Gilmer 44, Liberty-Eylau 0

Video: Highlights - Gilmer Buckeyes @ Liberty-Eylau Leopards

By Elwyn Henderson

The Gilmer Buckeyes closed out the 2019 regular season Friday night at Harris Field in Texarkana with a 44-0 thrashing of the winless Liberty-Eylau Leopards. With the victory, Gilmer closes out the regular season with a 7-3 record.

 L-E will move on to basketball after a 0-10 football campaign, while the Buckeyes will continue forward into their annual deep playoff run next THURSDAY night. Gilmer will play Farmersville, the third place finisher in District 5-4A Division II. The Bi-District game will be played at Earl Campbell Field at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Stadium in Tyler. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.

 The Leopards won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Jose Hernandez boomed the ball into the end zone and L-E started their first possession at their 25. The Black Flag Defense was out for blood to begin the game. After an incomplete pass on first down, quarterback Ian Jones was dropped for losses of 2 and 10 yards before Jones punted away on fourth down. The kick went 28 yards, from his 13 up to his 41 and Gilmer went on the offensive for the first time on the night.

 Mason Hurt led his unit on a 6-play, 41-yard drive that took just 1:29, ending with a 24-yard TD pass to Jaydon Griffin on a 4th and 5 with 9:17 left in the first quarter. Hernandez split the uprights on the extra point attempt, and the Buckeyes led 7-0.

 The next Hernandez kick went to the Leopard 13 and was returned up to the 38. The Black Flag once again forced a three-and-out. Jones punted from his 28 to the Gilmer 39 and the Bucks were back in business.

 Hurt led the offense the 61 yards into the end zone again for the second TD of the game. The drive took 3:56 and 10 plays. The score came on a 6-yard run by Darrell Bush on a 4th and 2. Hernandez added the extra point and Gilmer was up 14-0 with 3:21 left in the opening frame.

 Hernadez kicked off again down to the LE 18 and following a 1-yard return to the 19, the Leopards set up shop for the third time. They had no better fortunes than the first two possessions, as the Black Flag forced another three-and-out. Jones shanked a punt on fourth down from the L-E 24 up to the 43, and Gilmer was in business once again.

 It took just 2 plays and 1:00 for the Buckeyes to find the end zone again. The first play was a 29-yard pass from Hurt to Dylan Fluellen and the duo followed that up with a 13-yard TD connection with 39 seconds left in the quarter. Hernandez split the uprights and the Gilmer lead advanced to 21-0.

 The ensuing Hernandez kickoff was returned from the Leopard 17 to the 22. Jones led his team to two first downs on the possession, but the ball turned over on downs when he was dropped 1 yard short on fourth down, giving the Buckeyes the ball once again at the L-E 41.

 After picking up one first down on the possession, Hurt was intercepted by Keyvuntae Featherson at the 23 and he returned the ball 29 yards down to the Gilmer 48.

 Once again the Black Flag answered the call and forced another three-and-out. Jones hit a 35 yard punt from his 44 to the Gilmer 21 and the Buckeyes went back to the field on offense.

 Hurt and company managed three first downs on the possession, but stalled on the next series, forcing a perfect Hurt 40-yard punt with no return down to the Leopard 5.

 Damian Henderson was dropped for a 3-yard loss back to the 2 on the first play. That was followed by a l-yard Jones run and an incomplete pass, as the Black Flag answered the bell again. The attempted punt by Jones was blocked by Davion Smith and rolled out the back of the end zone resulting in a 2-point safety, bumping the Gilmer lead to 23-0 with 59 seconds left in the half.

 The free kick from the L-E 20 went to midfield and Grant Couture returned the ball down to the 40. It took just 3 plays and 30 seconds for the offense to move the 40 yards into the end zone. The first play was an incomplete pass, but the Leopards were flagged for a 15-yard pass interference penalty moving the ball down to the 40. Following an incomplete pass, Hurt hit Dylan Fluellen once again for the 25-yard score with 29 seconds left in the half. The PAT kick by Hernandez was good and Gilmer led 30-0.

 Following the kickoff and a return of -9 yards, L-E took over at their 20. Jones ran for 8 yards as time expired on the first half and the teams headed to their respective locker rooms to prepare for the second half.

 Malik Williams returned the second half kickoff from his 31 up to the 45, and the offense hit the field again. They managed one first down, but the Leopards managed a rare defensive stop on a 4th and 1, and they took over on downs at their 25.

 As had been the case much of the night, the Black Flag forced another three-and-out. Jones hit a 26-yard punt to the Gilmer 49 and the offense came back out to work again.

