CAN BUCKEYES RUN IT BACK? | Metzel, Gilmer have enough talent to do just that
EDITOR’S NOTE: While Joe Hale did this preview, longtime Gilmer Buckeye writer Phillip Williams will be covering the Buckeyes for ETBlitz.com this season. We’re proud to have Phillip as a part of the ETBlitz family!
Gilmer football is synonymous with winning, at least since Jeff Traylor returned to his high school alma mater 25 years ago.
Around Gilmer, the county seat of Upshur County, they measure success on the football field, like it or not, by what Traylor accomplished in his 14 seasons as the head coach of the program. He won state championships in 2004, ’09 and again in 2014.
And after the 2023 season, they’ve now captured a state title since Traylor’s departure.
You might not believe it, but the stadium where the Buckeyes play, is named after their former coach, who is currently at the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) coaching the Roadrunners, and enjoying success on the collegiate level.
Alan Metzel beginning his 33rd season in the coaching business, and kinda grins when you bring the Gilmer success story nowadays to his attention. Yeah, he was an assistant for Jeff for the ’09 and ’14 title-runs and was in the press box for the ’04 game at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches against Jasper, besides being an assistant for Matt Turner, who replaced Traylor as the head coach from 2015-’19.
Sure, the Bux have continued their winning ways, in district play as well as enjoying success in the playoffs, reaching playing the finals in both 2020 and ’21, but falling just short each year.
That all changed, though, last season when Gilmer started slow (0-2) and was 3-3, after six games, including a 63-28 district loss to Pleasant Grove in its 7-4A DII opener.
You didn’t realize it at the time, but the Buckeyes, after making some adjustments, were on course to win the next 10 in a row, including the 2023 state championship against then-unbeaten Bellville, 28-26.
GILMER BUCKEYES
Coach: Alan Metzel (Fifth season, 52-8 overall)
All-time record: 748-401-39
Stadium: Jeff Traylor Stadium, 308 North Bradford Street, Gilmer 75644
2023 results: 13-3 Class 4A DII state champions
Returning Lettermen: 33/11 5 on offense; 6 on defense
Lettermen lost: 22
Offense: spread
Offensive notables: Caden Tennison QB, Sr. 5-10, 193; Brady McCown QB, Sr. 6-1, 200; Brendan Webb WR, Sr. 6-0, 178; Geramiah Noble WR, Sr. 5-10, 175; Lucas Cano OG, Sr. 6-3, 300; Mykah Easley WR, Sr. 6-4, 175; Chance Walker C, Jr. 5-9, 280
Defense: 4-2-5 or even front
Defensive notables: Caden Tennison CB, Sr. 5-10, 193; Brendan Webb S, Sr. 6-0, 178; Geramiah Noble S, Sr. 5-10,175; Tyler Hagler NG, Jr. 6-0, 320; Mykah Easley S, Sr. 6-4, 175; Davion King DT, So. 6-1, 265; Brayden Pate K/P, Sr. 5-9, 180
The Buckeyes went into the championship game against previously unbeaten Bellville as an underdog. Didn’t matter, though, they were underdogs a couple of weeks earlier in a regional final against Carthage and came away with a 47-44 win in overtime. And again, in the semifinals against Glen Rose, which they won rather handily 79-42.
“(It was) very exciting moment. What made it so rich for me is we started 0-2 versus Chapel Hill and Kilgore, and after six games we were 3-3 (with a loss to Pleasant Grove also). And, after the regular season, the 10th week, we suffered a team tragedy,” Metzel said, “with one of our player’s families.
“The ability to crater or throw in the towel was certainly there for our players. But, I feel it galvanized us as a team we got stronger instead. In sports, as in life, you need to overcome things and last year’s team rose to the occasion and did that,” he continued.
What are your thoughts about starting the new season?
“We’re certainly not there right now, but I believe this team has potential. Our leaders last year graduated. They’re gone. I think that’s one of the bigger differences between high school football and college or the pros. We have 33 returning lettermen and they’ve embraced the challenge of being new leaders for us.
“We will work hard every day and see how things work out for us.”
