dismantled the Tatum Eagles 71-28 Thursday night in the opening game of the Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic in Tyler.
Before an estimated crowd of 9,000 fans at Rose Stadium, the Buckeyes unleashed a scoring fury last witnessed by Buckeye fans 77 years ago when Gilmer downed Atlanta 88-0. Fueled by senior running back Justin Johnson’s 173 yards rushing and three touchdowns, and sophomore quarterback Darian Godfrey’s 225 yards and four touchdowns passing, along with two rushing touchdowns; the Buckeyes’ offense rolled up 516 total yards.
Gilmer’s Black Flag Defense harassed the Eagles all night, forcing three Tatum turnovers and dropping the Eagles for 12 tackles for losses and four sacks. Vaunted Eagle running back Bryce Beall was limited to only 23 yards rushing on 10 carries. The rest of the Eagles’ backs didn’t fare any better against the Buckeyes, gaining a total of 109 yards on 42 carries for the game.
“When you play great defense and you run the football, you’ve always got a chance,” understated Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor, who ran his record against the Eagles to 5-1. “Our defense and our offensive line was totally the difference,” Traylor said.
The Buckeyes’ massive front line opened the holes for six rushing touchdowns and an average of 9.2 yards per play, while the defense held Tatum to just 21 second quarter points before the Eagles scored their final touchdown with only four seconds remaining in the game.
That final score ended a Gilmer run of 47 unanswered points that started after Tatum scored with 3:21 to play in the second quarter, cutting the Buckeyes’ lead to 27-21. “I thought early in the game we played really hard until we got tired,” stated a subdued Tatum head coach Andy Evans after the game. “We knew that depth was going to be an issue.”
Tatum, the 2nd-ranked team in Class 2A, and Gilmer, the 5th-ranked team in Class 3A, looked to be evenly matched for most of the first half. The Buckeyes got on the scoreboard first when Johnson ran in from 10 yards out for a 6-0 lead with 6:11 to play in the first quarter. That scoring drive covered only 18 yards, thanks to the Buckeyes’ defensive rush that forced a 9-yard punt from Tatum’s goal line.
Gilmer scored again two minutes later when Godfrey hit a streaking Devane Clark at the Gilmer 45-yard line, and then watched Clark shed a defender and race the remaining 55 yards for the touchdown. Johnson converted the 2-point play with a 3-yard run to make the score 14-0 with 4:10 left in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes’ defense came up big on the Eagles next possession when senior Dustin Jones stopped the Tatum drive with an interception at Gilmer’s 10-yard line with 10 seconds to play in the first quarter. Gilmer returned the favor six plays later when Zach Jones took a reverse handoff and attempted to throw the ball with two Tatum defenders in his face to a wide-open Godfrey. Instead the errant pass was picked off by the Eagles Calvin Stoker.
“I tried a little trick play that was stupid on my part,” explained Traylor. “They stunted right into it. My quarterback was wide open, but Zach just couldn’t get it off. But that’s just the way I coach. My kids like it. It’s fun when it works and it’s not fun when it doesn’t.” The Eagles took advantage of the Gilmer mistake with a 75-yard drive that ended with a 14-yard Cashas Pollard touchdown pass to D.J. Whiting on 4th-and-11 to cut the Buckeyes’ lead to 14-7 with 9:52 remaining in the second quarter.
The Buckeyes and Eagles traded punts on the next two possessions, before Gilmer took control of the football at their own 20-yard line with 5:59 to play in the half. Johnson picked up most of the yards on an impressive 48-yard run, before Godfrey connected with Clark for a touchdown two plays later from 18 yards out, giving the Buckeyes a 21-7 lead with 4:27 to go in the half.
After taking possession at their own 20-yard line, Tatum needed only one play to score. Pollard found Danny Bradley, who took a short pass, broke a Buckeyes’ tackle and raced 80 yards for the touchdown, to make the score 21-14 with 4:09 left in the half.
The Buckeyes scored 29 seconds later when Johnson took an inside handoff at the 14-yard line and blasted through two eagle defenders into the end zone for a 27-14 Gilmer lead with 3:40 until halftime.
Not to be outdone, Tatum scored 19 seconds later when Pollard hit Whiting from 11 yards out, making the score 27-21 with just 3:21 remaining in the first half.
