High School Sports

BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS
Sports Correspondent

NACOGDOCHES — ’Twas widely anticipated to be a typical titanic triumph for the Gilmer Buckeyes, but the intrepid Mabank Panthers came relatively near staging a stupefying upset here on a rainy, windy Saturday afternoon Gilmer star running back Justin Johnson’s three touchdowns and 246 land yards helped the Buckeyes weather a stirring late comeback by the Panthers as Gilmer warded off Mabank, 35-28, in a Class 3A Division II regional rumble.

The Buckeyes entered the ring with a glistening 11-0 record against Mabank’s 6-5. But the Panthers, led by QB Kolton Browning’s heaving and hoofing, heroically made a catfight of it in giving Gilmer its closest call all season before a relatively sparse, chilly crowd at Homer Bryce Stadium.

Browning flung three scoring slings — two of them in the game’s final two minutes — as Mabank stormed back to almost eradicate a seemingly insurmountable 35-14 deficit.

The Panthers had led 14-8 in the second quarter and trailed only 15-14 at twirling time before Johnson joined Gilmer QB Darian (Stump) Godfrey in a second-half rushing rampage.

Still, the Buckeyes couldn’t feel relief until recovering an onside Mabank kick with 1:08 left, enabling Godfrey to kneel for the game’s final three plays. The Panthers had scored twice in a 42-second span, the last tally coming with 1:10 remaining.

Godfrey’s two rushing TDs helped Johnson bludgeon the Panthers as, for the second straight week, the Buckeyes uncharacteristically became landlubbing, relying relatively little on their usual aerial assault. Besides Johnson’s 26 carries, Godfrey whipped up 106 yards on 17 deliveries, one of which was a show-stopper.

In what eventually proved the game-winning score, Godfrey fumbled while headed to his right. He retrieved the ball, went down the left sideline, and made a shades-of-Tony-Romo 45-yard TD trek out of the play with 4:37 left in the contest.

Johnson’s and Godfrey’s feet were enough to overcome Browning’s surpassing statistics; he completed 28 of 39 passes with no interceptions for 274 yards, and was the Panthers’ only effective runner, gathering 77 yards and a TD on 22 jaunts.

The Buckeyes, who claimed their 48th win in their last 51 contests, matched their lowest single-game point output of the season. Gilmer also won all its regular season games by margins of 23-58 points before topping Liberty-Eylau by 15 in bi-district.

But Gilmer was hot enough on a cold day. On the Buckeyes’ second possession, Johnson sped 85 yards down the left sideline to tally with 7:41 left in the first.
Feigning a PAT kick, the Buckeyes scored two points on Johnson’s run.

Mabank tied it when Browning sneaked a yard on the second quarter’s first play, then passed to Jake Birch for two points with 11:57 left to intermission. The TD climaxed a 73-yard, 13-play hike in which the Panthers overcame two penalties.

Then Mabank surged ahead on Browning’s 67-yard bomb to Birch with 8:34 left to the break. Michael Blackburn, who would make his next three PAT kicks, failed on this one.

Gilmer regained the lead when Johnson legged 23 yards, and Adan Olivares kicked the first of three successful PATs, with 5:14 left to halftime.

Then the Buckeyes went on a typical second-half tear before the 11th-hour Mabank revival. Johnson hopped 21 yards to Beulah Land with 8:25 left in the third, and Godfrey scored from a yard out with 10:23 left in the game before making his startling final TD.

Olivares kicked wide on the last PAT before Browning began his bombing raid. He first herded Mabank 65 yards, ending in his 1-yard scoring fling to Haydon Blair with 1:52 left.

Mabank recovered an onside kick and whipped 46 yards to tally again on Browning’s 28-yard airmail package to Blair with 1:10 left.

Particularly remarkable, in light of the inclement weather, was that neither team had a turnover.