Gilmer Buckeyes

By JOE DODD The first annual East Texas Passing Academy will be held at Buckeye Stadium beginning Monday, July 23, and ending Thursday, July 26. The camp will run from 6:30-9:30 p.m. each night. The camp is for athletes entering grades 7-12 this fall. Cost of the camp is $100. The directors of the camp will be Buckeyes’ head coach Jeff Traylor, and his assistants Matt Turner and Kurt Traylor. Jeff Traylor and his staff have consistently produced some of the top offenses in the state of Texas , as well as develop several Division 1 college and NFL quarterbacks. Traylor has assisted former Southlake Carroll head coach Todd Dodge at his passing academy for several years, and decided to start this camp at Dodge’s urging. “He's always told me we should do one in East Texas , because no one really does this type of camp,” Traylor said. The camp is designed to allow each athlete the opportunity for multiple repetitions, and up-close attention to technique from the coaching staff. Traylor ...

By JOE DODD The Gilmer Buckeyes' football game against the Tatum Eagles might be moved from a scheduled Friday night meeting at Eagle Stadium in Tatum to a Thursday night contest at Tyler's Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. The move would accommodate a possible live television broadcast by Fox Sports Southwest. Tatum head coach Andy Evans told the Longview News-Journal that he had been contacted by Titus Sports Marketing, the promoters of the Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic, to see if he would be interested in moving the game to the Classic's open Thursday night, Sept. 6 slot. Evans was reluctant to give up a home game, but at the request of his team captains, decided to pursue the possibility of playing in a televised game. Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor, whose Buckeyes have a 4-1 record against Tatum since Traylor took over the program in 2000, said that the decision to move the game is Eagle's alone. “It's Tatum's home game and we're going to p...

By GABRIEL D. BROOKS Thursday, July 19, 2007 A deal is in the works that would televise this season's Tatum-Gilmer football game, according to Tatum coach Andy Evans and Titus Sports Marketing spokesman Dave Stephenson. Evans said Titus approached him and Gilmer coach Jeff Traylor offering the possibility to televise the game, which is during the second week of the season, but that a deal is not finalized and is still in the works. "We've not officially signed an agreement yet," Evans said. "I haven't signed the contract and I don't know if coach (Traylor) has signed it or not." Gilmer hosted Tatum last season in a 45-21 Buckeye win, and this year's game was scheduled to be at Eagle Stadium in Tatum. However, University Interscholastic League rules prohibit televising a game on Friday nights, so the game would be held Thursday, Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. and would be moved to Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler. Stephenson said the agreement in t...

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Kenneth Pettway, a 2000 Gilmer High School graduate, will offer a free NFL Experience Camp to all kids entering 6-12th grade on Friday, July 13 at Buckeye Stadium in Gilmer. The camp will start at 8:30 a.m. and end at approximately 1:30 p.m. “It's something that Kenny has wanted to do,” said Gilmer head coach Jeff Traylor, who will provide his coaching staff to help Pettway at the camp. “He's a super young man. He's come back to my camps every year that he could since I've been here. He always speaks to the kids.” Pettway was a multi-sport talent at Gilmer, where he lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track, before playing football at Southern Arkansas for two seasons. Pettway transferred to Grambling State where he earned All-SWAC honors his senior year. The Houston Texans drafted Pettway in the 5th round of the 2005 NFL draft. Pettway spent the 2005 season on the Texans' practice squad before being cut before the 2006...

Mirror Photo / M.L. Kirby OVER 150 YOUTH gather on the midfield ‘G’ at Buckeye Stadium on Friday, July 13, around Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Pettway, left, of the Jacksonville Jaguars, a Buckeye alumnus, and his friends, Alfred Malone of the Houston Texans, and Randy Hymes, recently of the Minnesota Vikings and one of Pettway’s teammates at Grambling State University. The camp sponsored by the National Football League is the first led by Pettway, who graduated from Gilmer High School in 2000.

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...