CasualObserver70

Don't know if anyone will score much on Maud this year. WAAAAAY to overpowering on the D line for most teams. I'd love to get a chance to watch em play.

I thought White Oak was better than their record last year, and the move to 2A will be a big help. I could see them being much better this year.

Don't know if Gilmer will move Luke Turner to Varsity or not. If they do, he'll play (He could be starting kicker and punter, and see a lot of time on defense). They may not move him up to give him pt at quarterback. But he can play.

Tell me kids at Roosevelt are different than kids from Carter. That's the same inner city group, yet Allen Wilson works the dog out of the Carter kids. Did half the team quit? NO. You can have discipline at an inner city school. There have been plenty of coaches prove that. It may be harder, but it's possible.

Congrats to Avinger and Congrats to Ken Loyd. What a great man. A Godly Christian, funny as all get out,and genuinely nice guy. (I guess they don't always finish last)

I've got to go with the '94 John Tyler - Plano East game. I mean, how many other East Texas High School plays made Sports Center.

I look at the AP all state teams and wonder if these guys ever saw a football game in their life. I look at the Smoaky team and know immediately that this was put together by a guy who knows a lot about football, watches a lot of football, and has a passion for football. Smoak, you do a great job w/ this website and your show. I'm sure now that football season is over you deserve a vacation!

Gilmer will have a tough non district and a tougher district schedule this coming year. That's good. The Kilgore game should be really interesting. Gilmer will have to replace their entire starting offensive line. But they played a lot of sophmores last year, and will have plenty of talent in the skill positions. I think the key to the season will be how well their O line comes together and plays. Gilmer certainly wasn't done any favors with realignment. They may be DII this year, but region 3 will have a lot of talent. And Chapel Hill will provide a good test in district.

Winners: Liberty Eyleau Royce City moves to 4A, Gilmer moves to Region three, and if I read this correctly, they have a 1st Round Bye. District 16 3A Again, if I read this correctly, everyone gets a 1st round bye. Paris and Paris North Lamar Yeah, this one's been stated, but this is a big help to them. Lindale Travel alone makes this better Kilgore Loses the toughest team in their district (Marshall) and misses Longview. White Oak Will help most sports, but now the 3A and 2A regional champions in volleyball are in the same district! Mineola Move into a district where I think they can compete. Good coach who could build something possibly there. Alto Stays 1A Mart Moves to 1A Big Sandy Moves back to 1A NOW, the Losers: Pine Tree Coach Russell had really turned this program around. I thought they might make the playoffs, and then they get this Murderer's Row of a District. Marshall They go from being the big dog on the block to just another dog in the pack Tatum Not so much the move to 3A (which was expected). But if they had gone south with Carthage and Center that would have Been an easier district (football and basketball). District 15 3A Probably the biggest loser of the bunch, since it no longer exists!

Since I'm not a coach, I really don't question a coach's decisions. Gilmer went for it a lot on 4th down. They converted some of them. They didn't on others. I don't coach. I think Gilmer has a great coach. I like him, as a coach and as a person. He's a gambler, and that's who he is. But 5A schools aren't interested in him because he is a bad coach. Said on another post. Gilmer lost, not because they were out hustled or out coached. They lost because Liberty Hill was a better football team. Congrats to them for back to back state titles. And congrats to Gilmer. 4 losses in four years with a state title thrown in. Every senior on that team has nothing to feel bad about.

Okay, I was at the game (and am now thawed out). And for those who say Liberty Hill was more disciplined and better coached, I'll just say they have a right to their opinions. LHill beat Gilmer because they were better. Period. Not better coached, not better disciplined, just plain out better. That's probably the reason I'm not too upset with the game. When a team loses because they make mistakes or are undisciplined, When a team loses when they had every chance to win, that's a tough pill to swallow. But when a team plays its heart out and just gets beat by a better team, well, hats off to Liberty Hill. I would, however, like to say one thing about all the posters leading up to this game. All everyone wanted to talk about was the slot T. Gilmer couldn't stop Liberty Hill's slot T. Well, LHill's offense was good (reminded me of watching Southlake Carroll in the late 80's early 90's when they were the dominate team in 3A). But Gilmer's Defense did okay in slowing down Liberty Hill's offense. Yeah, the scored 38 pts, but they had a short field a lot of the time tonight. What made Liberty Hill so good was their defense. Gilmer had definitely never seen a defense that good with that much speed. Gilmer could have stayed in this game with LHills slot T and had a shootout (like say 49-47). But Gilmer had no such chance because Liberty Hill had an amazing defense. Congrats Gilmer, making it to the state championship game is nothing to be ashamed of. And Congrats Liberty Hill, back to back state championships is an outstanding accomplishment.