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football pre-season 4A Division II poll has the Buckeyes ranked second behind Carthage and ahead of No. 3 Bellville, who Gilmer beat 28-26 in last year’s championship game.
Two of Gilmer’s 7-4A Division II opponents are also in the pre-season poll with Van, coming off an 8-4 campaign, ranked 19th and Pleasant Grove, last year’s district champion with a 12-1 record, ranked in the top 10 at No. 7.
Metzel welcomes back a group of talented players. Among the notables returning in the spread offense are starting quarterback Caden Tennison (Sr. 5-10, 193), who’ll be a four-year starter, wide receivers Brendan Webb (Sr. 6-0, 178), Geramiah Noble (Sr. 5-10, 175) and Mykah Easley (Sr. 6-4, 175) along with offensive linemen guard Lucas Cano (Sr. 6-3, 300) and center Chance Walker (Jr. 5-9, 280). The addition of Brady McCown (Sr. 6-1, 200) another quarterback Metzel believes will prove to be a valuable asset.
Last season, Tennison accounted for 3,200-plus yards of total offense and 33 touchdowns. He was 17 of 27 passing for 197 yards and two scores against Bellville.
Through two seasons, Tennison has 283 completions of 474 attempts for 4,200 passing yards and rushed for 875 yards.
As a junior, Webb finished with 60 receptions for 886 yards and a dozen touchdowns and also added four touchdowns rushing. While Noble had 35 receptions for 566 yards and four TDs.
Cano will be a four-year starter and has the top grade of returning linemen, according to Metzel, and was an All-State selection a year ago.
The Buckeyes’ 4-2-5 defensive leaders should include last season’s championship game Defensive MVP Webb, at safety, Noble and Easley in the secondary, as well as Tennison, a presence at cornerback. Others of note will be noseguard Tyler Hagler (Jr. 6-0, 320), as well as tackle Davion King (Soph. 6-1, 265), who started last year as a freshman on the varsity, and Trey Lee (Jr. 6-2, 230) as an end.
Defensively, Hagler recorded 97 tackles with 25 quarterback pressures, 15 tackles for loss and three sacks. Lee finished the 2023 season with 49 tackles, 10 quarterback pressures, five tackles for loss and a sack. King’s numbers were 44 tackles, five quarterback pressures, three tackles for loss to go with a sack.
In the secondary, Webb was credited with 52 tackles, eight passes broken up and five interceptions, while Noble had 47 tackles, three pass break ups and a pick.
On special teams, players to watch will include kicker Brayden Pate (Sr. 5-9, 180), and kickoff and punt return specialists Noble, Webb and sophomore Zade Taylor (5-6, 170).
Pate led the nation in scoring (with 130 points), converting 11 of 11 field goals, the longest being 32 yards, and 97 of 100 extra point attempts.
Noble had a 73-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Glen Rose and Webb also provided a handful of key returns in games.
Like last year, when the Buckeyes started slow, the schedule maker didn’t do any favors for Gilmer with home games against Pine Tree and Kilgore and road tests against Chapel Hill and Lindale preceding a neutral-site contest against Brenham at Huntsville ISD Stadium on Sept. 27 before its open date a week later and the district opener on Oct. 11 against Pittsburg.
The first four opponents, all from District 9-4A DI, are ranked in Texas Football’s preseason rankings. The Buckeyes open against No. 21 Pine Tree, who dropped from 5A this season, before a game at second-ranked Chapel Hill, a team that played for the 4A DI title in December. Gilmer then returns home to host fifth-ranked Kilgore on Sept. 13 before visiting Lindale a week later against the 16th-ranked Eagles. The Bux close the non-district portion of their schedule with a neutral-site contest against Brenham, a 10-5A DII opponent, at Huntsville’s ISD Stadium.
Metzel believes Pittsburg, in the district opener on Oct. 11, Spring Hill at home on Nov. 1, and North Lamar at Paris on Nov. 8 in the regular-season finale, will each be improved over last season when they were a combined 4-11 against district opponents.
A pivotal stretch in district play, though, will come Oct. 18 against Van at home followed a week later in Texarkana against long-time rival and last year’s district champ Pleasant Grove.
It should be interesting. These seasons usually always are.