WHERE Y’ALL AT? | Where the teams in the ETB area play tonight, and a look at our Zippy J’s / ETB Game of the Week, Kilgore at Gilmer
GILMER – A couple of storied East Texas Class 4A football programs, Kilgore and Gilmer, renew a rivalry tonight that isn’t really that long in the tooth when they square off here at Jeff Traylor Stadium on Friday evening at 7:30.
Gilmer enters just the 12th meeting between the two schools with a 1-1 record, while Kilgore is 0-1. Both dropped season-opening contests, Gilmer falling to Pine Tree 52-40 and Kilgore dropping a 42-7 decision against state-ranked Pleasant Grove, 42-7.
Gilmer corrected its course with a 54-31 win at Chapel Hill a week ago, while Kilgore had an open date.
Other games involving programs in the ETBlitz.com coverage area have Henderson hosting Pittsburg – the Lions are 0-2; Pine Tree hosting Athens – the Pirates will try to bounce back after a loss at Carthage last week; Sabine, coming off a win over Elysian Fields that ended an 18-game losing streak, will play at Mineola; Tatum will visit Diboll; a pair of ETB-area programs meet in White Oak, as the Roughnecks host Arp; Troup, the No. 1 team in the state in 3A, DII, will host Grace Community; Beckville looks to get on track, hosting Harmony; and Overton visits old rival Carlisle.
Tonight’s contest in Gilmer — our Zippy J’s / ETBlitz.com Game of the Week — marks this season’s home opener for the Buckeyes, ranked 12th in Pigskin Preps’ 4A Division II poll, while Kilgore is sixth in Division I, and seventh in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football weekly 4A, DI rankings.
The Buckeyes still have almost a month before 8-4A DII play begins against state-ranked Pleasant Grove on Oct. 9, with games at Sulphur Springs next week and a date against Sunnyvale here on Sept. 25 before an open date a week later.
For the young Bulldogs, though, the 8-4A DI grind arrives next week against Bullard (1-1) in what will be Kilgore’s home opener.
“We made too many self-inflicted mistakes against Pleasant Grove,” Kilgore football coach Clint Fuller said. “All credit goes to Pleasant Grove, but we hurt ourselves more than they hurt us.
“Our focus the past two weeks has been on our team,” he continued.
“We lost the turnover battle against Pine Tree, 1-4. It’s hard to beat a good team when you do that,” said Gilmer coach Alan Metzel. “Week two was much better for us (no turnovers, plus four) and proved to be critical against Chapel Hill,” he continued in summing up his team’s efforts thus far.
“Gilmer is a very good football team. They are good upfront on both sides of the football. Their quarterback (Zade Taylor) is dynamic, and they have good athletes at the skill positions,” Fuller said, when asked about this week’s opponent, the Buckeyes.
Metzel is expecting a high-level, competitive battle against Kilgore, saying, “I have tremendous respect for Coach Fuller and the job his staff does. His teams are always well prepared and tough.”
The Buckeyes have been led by Taylor, their senior quarterback, and junior running back Tayveon Horne. Both rushed for 241 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns the first two weeks of this season. Taylor, a returning starter at quarterback, has 23 carries and is 14-of-29 passing for 180 yards. He has yet to throw a scoring pass and has suffered four interceptions. Horne’s numbers have come on 39 carries.
Through two games, the Buckeyes receiving leaders have been junior Kipton Neighbors (six catches for 99 yards), a move in from Mineola, along with freshman Kaden Canady (five-56) and senior Amare Garrett (two-16).
The Buckeyes have excelled on kickoff returns through two weeks with Jerzyri Johnson returning a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown against Pine Tree, while Horne also has a 68-yard return this season.
Making his initial varsity start against PG, Braddox Johnson was 16-of-29 passing for 124 yards, but did suffer two interceptions. He threw to eight different receivers with Rayshaun Williams and Maddox Wright leading the way with three receptions each. Williams gained 20 yards on his catches and Wright six.
T.K. Wright, Tyler Johnigan, De’Andre Thurmond and Brenton Mumphrey each had two receptions while Kei Warren and Kashton Haynes had one apiece.
Kilgore rushed for 122 yards with Warren Royal coming on late to lead the way with 77 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries in the 15-play, fourth quarter scoring march for the Bulldogs. Williams and Wright saw most of the work early.
Through two games, leading tacklers for the Bux have been junior Austin Blakely (16), and junior Ryan Blume (14) followed by junior Zaylen Johnson and sophomores Judson Dorsett and Jordan Parker both with 13 apiece. Garrett leads in tackles for loss with two.
Johnson and Blakely each have an interception, while senior Aiden Thomas and sophomore Carlos Brooks have the other two turnovers, each recovering a fumble.
The leading tacklers for Kilgore were inside linebacker Blade Chitwood with 11, including a tackle for loss, and middle linebacker Rayshaun Williams (9). Cornerback Tyler Johnigan had an interception for the Bulldogs.
In other games tonight involving these two 4A East Texas districts; Athens is at Pine Tree, Pittsburg visits Henderson, No. 2 Lindale is at Van, Bryan Rudder is at Jacksonville, Quinlan Ford visits Bullard, Waco La Vega is at Chapel Hill and Rusk travels to Palestine.
Also, Spring Legacy is at No. 1 Carthage, Mabank travels to Longview to meet Spring Hill, Liberty-Eylau faces No. 4 Pleasant Grove and Center is at Nacogdoches.
