PREVIEWING KILGORE-GILMER | The ETBlitz.com Game of the Week!
EDITOR’S NOTE: As a special part of our ETBlitz.com Game of the Week coverage, Phillip Williams will be on hand to write the Gilmer “side” of the story, and Joe Hale will be at Jeff Traylor Stadium to cover the game, as well. Mitch Lucas and Dereck Borders will be there, too, to cover the ambiance of the game. And Dennis Jacobs and Box.County will bring visuals to our coverage. It’s gonna be a hoot. Might want to be there.
There’s only one game on the schedule this week that could really be the ETBlitz.com Game of the Week.
And you know what it is.
A couple of 4A East Texas football heavyweights, both of them ETBlitz.com-area programs, square off on Friday the 13th at Jeff Traylor Stadium in Gilmer. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
If you want to go, tickets can be purchased in advance online. Here’s the link: https://gilmerisd.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/141. They can also be purchased at the gate for $8.
If you can’t go but want to listen, there’s the Ragin’ Red Broadcasting call of the game; that’s on KDOK Radio 105.3-FM, or listen to the streaming live broadcast here: 107.182.234.197:7472/stream.
If you’d like to try the YouTube Bulldog Media Network streaming live video broadcast, here you go: The Bulldog Media Network – YouTube.
For the Gilmer side, here’s the video link: https://www.etex.net/local-sports/. Click on the Gilmer logo. Also, for the latest on Gilmer broadcasts, go to Gilmer Buckeyes Broadcasting on Facebook.
Back to the game.
One is winless; the other hasn’t lost. But, none of that really matters in this the third week of the 2024 high school football season. Coaches will tell you, “We schedule and play good teams early to get better.”
Neither Gilmer’s Alan Metzel and Kilgore’s Clint Fuller will argue that.
The matchup, of course, is Kilgore (2-0) vs. Gilmer (0-2). The Bulldogs are ranked fifth in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Class 4A, Division I poll for the third week in a row, and Gilmer, despite its early losses, is sixth in this week’s 4A, DII poll.
The Buckeyes started slow, losing their first two games, the second of those to Kilgore by one point, a year ago, only to turn their fortune around and win the school’s fourth football state championship in December against Bellville, but the first under Metzel currently in his fifth season as the head football coach at Gilmer.
This year the Buckeyes opened their season with a 22-15 loss to Pine Tree, currently ranked 10th in the latest poll, and played better a week later, but fell to 2nd-ranked Chapel Hill (4A DI) on the road 33-29.
Meanwhile, Kilgore, which opened the season ranked 5th in the poll, beat top-ranked Carthage (4A, DII) 20-15, and a week later started slow, before rallying for a 27-7 decision against 5A, DII Whitehouse.
Asked if he saw improvement from week 1 to week 2, Metzel replied, “on special teams against Pine Tree we were a little off. We blocked two kicks against Chapel Hill and those turned out to be big. We scored 29 points against Chapel Hill and took the game down to the final minutes. We only scored 15 against Pine Tree (and lost by seven, 22-15).”
“We like to front-load our schedule,” he continued, “and I believe playing these talented teams early will make us better. Kilgore is rolling. They’re sound, solid on both sides of the football.
“What they’ve done in the secondary, intercepting eight passes in two games is unheard of,” Metzel added. “They’re good back there and tough up front. I look for a game of field position where we’re going to have to pick our spots and make the most of (our) opportunities.”
Fuller doesn’t disagree about playing tough opponents early saying, “They’ve lost a couple of games, but Gilmer is a very good football team, really talented. We will have to be at our best.
“The biggest thing for us I think,” he continued, “against Whitehouse, is we battled some adversity early, but we didn’t allow it to beat us.”
Whitehouse blocked an Eddie Jiminez punt, recovering the football at Kilgore’s three-yard line and scored three plays later to take a 7-0 lead at the midway mark of the first quarter. Kilgore finished with minus 21 yards rushing in the first half and didn’t score until it tied things at 7-all with 9:36 left to play in the first half.
A couple of Kayson Brooks scoring passes, the first 38 yards to Isaiah Watters and the second 28 yards to Jayden Sanders, sandwiched a 33-yard Jiminez field goal to give the Ragin’ Red a 17-7 halftime lead.
“When we didn’t put ourselves behind the chains, I thought we were able to run the football effectively,” Fuller continued. Isaiah Watters and Rayshaun Williams combined to rush for 99 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.
A couple of times, the Bulldogs faced second-and-long (42 and 32 yards) situations.
Brooks, the Kilgore quarterback, was 15-of-27 passing for 157 yards, completing passes to seven different receivers.
The Buckeyes have a different quarterback than they had a year ago for the most part when Cadon Tennison took the snaps and led the way to a 13-3 season and the state title. Brady McCown is QB1 now and Gilmer uses Tennison, a senior, as a “slash player,” that can still quarterback at times, but can also catch passes and run besides playing safety in the secondary or moving down in the box (linebacker) when necessary.
Remember Kordell Stewart?
McCown was 15-of-33 passing for 198 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions against Chapel Hill. Tennison was 2-of-3 for 34 yards with an interception.
Brendan Webb was the Buckeyes leading receiver with six catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns last week. Trill Butler and Alex Sims are expected to be the primary running backs.
Through two games, the Buckeyes’ leaders defensively, Metzel pointed out, have been linebacker Braydon Pate and tackle Tyler Hagler, who started last year as a sophomore.
Besides the secondary of Dre’ and Jayden Sanders on the corners and safeties Javon Towns and Ja’Kalen Sheffield, Fuller pointed to the play of inside linebacker La’Perrion Graves, who had 16 tackles and a sack against Whitehouse. “He’s a playmaker. He practices and is very detail-oriented in studying and in his preparation during the week. Our secondary is playing at a high level and our linebackers and the guys up front have done a good job of generating a pass rush.”
His guys up front are Wylie Mitchell, Cam Christian, Bi’Syn Williams and Jackson Tucker-Phillips, and through two games, the Bulldogs have eight hurries.
NOTES: Kilgore leads this all-time series (6-4) after last year’s 24-23 win in Kilgore. Gilmer won the 2022 meeting 40-26 in Gilmer. The Bulldogs’ victory in 2013 (34-29) snapped a Gilmer winning streak of 20 consecutive district games and 17 regular-season contests. … Next week, Gilmer will play its fourth 9-4A DI opponent in four weeks when the Buckeyes travel to Lindale to face the Eagles. … Part of Kilgore’s homecoming festivities next week against another 7-4A, DII foe, Pleasant Grove, will include recognition of the 20-year anniversary of Kilgore’s 2004 state championship victory against Dallas Lincoln.
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