 Hurt led the offense the 51 yards to pay dirt in 7 plays and 3:17. The score came on a 20-yard pass from Hurt to Eddie Ray with 3:33 left in the third quarter. Hernandez had a huge rush from his left thanks to a couple of Leopards jumping off sides and the kick was wide left. The officials flagged L-E and Hernandez was good on the second attempt, putting the Bucks up 37-0.

 The clock began running continuously running after the score, stopping only for injuries and at the end of the third quarter.

 Following a Hernandez kick into the end zone the home team set up at their 25. The first play resulted in what would have been a 75-yard TD, but the Leopards were called for holding. They managed one first down on the possession, but Jones punted from his 35 down to the Gilmer 31 on a 4th and 20 with 9:30 left in the game.

 Hurt led the Buckeyes to their final score of the night on the ensuing possession. The drive was 8 plays, 59 yards and took 3:28 off the clock. The score came on a 6-yard TD run by Smith with 6:02 left in the game. Hernandez connected on the extra point, and Gilmer led 44-0.

 On their final possession, which began at their 34, the Black Flag didn’t allow a first down. Gilmer took over on downs at the Leopard 42, ran 3 plays and ran out the final 1:19 of the game.

 Following the shutout win, we visited with a jubilant Coach Matt Turner and asked about the lights out performance of his team.

 “I just said that was beautiful job of putting it all together—that was defense, kicking, offense. We played well. Of course, there’s things we can get better at, but we played a lot of really good football; great effort, great leadership. We played the way you need to do it. I’m excited for the guys. It’s always good to finish well, and that was a great finish.”

 We talked about the fact with the lopsided game a lot of backup players were able to get in the game and contribute once again.

 “We’ve got a lot of good football players and a lot of guys that need to play. It’s always good to give those guys opportunities. They played well when they got out there and that’s what you love to see happen. We didn’t drop off. We just stepped out there and the next guy up made the plays. As we move on you never know when you’re going to need guys to do that.”

 We also discussed that knowing they were going against a weak opponent; the team was intense from start to finish and never took their foot off the accelerator.

 “We know, I mean its playoff mode now. We’ve got to play well. You’ve got to play well every time you step out there, and our guys did. That’s a credit to them. They’ve got to believe that. We preach it, but they’ve got to believe it and do it, and they did. I was really pleased with the effort throughout to the finish. That’s the sign of a team that wants to play a little longer.”

 We asked the coach if he could have asked for a better regular season finale than what his team did on the field against the Leopards.

 “Yeah, just the fact that we played well. We feel like we keep getting better. Of course, that’s the goal. I felt like we did tonight. The thing is, L-E, they’ve struggled, but they’re athletic. You’ve still got to tackle. You see that team can run and they’ve got people that can tackle you. You have to block them. Hats off to them; their kids played hard. Their kids stayed at it, they played the game and they got after it. They played the game hard. We had to go execute and we did and that was good to see.”

 For Buckeye fans who didn’t know, Brandon Tennison didn’t play on either offense or defense in the game because of an injury he was just getting over. We asked Coach Turner where things were with him going forward.

 “He was released tonight. He just wasn’t able to do much all week. He got cleared tonight, so he was able to suit out. We’re glad to have him back. Brandon’s a great kid. He did a great job in practice all week encouraging the guys and teaching, and he did what he could and he was ready to go tonight.”

 We finished out visit asking Coach Turner about the continued improvement of the Black Flag and their “lights out” play against the Leopards.

 “Todd Barr and that defensive staff are doing it and the kids are buying it. We feel like we’re getting better on that side of the ball every week, and that’s important. You’ve got to be able to play great defense. This time of the year that’s critical. Our guys did. A couple of times we (the offense) put them in a bit of a bad situation. We did a great job of pinning them; our swat team blocked a punt, we did a good job of our kick return game, we caught punts well tonight, we kicked and covered well. I think we only had one coverage there we weren’t happy with, so it was a pretty complete game. Things complemented each other well tonight; offense complemented defense, defense complemented offense, and kicking game did its part.”

 So Buckeye fans, we are now heading into the third season, the playoffs. We have NOT had near the support these young men deserve when it comes to attendance this season. It is now time to suit up in your orange and black and follow the Buckeyes every week as they aim for another State Championship. Make sure to be in Tyler Thursday night! GO BUCKEYES!!!

Stats by Mark Skinner



Liberty-Eylau blanked by Gilmer, 44-0
The future is still bright in Liberty-Eylau.by Earl Gill Published Nov. 9 2019 @ 5:51am