Two Weeks ago, I had to bribe my wife into letting me go the the DRoosevelt/Gilmer Game. I raked the entire yard, cleaned out the garage, and washed dishes, laundry, and anything else to convince her that I had a right to go to the game. (Yeah, I wear the pants in this house. She just tells me which ones to wear.) Last week, she didn't let me go to the Wylie/Gilmer game because she had surgery on Wednesday. I tried to convince her that if I took both the kids she could have the night to relax, but she didn't buy it. But this weekend, Ain't nothing stopping me from Gilmer/Liberty Hill. We already rescheduled the family Christmas get together so we could get to the game. And I may have to take the girls with me (the oldest one really wants to go). I'm going to that game no matter what!!!!! Hold on, my wife's coming.....

This will be a great game if Gilmer doesn't make mistakes. If they turn the ball over like they did against Roosevelt or Wylie, they could lose big. But if they play turnover free.... This might be a game where if either defense can make about 2 stops, that would be enough. I remember the Gilmer Jasper Game....

Waco is only 3 hours away. I will find a way to be there. But Gilmer better not make the mistakes it made today against Liberty Hill. they might look up and find themselves behind by 21 before they could blink. But you got to be there to win it. And Gilmer is there.

So who's still playing? 1A Alto and Maud 2A Tatum and Elysian Fields (Go 19 2A) 3A Gilmer Sounds like the lower classifications have a lot of East Texas Flavor. Go East Texas Teams. Congrats Tatum. A 3peat would be unbelievable.

Wow! Gilmer couldn't run the football at all in the 2nd half. Wylie's defense played great Gilmer had multiple turnovers. Had a chance to be 21-0 or 21-7 at half, but made many mistakes. Wylie has nothing to be ashamed of. Great team, they played great football. Congrats Buckeyes. I knew if I missed the game it would be a barn burner!

It's over!!! 28-21 Gilmer!!!!

Can't imagine what Traylor's doing at halftime. Probably having an absolute fit. Gilmer better watch it. If they let Wylie stick around, they could beat Gilmer. Better do a better job of protecting the ball.

Thanks for joining WylieHomer. Gilmer runs a spread offense, and passed a whole lot more during the regular season than in the playoffs. But Gilmer will be in the spread almost all night. They have 2 really good receivers, and then about 3 or 4 interchangeable slot receivers that can get down field. Gilmer's quarterback is a sophmore. If he's on, Gilmer is hard to beat. He's had good games and bad games this season, but he's coming off one of his best performances last week. One last thing to mention: Gilmer's offensive line averages about 300 lbs, with 2 of them already committing to DI school. On defense, Gilmer runs a 3-4, with their outside linebackers playing really close to the line of scrimmage. Gilmer really runs to the ball well on defense. Gilmer will try to play about 6 different players in their front 3. Gilmer is not a really big 3A school, but they do have a lot of kids out for football. Programs that win seem to have a lot of kids go out for football. Just check Celina. They are still a small 3A school, but they have tons of kids out every year. I'll miss the game this week, because my wife told me to have a garage sell or else. But I hope it's a great game. Of course, I'll be pulling for Gilmer.

Now that my blood pressure has gone back to normal.... This was a great game, with both teams having a chance to win. I'm personally glad we don't have to play Roosevelt again. They are incredibly talented, and McNeil is about the best high school quarterback I have seen. What really impressed me was his ability to see the field and find the open receiver while on the run. Now as to the game. Both teams had chances to win this game. Gilmer had a chance to blow it open. Some huge mistakes in the 1st half almost cost them the game. The big mistakes: 1) The safety. This turned out to be a 9 point play. Gilmer is leading 7-3. Velt kicks of, our back fumbles it, regains possession at the 2, and goes into the end zone. No doubt a safety. Gilmer kicks off to Velt and they drive the field and score. Instead of 7-3 and Gilmer's ball, it's 7-12 and Gilmer's ball. A big nine point swing. 2) The Fumble by Godfrey. Gilmer is leading 22-19 and has a great kickoff return. On the next play, Godfrey gains 15 yards but fumbles. This gives Velt the opportunity to score twice in the final 15 seconds of the half. If there is no fumble, and Gilmer scores on that possession, it could be 29-19 at the half Gilmer. Instead, it's 22-29 Velt. 3) Johnson's fumble on the kickoff. Gives Velt a chance to kick and make the field goal. 4) The Pass interference on 3rd and forever. I thought it was a bad call personally. The Gilmer DB has is right to his position on the field, and the Velt player runs through him. I'm not sure that's pass interference. I'm not sure it was catchable either. But Gilmer was in position to intercept that ball and didn't. So if all those mistakes had been eliminated, Gilmer could have won by 30 points. But Velt could say the same thing. The Velt mistakes: 1) Penalties. The blocking in the back penalties were legitimate, but unnecessary. The penalties occured when McNeil scrambled. Gilmer's linemen would begin to chase him, and the Velt O-linemen, suddenly out of position, would push them down in the back. But why? Our linemen probably wouldn't have caught up to McNeil before he threw it anyway. But the penalties really hurt Velt. 2) The interception. Gilmer goes for it on their side of the field and fails to convert. Velt has great field position, but on 3rd down, Tristan Holt intercepts the football. Huge play, because Gilmer scores on the following possession to take the lead. 3) Obviously, the fumble. If Velt doesn't fumble the football, they score and win by one and people in Gilmer are moaning and groaning. Point being, both teams had chances to win. As far as the officiating, Hey, it's part of high school football. Velt gets bailed out of two 3rd and 30+ because of questionable penalties, so Gilmer fans could complain. But there were some calls going the other way that I'm sure Velt could complain about. As far as the coaching, the things that make people love Traylor make people hate him. He successfully tries an onside kick that Gilmer scores on, and the play of the game, goes for it on 4th and 3 from his own 35. The conversion by Hunter Harrision (smallest kid on the field) keeps the drive (the game winning drive) alive. Then he goes for 2 on the PAT and fails. He's a gambler, and it's great when it works, and stupid when it doesn't (or that's how people will view him). I know this, I'm glad I'm not a coach. I will agree that in the end Gilmer won because they had more weapons. Tuminello has some of the best hands of any player at any level I have ever seen. Lamar Harris had one of his better games of the season, and I thought Godfrey played his best game of the year. Yes, he had a fumble, but he was accurate with the ball and ran hard. I hate to see the fight at the end. I've worked with enough kids in the inner city to know that their tough persona is often a front for insecurity and low self esteem. These kids grow up in an environment without much discipline and don't know how to handle their emotions (especially losing). It really would be a shame if that's what people went away from this game remembering. Yes, it was wrong and has no place on the football field. But I also saw Velt players trying to restrain kids. And I saw an incredible quarterback and receiver. I saw a great game with a few kids making for a very ugly ending. I'm going to remember the game.

