Gilmer Buckeyes

By JOE DODD The 6th annual Buckeyes’ Booster Club 7-on-7 Tournament proved a big success for the Gilmer football program as the host Buckeyes won the Junior Varsity division and finished second in the Varsity division. The varsity squad finished the tournament with a 4-1 record, losing to class 4A Sulphur Springs 41-13 in the championship game. Gilmer’s Junior Varsity team ended the day with a perfect 5-0 record, including a 39-18 thumping of Class 4A Pine Tree in the championship game. "It was great," stated Buckeyes’ head coach Jeff Traylor. "We had a lot of success, that is always good." Traylor was upbeat despite his team’s loss in the varsity championship game. "We got down in the Sulphur Springs game, and I was awaiting to see if there was going to be some quit in us, but we had great leadership, and just kept battling." The Buckeyes’ varsity squad finished pool play 3-0, defeating White Oak 26-6, Pleasant Grove 38-7, and Pine Tree 39-18. Gilmer then...

Mirror Photo / M.L. Kirby DISCUSSING THE new facilities of the Gilmer Buckeye Field House Sunday afternoon, May 20, at the facility’s open house are Superintendent Rick Albritton, left, former school board member Layman Beavers and new board members Jeff Rash and Mike Tackett.

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By JOE DODD The new $2.3 million Gilmer High School Field House will debut to the public on Sunday, May 20 at an open house from 3-5 p.m. The 16,000-square-foot building is located just north of Buckeye Stadium, and can be accessed from Bradford Street. RPR Construction Co., Inc., of Tyler was general contractor for the project, while Thacker/Davis Architect Inc. of Longview designed the cinder-block and brick building. The building, new equipment and furnishings, along with the parking lot cost approximately $1.85 million. An additional $450,000 was spent on dirt work preparation for the building and any future expansion of the high school. The old field house, originally constructed in 1962, featured only 3,500 square feet, along with another 1,500 in a metal building. Plumbing problems, frequent staph infections, and a leaky roof were common concerns for the approximately 170 student-athletes and more than a dozen coaches that used the facility. The new facility includes several new...

By JOE DODD The 6th annual Buckeyes’ Booster Club 7-on-7 Tournament will be held Saturday, May 19, at Buckeye Stadium and the adjoining practice fields northwest of the stadium. Eight schools are scheduled to participate at the varsity level including Gilmer, White Oak, Pine Tree, Pleasant Grove, Spring Hill, New Boston, Elysian Fields and Sulphur Springs. All varsity level games will take place on the Buckeye Stadium field with two games being played on each half of the field every hour starting at 9 a.m. The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. The same eight schools also plan on participating at the junior varsity level, with all games played on the main practice field. Gilmer won both the varsity and junior varsity championships last year, but head football coach Jeff Traylor said winning isn’t the reason the Buckeyes play 7-on-7. "We don’t get to have spring ball," stated Traylor. "So this is our turn to get a good look at some guys getting to try to make plays...

By JOE DODD For the second straight season, the Gilmer Buckeyes will open the football season with an out of state opponent. The Richwood Rams from Richwood, Louisiana will visit Buckeye Stadium on Friday, August, 31. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Last season the Buckeyes defeated Las Vegas Bishop Gorman 56-14 in the East Texas Football Classic in Tyler. The Classic has moved from week zero to week one, and the Buckeyes are scheduled to visit back-to-back state champion Tatum in week one. Richwood High School, with an enrollment of 783 students, is located five miles south of Monroe, La. The Rams went 8-5 last season, losing in Louisiana’s Class 3A state semifinals. Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor has not seen any video of the Rams, but has talked to other coaches who have. “I know they are very, very athletic,” said Traylor. “I’ve heard they are incredibly talented, incredibly fast. They sound a lot like Liberty-Eylau and Tatum. That’s why I wanted to play them.” The game will mar...

