High School Sports

BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS
Sports Correspondent

GILMER—It was the Rains Wildcats who found themselves facing a fast flood of dismay-ing Gilmer Buckeyes touchdowns at the Buckeyes’ homecoming Friday night.

The Buckeyes totted up their highest single-game point total in at least 78 years as they unleashed a 77-21 gulleywasher on Rains. And remarkably, this largely evolved after Gilmer actually trailed 8-0 early in the contest and led only 21-15 early in the second quarter.

By the time Twirling Time arrived—after an 85-minute first half—the Buckeyes had stupefyingly lengthened that lead to 56-15. Once Gilmer hiked it to 70-15 with 3:49 left in the third, officials ran the clock non-stop until 4:32 remained in the contest.

Gilmer QB Darian (Stump) Godfrey drenched the Wildcats with four TD tosses while hoofing for a fifth tally. Meantime, Buckeye runner Jeremy Jackson poured it on with three scoring runs of 16, 16 and 70 yards as Gilmer maintained its record of no home-field losses since 2002.

Ironically, Godfrey had anything but an auspicious start to the evening. On Gilmer’s first offensive play, Wildcat Dakota Barker filched the Buckeye quarterback’s pass and returned it 51 yards for a TD. Then, on a trick play, Taylor Marshall passed to Colby Hoover for two points with 10:53 left in the first.

But Gilmer soon began overwhelming the Rains levee on Godfrey’s 55-yard scoring sling to J.T. Beecham with 8:53 left in the opening quarfter. Godfrey’s run for two points failed, but Gilmer gained the lead for good on his 10-yard hoof soon thereafter.

Jackson’s first TD run was followed by a fake kick with Beecham running for two points. Rains then mounted an elongated offensive culminating in Travis Gibson’s 1-yard TD run and Marshall’s PAT kick with 10:38 left to halftime.

Gilmer’s fusillade then took it from a narrow 21-15 lead to a stupefying 56-15 before the break. After Jackson’s second TD; Godfrey fired a 16-yard TD to Braylon Webb. Buckeye defender Mikey Wilson purloined Marshall’s pass, returning it 38 yards for another score before runner Landon Osborne churned 26 yards for more points and Godfrey then flung a 25-yard TD to Kedon Franklin.

After the bands, Gilmer scored on Jackson’s 70-yard whiz and Godfrey’s 35-yard shipment to Ben Griffith. After Travis Gibson rumbled eight yards for the Wildcats’ final score, Josh Thompson wheeled 28 yards for the Buckeyes’ last TD with 2:38 left.

Gilmer kicker Adan Olivares meantime notched all nine of his PAT kicks for the evening.

The Buckeyes, who have now outscored their first two foes by 133-49, host their bi-district foe from the last two years, Liberty-Eylau, on Friday.