Skip to main content

Buckeyes dominate Atlanta in first scrimmage

By JOE DODD

The Gilmer Buckeyes looked every bit the pre-season number one team Saturday in a six touchdowns to none thrashing of Atlanta in a scrimmage at Rabbit Stadium.
The Buckeyes amassed a whopping 541 total yards on 54 plays, while limiting Atlanta to only 70 total yards and forcing six turnovers.
“Our depth and conditioning just wore Atlanta down,” explained Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor.
Atlanta’s first series of 20 plays were marred by an interception by senior defensive back Ben Griffith and a fumble recovery by senior linebacker Mikey Wilson.
Gilmer’s first possession wasn’t very impressive either as the Buckeyes totaled 134 total yards and only one score, a 3-yard touchdown run by junior running back Gus Osborne.
The Buckeyes offense got rolling on their second possession, totaling 217 yards and three scores on only 15 plays. Back-up quarterback Braylon Webb hit senior receiver Daniel McLaren for a 66-yard touchdown followed by a 28-yard touchdown to senior receiver J.T. Beecham. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Traylor completed the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Tristan Holt.
Gilmer’s offense kept the pace with two more touchdowns in the final series. Senior quarterback Stump Godfrey hit Holt with a 15-yard touchdown pass, before Webb closed out the scoring with a 26 yard touchdown pass to Beecham.
“Our quarterbacks threw the ball around well. Our receivers caught the ball well,” said Traylor. “That was good.”
Traylor also praised his defense, which held the Rabbits to -4 rushing yards on 28 carries. “I thought our defense was physical,” Traylor stated. “We hit well. That was good to see; how much more athletic, how much stronger we looked compared to this time last year.”
Gilmer’s pass defense was just as impressive, limiting Atlanta to only 74 yards on 25 attempts and intercepting the Rabbits five times. Griffith led the secondary with two picks while Paul Chesnut, Chad Tennison and Holt had one each.
“There were some bright spots obviously and there were some bad spots,” cautioned Traylor. “Our offensive line was not very good. We were extremely disappointed with that. We had way too much pressure, and we didn’t run the ball all that well either.”
The Buckeyes totaled 117 yards on 20 carries, but Traylor was pleased with the running of Osborne. “I thought Gus played well at running back,” said Traylor.
Traylor was also pleased in the development of two of the team’s question marks entering the season; the receivers and defensive line.
“We played 14 receivers and most of them played pretty good,” Traylor said. “We feel like we’re going to be fine. We don’t have many difference makers, but I think we’ll be solid there.”
“We played 12 kids on the defensive line,” continued Traylor. “They all played pretty good. Obviously we can’t always keep playing 12, but we’ll play nine for a while and we’ll eventually get down to six.”
While Traylor was happy with his team’s play on the field, he was more pleased that no players were injured during the scrimmage. “That was a blessing,” Traylor said. “We still have a couple of kids out due to sickness and an injury in practice; but we didn’t lose anybody in the scrimmage.”
Gilmer wraps up the pre-season schedule with a scrimmage at New Boston Thursday night. Freshmen and JV will scrimmage at 5 p.m. with the varsity taking the field at 6 p.m.
The Lions should be a stiff test for the Buckeyes as they return 14 starters from a 10-2 team last season. Traylor said he likes to face Rick Barker coached teams. “He’s a good coach. His kids play hard and they’re always good.”

Gilmer 9th grade defeated Atlanta 9th grade 1-0 TD.

Gilmer JV defeated Atlanta JV 4-2 TD's.

Gilmer Varsity defeated Atlanta Varsity 6-0 TD's.

Varsity Stats:

Gilmer

Rushes/Yards 20/117
Completions/Attempts/TD/INT 16/34/5/0
Passing Yards 474
Total Yards 591
First Downs 15
Turnovers 0

Atlanta

Rushes/Yards 28/-4
Completions/Attempts/TD/INT 10/25/0/4
Passing Yards 74
Total Yards 70
First Downs 5
Turnovers 5

Smoaky.com discussion

Scrimmage Photos


Gilmer Buckeyes warming up at Rabbit Stadium
The team goes through its pre-scrimmage drills with military-style discipline, concluding with the spelling out of "P.R.I.D.E."


Gilmer QB Stump Godfrey
The Buckeyes' senior field general does some ball handling before the start of the Varsity scrimmage


Gilmer Buckeyes' two-play TD drive against the Atlanta Rabbits
I'm assuming from "Way to go, Gus" that Gus Osborne caught the screen pass. I'm not sure who carried on the next play for the TD. Someone let me know.


GBux on defense against the ARabbs
The highlight of this sequence is a vicious gang-tackle about a minute into the video, after which Defensive Coordinator Todd Barr congratulates his defenders on a job well done.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How Gilmer came to be known as the Buckeyes

By JOE BLOUNT Long before the birth of Christ the buckeye was known to have medicinal value. The nutlike seed, found abundantly on shrubs here in East Texas, first got its notoriety as a curative agent from the Greco-Roman culture. Their god of medicine was Aesculapian. Even today botanical scientists place the buckeye within the genus Aesculus, recognize it as a member of the horse-chestnut family and are still highly puzzled by its many and varied phytochemicals. “Phyto,” as you may recall from biology, simply means “from plants.” There are a great number of antioxidants and maintenance chemicals found in the buckeye’s pulp. There are also many toxic compounds and several of the substances are downright poisonous. Early Greek docs would skin the buckeye and boil the endosperm, producing a brew that was taken internally. Most often, just as the case may still be today, the cure inevitably turned out to be worse than the disease. So now, we see that the buckeye is poisonous. We also b...

Padilla Poll Coaches 2023 All State Team

Padilla Poll Coaches 2023 All State Team 4A D-II Offensive Player of the Year Sr Will Henderson Gilmer RB Defensive Player of the Year Sr Aron Bell Gilmer LB Coach of the Year Alan Metzel Gilmer 1st Team Special Jr Brayden Pate Gilmer K Jr Ty WellMan Sanger P Sr Bryan Ramirez Ferris P Jr Josiah Groeneweg Glen Rose Ret 2nd Team Special Sr Jax Rodriguez Lago Vista K Sr Jack Atkinson Orange Grove Ret Sr Jadyn Forbes Sweetwater Ret Padilla Poll Coaches 2023 All State Team 4A D-II 1st Team Offense Sr Ozzie Andrade Bellville OL Sr Spencer Murphy Gilmer OL Sr Caden Romo Wimberley OL Jr Lucas Cano Gilmer OL Sr Jarom Pilcher Gilmer OL Sr Camden Raymond Glen Rose TE Sr Ta'Erik Tate Gilmer WR Jr Brendan Webb Gilmer WR Sr Jaydon Smith Ingleside WR Sr Dre'lon Miller Silsbee WR Jr Jos...

Video: Gilmer Buckeyes seeking community support to acquire championship rings