Gilmer ISD recently sought bids for a new set of grand stand seats for Buckeye Stadium. A public notice advertisement in The Gilmer Mirror stated that proposal requirements and specifications were available from Thacker/Davis Architects Inc.; 1100 Judson Road, Suite 620; P.O. Box 2723; Longview, TX 75606, or by calling 903-236-3771. Supt. Rick Albritton said the new grand stand section will include 250 seats, and will be built north of the visitors’ seating at Buckeye Stadium, straddling a drainage ditch there. “It will be facing the home-side seats, and will be for the Buckeye Band and the Stars drill team,” Albritton said. Bids were accepted until 2 p.m. May 15 in the board room of the Gilmer ISD Adminstration Building at 500 South Trinity in Gilmer.

BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS Sports Correspondent GILMER—An open house will be held sometime next month for the new $2.3 million Gilmer High School athletic field house at Buckeye Stadium. The athletic program moved into the facility a few weeks ago from the old nearby field house, the oldest part of which was constructed in 1962, said Gilmer Independent School District officials. The former field house had problems ranging from overcrowding and staph infections to plumbing woes and leaking, school officials said. The 16,000 square-foot new structure, which is more than triple the size of the old one, will house not only one of the premiere football programs in East Texas, but each sport in Gilmer ISD. “It’s nice,” head football coach/athletic director Jeff Traylor said while showing the facility to a representative of the Tyler Paper on Thursday. “My kids are just so proud of it, and we’re (coaches) proud of it, too.” “They’re already proud of the program,” said Traylor, whose Buckeyes have wo...

Here, the award-winning Gilmer High School Buckeye Band plays the original long version of the tune behind its alma mater, An Army of Buckeyes. John Philip Sousa composed it in 1896. The band is directed by Eric Gray. This was the grand finale of the band's "Sounds of Spring" concert at the Gilmer Civic Center on Thursday evening, April 26, 2007.

By JOE DODD In what is becoming an annual tradition at Gilmer High School, seven Buckeyes seniors signed national letters of intent on Wednesday to continue their football careers at four different colleges. G.J. Kinne, Jamell Kennedy, Jules Johnson, Arsenial Richardson, Dominique Buchanan and Dunterius Goodman all gathered in the Gilmer High School cafeteria surrounded by family and friends, not to mention five television cameras and several newspaper photographers and reporters. Kinne signed with the University of Texas , Kennedy with Southern Methodist University, Johnson and Richardson with Texas A&M-Commerce, and Buchanan and Goodman signed with Kilgore College . Kinne led the Buckeyes to a 10-1 record last season, throwing for 3,261 yards and 47 touchdowns before losing to eventual state champion Liberty-Eylau in the first round of the playoffs. For the second straight year, Kinne was named the Associated Press’ Offensive Player of the Year. The favorite target of Kinne’s pas...

2007 Signing Day features another strong class Signing Day

Mirror Photo UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS coaches made a courtesy visit to Gilmer High School recently where they met with the mentor of one of the state’s top Class 3A football programs, Gilmer Buckeyes Head Coach/Athletic Director Jeff Traylor. At right with his arm on the shoulder of his friend, Coach Traylor, is Texas Longhorns Head Coach Mack Brown. At left are two of Brown’s colleagues on the Texas staff, Greg Davis and Ken Rucker. Davis is the Longhorns’ offensive coordinator and also coaches UT quarterbacks while Rucker coaches the running backs at the Big 12 program in Austin.

By JOE DODD The Texas High School Coaches Association recently released their 2006 Academic All-State Football Team and four members of the Gilmer Buckeyes were selected to the elite team. Evin Wilson was named to the first team, while Jud Murry and Adam Turner were named to the second team. Dakota Bickerdike earned honorable mention honors. The teams are selected by a point system that awards points for GPA, class rank and SAT or ACT score. The student/athletes are then placed on teams according to the number of points they have earned. Criteria required to be nominated is an overall GPA of 92 or above, including grades 9-12 and the first six weeks of grade 12. Be a member of the team in good standing at the time of nomination, and be of good moral character. Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor praised the selection of four of his senior players. “Those kids really typify what athletics are supposed to be about,” said Traylor. Turner credits Traylor and his staff for prioritizing academics...