If someone opens the paper tomorrow and reads 20-16 Tatum, they will never conceive of how those 36 points were scored. That's why I love high school football. Truth is stranger than fiction. Congrats Tatum. Keep it rolling. A three peat in any sport at any level is an amazing accomplishment. I hope you get it done.

Sounds like the game kind of got away from Pitt in the 3rd quarter. But a great season for the Pirates. Kendall Wright must have put on quite a show. The kid is an incredible athlete. Haven't followed him much this season, will he be a football player or Bball player in college? He's obviously one of the most talented young men in East Texas. Congrats Pitt. A great season with nothing to be ashamed of.

Speed kills if well executed. That's a big if... In the past, Gilmer has beaten the fast Dallas Schools (like Madison) because they didn't have the discipline to contain the spread. Now more teams run the spread, so that might give Roosevelt an edge. But Gilmer has been winning games not with the spread, but by running down peoples' throat. That's how they beat LE and Mabank. I'm not going to predict, because this was supposed to be the round that Gilmer played Royse City. High school football and 15-18 year old kids, unpredictable weather, and the crazy way a ball can bounce guarantee I would never be crazy enough to predict. Sure would like Gilmer to win. I can keep putting off cleaning out that garage.

This game was much closer than the final score. LE played a great game. In the end, injuries and exhaustion caught up with them. But by the 4th quarter, this looked like Ali / Frazier. Both teams were worn out. James is a great back. Johnson is a great back. Gilmer came out in a 2 back, 2 tight end set (hadn't run that all year). They used the sophmore back jackson as a lead blocker to get Johnson to the quarter. Must of run that play 20 times in the game. Question: After such an emotionally and physically exhausting game, can Gilmer get up for next week? I know everyone's talking about Royce City, but I remember after Gilmer beat Daingerfield in 2005, they looked past a Canton team everyone thought they would beat. I would hate to see them do it this year.

Okay, here it goes. Why LE will win. 1) Team speed. A team with enough speed on defense can stop a spread offense. That's why you don't see the spread run in the pros. LE's got lots of team speed, and that could negate a lot of Gilmer's offense. 2) Depth. LE (and if either team plays them, Royse City) have so much depth that they can continue to rotate kids in on a regular basis and keep them fresh. 3) LaMichael James. In the past, fast running backs have caused problems for Gilmer. If James has a big day and keeps drives alive by turning 3 yard gains into 7 yards games, LE could win. Now, Why Gilmer will win. 1) Offensive line. The biggest, best O line in 3A. If they dominate the game, they could win. 2) Improved Defense. Gilmer is better on Defense this year. If they shut down James, Gilmer should win. 3) More offensive choices / weapons. The absence of Devane Clark will hurt, but Gilmer still has a lot of weapons on offense. Who will win? I'm not crazy enough to predict that. These are 15-18 year old kids. This is a game where all kinds of things can happen. One team could get the momentum and blow the other out. It could turn into a slugfest. Last year I was shocked and numb when Gilmer lost. But I hope I'm smart enough this year to realize this is a GAME played by high school students. So Gilmer wins 49-28. At least I hope so. As long as Gilmer is in the playoffs I can postpone cleaning my garage.