BUCKEYES KNOCK OFF BRENHAM! | Gilmer boots Brenham from ranks of the unbeatens, 51-37

By PHILLIP WILLIAMS

HUNTSVILLE – ‘Twas a night which was Taylor-made for the defending state emperor Gilmer Buckeyes as Zade Taylor thundered to three touchdowns and Gilmer bludgeoned the previously unvanquished Brenham Cubs, 51-37, in a Friday night hoorah highlighted by a bewildering bevy of Big Bang TDs.

Taylor, who hoofed for two tallies and hauled in a pass for the other, offset a flummoxing first-half performance by Brenham runner JaKoby Dixon, who had backhanded the Buckeyes with a trio of long-distance scoring sprints and a pair of two-point conversion catwalks.

Gilmer’s defense, however, somewhat detained Dixon afterward and the victors took control in the second half after the lead changed hands five times in the ticker-taxing opening two quadrants. Word was that point-making was so fast and furious that the scoreboard operator developed carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Buckeyes, leading 28-23 at Twirling Time, inflated that to 37-23 by late in the third quarter and never again relinquished the pace car position, although the Cubs cropped the count to 37-30 with 10:45 left in the wargame.

Taylor meanwhile was ably abetted by teammate Trillyon Butler, who himself trooped for a thrilling two TDs and a two-point conversion. In addition, Gilmer reaped QB Brady McCown’s two touchdown throws (including one to Taylor), and the Buckeye “Black Flag Defense” extracted three turnovers.

All this foisted Gilmer’s third consecutive win this season on the Cubs, who paraded into the Huntsville ISD stadium Friday night with a sun-bright 4-0 mark and ranked eighth in Class 5A Division 2. Gilmer, now 3-2, rolled into the rink rated fourth in Class 4A Division 2 despite having been impaled in its opening two tilts.

The first half was a cough, wheeze, where’s-the-oxygen-please? kind of affair as Dixon bewildered the Buckeyes, who kept counter-attacking his long-winded scores with mostly short-yardage TDs of their own.

After Gilmer ceded the pigskin on downs on the game’s opening possession at the Brenham 29 and a Cub running play lost four yards, Dixon suddenly screamed 75 yards with a stultifying highlight-reel TD trip in which he cut across the field and was pushed into the end zone’s right side by the last would-be Gilmer tackler.

The Buckeyes drew a penalty on the conversion, so the Cubs went for two and Dixon, normally a running back who played quarterback on that play, clutched the pair of points with 8:08 left in the first quarter.

After a splendid kickoff return, the Buckeyes plodded 53 yards in 10 plays as Taylor bopped into Beulah Land from five yards out with 5:02 left in the opening period. Fans got deja vu when Brenham, like Gilmer had just done, drew a penalty on the PAT and Butler ran for two points, deadlocking it 8-8.

Then Dixon, for all his magnificence before intermission, erred by fumbling into mid-air and Gilmer’s Korey (Trey) Lee returned it 54 yards to the Cub 21 before the somewhat bulky defender was overtaken by a faster Brenham gridder.

Cadon Tennison, who played a relatively small part of the game at quarterback (usually filling another position), tromped two yards to tally on the third play afterward on a quarterback draw. Brayden Pate airlifted the PAT with 3:20 still remaining in the inaugural quarter.

But Brenham would re-seize the lead with another Dixon Dandy, which was set up by a Buckeye blunder. Cub defender Ledrick Walker Jr. purloined a pass from McCown at the Brenham 30, and Dixon soon staged another stupefying score, this time from 28 yards away with 8:28 left to intermission.

Penalties continued to haunt conversion attempts as Brenham kicked the PAT, only to decide to take the point off the board and go for two due to a Gilmer infraction. Dixon played quarterback again and wheeled in for the go-ahead pair of points.

Down 16-15, Gilmer counter-attacked with Taylor hiking one yard for the tally with 4:16 left to Music Time. And – wouldn’t you know – yet another penalty on a conversion negated the Buckeyes’ seemingly successful try for two, so Pate uplifted another PAT.

And then Dixon confounded the crowd with another breathtaking burst, this time an 87-yard TD with 3:19 left in the half. Bleu Cinega whammed the first of his three straight PATs to vault Brenham back in front, 23-22.

The resilient Buckeyes, though, fired back with a rapid response team “beaut” of their own.

Immediately after the kickoff, Butler whizzed 73 yards to Glory Land before Daydrion Jimmerson’s run for two points failed, putting Gilmer up 28-23 with 2:57 left to Band Time. And the Cubs never fully rebounded from that.

Interestingly, Dixon came in at quarterback for the second half’s opening possession and carried five straight times for 33 yards before starting QB Jordan Harvey resumed the signal-calling duties. 

The teams had had no punts in the opening half, but the Buckeyes forced the game’s first such kick when Harvey threw incomplete and was penalized for intentional grounding to the Brenham 45.

Gilmer pieced together an advance that culminated in Pate’s 29-yard field goal with 6:28 left in the third, making it 31-23.

Brenham, beset by penalties, punted again before the teams exchanged punts, opening the curtain for a show-stopper of a Buckeye bombshell.

A Cub punt of only 24 yards put Gilmer at the Brenham 38 and QB McCown zipped two incompletions before sending an astonishing scoring sling to Taylor. McCown threw to his left and Taylor then cut across the field to the right, evading tacklers, to rumble into TD territory.

Pate’s PAT try hit the right upright with 1:14 left in the third (he would go on to two more point-afters which were successful), and Gilmer now had a 37-23 lead and seemingly the momentum.

Ah, but the Cubs cuffed the victors a couple more times, beginning with an oddball series that began after Brenham punted to the Gilmer 8.

The Buckeyes incurred three straight penalties, putting them back at their 1 before McCown fired three straight incompletions. Then Brenham’s Jabreon Moore befuddled the Buckeyes by returning a punt 41 yards for a TD.

The PAT made it 37-30 with 10:45 still to go and suddenly, it was a game again. And when Gilmer disgorged a fumble away at the Brenham 47 with 8:36 left, Buckeye backers held their collective breath.

But Gilmer’s defense held, forcing a punt to the Buckeye 30, and immediately came a play that allowed the Gilmer constituency to not only sigh relief, but be bedazzled. McCown uncorked a 70-yard TD to Solomon Jackson with 7:23 left.

Then soon came a Brenham boo-book that pretty much sealed the verdict. Gilmer’s Amauri Morton filched a Harvey heave at the Gilmer 19 and returned it to the 39. On the fourth play afterward, Butler bounded 49 yards on another breathtaking bound for Gilmer’s final tally with 2:38 left.

Though the Cubs didn’t even try to utilize their last two time outs, Brenham went out in a blaze of futile glory when Harvey shot a 49-yard score to Chris Guidry, who managed to get away from a Gilmer defender with 1:17 left. An onside kick went out of bounds, and Gilmer ran out the clock.

The Buckeyes are guaranteed not to see their winning streak expire next week as they have an open date.