By JOE DODD Gilmer Buckeyes’ senior quarterback G.J. Kinne announced last week that he had accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Texas to play football for the Longhorns, despite giving an oral commitment to Big 12 Conference rival Baylor in July of last year. Kinne’s latest decision is sure to receive the same national attention as his previous moves. As a freshman in 2003, Kinne moved from Mesquite to Canton, where his father, Gary Joe Kinne had just been named the Eagle’s head football coach. Kinne the quarterback, helped Kinne the coach, turn around the Eagles program immediately. Canton went 8-4, and won their first playoff game since 1964. After two years at Canton, the Kinnes turned into a national story when an irate parent walked into the Canton field house and shot Gary Joe in the stomach. Kinne survived the shooting and returned to coach the Eagles for the 2005 season. Canton’s players responded with the school’s best season ever; a 12-2 record before losing to...

By JOE DODD Gilmer Buckeyes’ and future Texas Longhorn teammates G.J. Kinne and Curtis Brown will play in nationally televised football all-star games on Saturday, Jan. 6. Brown will play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl starting at 12 noon on NBC. Kinne will play in the East Meets West High School All-American Football Game starting at 2 p.m. on ESPN-U. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl will be played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, while the East Meets West High School All-American Football Game will be played at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Brown will play cornerback for the West Team despite seeing limited playing time on defense the past two seasons. Brown started at cornerback as a sophomore on the Buckeyes’ 2004 state championship team before moving to receiver his final two seasons. As a receiver Brown totaled 1,944 yards on 103 catches and scored 24 touchdowns. He also ran for 918 yards and scored 9 touchdowns on only 63 carries. Gil...

By JOE DODD Gilmer Buckeyes’ senior quarterback G.J. Kinne was named the Associated Press Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year, and teammate Curtis Brown was named to the first team defense, headlining a group of six Buckeyes honored by the AP. Kinne won the Offensive Player of the year award for the second straight year. In 2005, Kinne was selected after leading the Canton Eagles to the Class 3A Regional Finals, before losing to eventual state champion Tatum. After his father, Canton head coach Gary Joe Kinne left the Eagles for a position at Baylor, Kinne moved with his mother and step-father to Gilmer, and joined the Buckeyes for his senior season. Kinne’s season was nothing short of spectacular, but once again Kinne and his teammates suffered a playoff loss to the eventual state champion; this time to Liberty-Eylau in the first round. Kinne finished the regular season with 2,962 yards, 43 touchdowns and only one interception, while completing 149 of 218 passes, helping the Buckeye...

By JOE DODD Thirty-seven players and the Gilmer Buckeyes’ coaching staff were honored recently when the District 15-3A Football Team was announced. The Buckeyes finished the season with a 10-1 record, and the Associated Press’ No. 1 ranking in Class 3A. “We’re extremely proud to have that many kids make it. I take great pride in that,” said Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor. “Whenever you work hard, you get rewarded; and that’s a good thing.” Buckeyes’ quarterback G.J. Kinne was named the district’s Most Valuable Player after passing for 3,261 yards and 47 touchdowns, while completing 68 percent of his passes. Kinne also ran for an additional 9 touchdowns, and suffered only one interception on the season. That one interception came on Kinne’s first pass as a Buckeye. Jamell Kennedy was chosen as the district’s Offensive MVP, after totaling 906 total offensive yards and 9 touchdowns on 30 catches and 26 rushes. Kennedy moved to receiver for his senior season after being named first team al...

His No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners have earned the right to play No. 9 Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 1. It sure beats the Alamo Bowl. In spite of the loss to Texas, OU won the Big 12. Rhett Who?

By JOE DODD As the final seconds ticked off the Longview Lobo Stadium scoreboard, and both teams converged at midfield to shake hands; thousands of Gilmer Buckeyes’ fans stood in stunned silence, shaking their heads in unrehearsed unison, refusing to believe the 39-36 score that sent the state’s No. 1-ranked team home after the first game of the playoffs. After Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor congratulated Liberty-Eylau head coach Pat Brady, the Buckeyes’ boss found himself apologizing, instead of commenting on the next-round opponent. “I’m extremely sorry, I really am; to the team and the fans,” said a subdued Traylor in an interview with the Buckeyes’ Broadcasting Team. “Our team was good enough to do it, but we just didn’t get it done.” Despite a perfect 10-0 regular season record, and breaking a 46-year old Class 3A scoring record, the Buckeyes will watch the remaining month of the high-school playoffs from the sidelines. Traylor was quick to credit the Liberty-Eylau Leopards for hi...