Courtesy Photo / KLTV.com
GILMER QB STUMP GODFREY prepares to hand off to Gus Osborne in the first quarter of the game at Homer Bryce Stadium in Nacogdoches between the Buckeyes and the Jasper Bulldogs.
From the Tyler Morning Telegraph:
Buckeyes Erupt In Second Half
From the Longview News-Journal:
ET Football: Gilmer 42, Jasper 14
From the Jasper Newsboy/Beaumont Enterprise:
Gilmer breaks open close contest in second half to win 42-14
From KJAS:
Bulldogs fall to the Buckeyes 42-14
From The Gilmer Mirror:
From The Gilmer Mirror:
Buckeyes drop Jasper in season opener
By JOE DODD
Gilmer’s first football game of the 2009 season started at 8 p.m. Friday in Nacogdoches. The Buckeyes got started at 9:40 p.m. That’s when Gilmer received the second half kickoff from the Jasper Bulldogs and began to erase the bad memory of a disappointing 8-7 halftime lead.
Coming into the game ranked number one in Class 3A, the Buckeyes struggled offensively in the first half. They managed only 91 yards on five possessions, giving the host Bulldogs hope for the upset.
But when Gilmer received the second half kickoff, the Buckeyes offense came to life, amassing 328 yards and 34 points to silence the Bulldogs’ barking and send Jasper home with a 42-14 thumping.
“We’ve got to give Jasper credit first, I thought they played really well,” said Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor. “We didn’t play real well the first half. But the game is four quarters and the kids responded the second half.”
First year Jasper head coach Mike Bickham agreed with Traylor. “We’ve got to put two halves together,” Bickham said. “We were going to try to keep their offense on the sideline and we did for a lot of the game.”
It almost worked, as the Bulldogs held on to the football for almost two-thirds of the first half. But thanks to a hard-hitting Buckeyes’ defense that forced two fumbles in the opening half, Jasper only managed one touchdown drive.
“Defensively, we played really well the whole game,” praised Traylor, who watched his defense force the Bulldogs to punt after gaining no yards on three plays of their opening possession.
Gilmer started their first possession in great field position from their own 48-yard line and looked to be in prime form three plays later when running back Gus Osborne took a screen pass from quarterback Stump Godfrey and weaved down the sideline before being stopped inside the Bulldogs’ 10-yard line. But a penalty against the Buckeyes brought the ball back and Gilmer punted two plays later.
The Buckeyes’ defense gave the ball back to the offense four plays later when linebacker Vance Green forced a fumble that Luis Castro recovered at the Jasper 45-yard line.
Godfrey was 5-of-5 passing on the next drive, hitting Luke Turner from 3 yards out for Gilmer’s first touchdown with 3:43 to play in the first quarter. The Buckeyes converted the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
“I thought we were going to have a lot more, but it just didn’t click for us,” said sophomore receiver Turner, who scored his first varsity touchdown.
The Bulldogs responded with a 13-play scoring drive that consumed over seven minutes on the clock before tailback Ben Armstrong found the end zone from six yards out with 8:33 remaining in the half. Juan Mijares’ extra point was good, cutting the Gilmer lead to 8-7.
The Buckeyes went backwards on their next possession, losing four yards on three plays before punting to the Bulldogs, who took over at their own 30-yard line.
Two plays later, Gilmer’s Chris Miller recovered another Jasper fumble giving the Buckeyes’ the ball back at the Bulldogs’ 35-yard line.
Gilmer managed to gain only two yards before a 4th down pass fell incomplete, returning the football to the Bulldogs at their own 33-yard line.
Jasper advanced the ball to their own 48-yard line before punting to the Buckeyes, who took possession at their own 24-yard line.
Gilmer looked poised to score after big pass completions from Godfrey to Kedon Franklin and Braylon Webb, but the drive stalled at the Bulldogs’ 8-yard line. The Buckeyes lined up to attempt a field goal on fourth down, but a bad snap resulted in a loss on the play, giving the ball back to Jasper at their own 17-yard line, allowing the Bulldogs to run out the clock on the first half.
“They came out ready to play and we came out flat and it showed on the scoreboard,” said Godfrey, who added “I was just disappointed. We weren’t executing.”
Traylor praised his senior quarterback’s example at the intermission. “Stump was an unbelievable leader; very calm. He just was great at halftime. All my seniors were great at halftime. That whole senior group is special. They’re not going to cave in to all that adversity.”
When the Buckeyes’ Mikey Wilson returned the second half kickoff to Gilmer’s 49-yard line, the Buckeyes’ offense was ready to explode.
Godfrey led the Buckeyes to touchdowns on five of their seven second-half possessions, throwing touchdown passes to Webb and Marlon Granville and rushing for two more.
“We just executed so much better offensively,” said Traylor, who watched his quarterback set career highs with 24 completions on 38 attempts.
After the game, Godfrey said that he and the team learned a valuable lesson. “Just because we’re number one doesn’t mean we don’t have to play hard,” said Godfrey.
The only thing that stopped the Buckeyes’ offense the second half was an interception and a fumble that ended the other two drives. But that was offset by the Buckeyes’ Castro and Green recovering two more Jasper fumbles.
After stopping the Bulldogs on their first five possessions of the second half, Jasper finally got back on the scoreboard when Karrion Morrisey ran the ball in from two yards out with 4:47 left in the game.
But the Buckeyes weren’t done yet, as Green came over from the defense and took his only hand-off at running back 46 yards for a touchdown with 3:03 remaining on the clock.
“I saw the opening. I wanted to break the opposite way, but I saw Daniel [McLaren] right there and he looked at me and I cut through and took it to the house,” said Green who recorded his first offensive touchdown of his career for the final 42-14 score.
“A win is a win,” summed up Green.
Traylor agreed, and added that the experience was good for his top-ranked team. “This will help us. This will serve us very well on down the road.”
Scoring Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Gilmer 8 0 21 13 42
Jasper 0 7 0 7 14
Game Statistics
Gilmer Jasper
First Downs 20 14
Passing-Comp/Att/TD/Int 24-38-3-1 4-10-0-0
Passing-Yards 293 54
Rushes-Yards 27-126 48-149
Total Yards 419 203
Time of Possession 20:06 27:54
Fumbles Lost 1 4
Penalties-Yards 2-10 6-60
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
JASPER’S CEDRIC MCGILL (11) tries to cut with GILMER’S LUKE TURNER (7) as the Buckeye receiver turns a routine short pass into an 18-yard first down on the second touchdown drive of the third quarter. Gilmer went on to win 42-14.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
BUCKEYE Marlon Granville drags Jasper’s Darren Beavers to the Bulldog 7-yard line, setting up a first and goal before Gilmer’s fourth touchdown.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
GILMER’S BRAYLON WEBB breaks the arm tackle of Jasper’s Michael Webb and scores the first touchdown of the second half with just 1:39 off the clock in the third quarter. Gilmer led 15-7 after the score and PAT by Adan Olivares and went on to a 42-14 victory.
Mirror Photo / Mary Laschinger Kirby
STUMP GODFREY gestures “Number 1” as he scores his first touchdown to increase Gilmer’s lead to 22-7 during the 42-14 win over Jasper at SFA.
Video from KLTV's Red Zone:
From Maxpreps:
Box Score
From Coaches Aid:
Ranking Remix Week 0
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