The Eagles tried a trick of their own on the kickoff trying to execute an onside kick, but Gilmer’s Lamar Harris picked up the loose football and returned it to Tatum’s 42-yard line. The Buckeyes handed the ball to Johnston five straight plays, with Johnson scoring his third touchdown of the half from four yards out while carrying three Eagles into the end zone. “We were just riding the Bus,” summed up Traylor, referring to Johnson’s nickname. Gilmer’s 2-point conversion was good on a pass from Godfrey to Ross Stevens for a 35-21 lead with less than two minutes to play in the half.
Stevens then made a big play on defense, intercepting a Pollard pass at the Tatum 40-yard line and returning it to the Eagles’ 13-yard line. Godfrey carried the football into the end zone just three plays later, giving the Buckeyes a commanding 43-21 lead at the half.
“It was a wild one the first half,” expressed Traylor. “It was everything we all thought it would be, it was just back and forth.” The Buckeyes’ final 16 points to end the half were just the first of 44 consecutive points that Gilmer would score.
The Buckeyes picked right up in the second half when Clark collected an Eagles’ fumble at the Buckeyes’ 45-yard line. Godfrey found Harris on a 37-yard pick-up before handing the ball off to Johnson the next two snaps. Then, he took it in himself from nine yards out, increasing the score to 50-21 just 1:12 into the second half.
Tatum’s next possession ended with a bobbled punt snap swarmed by the Gilmer defense, who turned the ball over to the offense at the Eagles’ 24-yard line. Backup running back Jeremy Jackson scored four plays later from nine yards out giving Gilmer a 57-21 lead with 7:52 left in the third quarter, as Tatum fans exited the stadium en masse.
After another Eagle punt, the Buckeyes needed just two plays to put another touchdown on the score board. With Gilmer at their own 38-yard line, Godfrey dropped the snap from center, reached down and picked the ball up and then fired a bullet down field for Houston Tuminello, who caught it at the 30-yard line over a falling defender, and took it in for the touchdown with 4:12 still to play in the third quarter, making the score 64-21.
The Buckeyes’ defense got the ball back for the offense at the Tatum 43-yard line following another rushed punt attempt, but Buckeyes’ backup quarterback Hunter Harrison turned the football back over to Tatum a few plays later. The Eagles returned the ball to Gilmer on a punt, and this time Harrison and Kedon Franklin led the offense down the field, with Harrison scoring his first varsity touchdown from a yard out ending the Buckeyes’ scoring barrage with 6:31 left to play.
Evans was impressed with the Buckeyes’ performance against his 2-time defending state champions. “They’re very polished. They’re well coached like always,” praised Evans. “I think their offensive line is the best offensive line that I’ve ever coached against.”
After the game, Traylor’s thoughts had already turned to the Buckeyes’ next opponent. “Daingerfield is in a perfect position because it is going to be hard for us to duplicate this effort,” worried Traylor. But leave it to the Buckeyes’ sophomore quarterback who had just made his second career start to assure his coach that the team is as focused as he is. “We still know that we’ve got Liberty-Eylau down the road, so we’ll keep practicing and get ready for them,” promised Godfrey.
Scoring Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Gilmer 14 29 21 7 71
Tatum 0 21 0 0 7 28
Game Statistics
Gilmer Tatum
Passing-Comp/Att/TD/Int 9-16-4-1 9-18-2-2
Passing-Yards 225 215
Rushes-Yards 40-291 42-109
Total Yards 516 324
First Downs 23 13
Time of Possession 20:37 27:23
Fumbles Lost 1 1
Penalties-Yards 6-55 4-32
Mirror Photo / M.L. Kirby
GILMER’S JUSTIN JOHNSON busts his way bareheaded during the Gilmer-Tatum game Thursday following the block of Garrett Adkins as Ross Stevens watches. Johnson finished the first half with 169 yards rushing, 3 TDs and a 2-point conversion. Gilmer led Tatum 43-21 at the half and went on to win 71-28 in the opener of the Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic.
Mirror Photos / M.L. Kirby
IN DESCENDING ORDER, Darian Godfrey scores, Brennan Thompson makes a tackle and Dustin Jones returns an interception.
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