CasualObserver70

Sorry to disappoint R4z0r. Here’s to hoping Atlanta gets all their kids healthy by district this year. Y’all still have talent in the pipeline, so I’m confident the new coaching staff will have Atlanta back as a contender in 3A soon.

This seemed to be a going through the motions game for Gilmer. They played great in spurts, but then seemed to fall asleep on other occasions. I think they heard all week this was supposed to be a blowout and didn’t really focus the way they needed to. I’m still not thrilled with the Gilmer penalties, especially the unsportsmanlike conduct calls. Hopefully Gilmer can clean that up.

OK, a couple of quick observations: 1. Henderson should be better than they are. They have some good athletes, but it is clearly not clicking right now. Hopefully they get some things figured out. 2. Gilmer has to clean out the penalties. Both Henderson scores or because of Gilmer penalties, and they killed one offensive drive with a penalty. That will hurt them in a game with a quality opponent. 3. Gilmer also needs to find a way to get Cadon Tennyson more touches. I know he’s just a freshman, but he is electric with the football in his hands. 4. Gilmer has a lot of weapons on offense. It will be interesting as the season goes on as to how they spread the wealth. I think both teams finished without any serious injuries which is always good. Good luck to Henderson the rest of the way

Gilmer has to clean up penalties. This would be a shut out without the Gilmer penalties. Henderson should not be this bad. They have some good looking athletes. We’ll see what the 2nd half looks like

NIL is like the wild Wild West right now. The market will correct itself. One of these kids is gonna get $1 mil and be a total bust, then these absurd amounts for unproven freshmen who haven’t even played a snap will come back down. It will take a couple of years, but NIL will eventually work itself out.

I can’t see Henderson dropping off that bad. I would think Gilmer should win, but this was close last year. If Henderson has really dropped that much it would be sad. I hate to see a program with a great history drop off. This was a school that won a state championship only a decade ago.

ok, a few quick observations: 1. GW gave Gilmer all they wanted in the first half. They just wore out. I don't think either team had any serious injuries, but a lot of cramps from both teams. August football in Texas. 2. I thought both teams played a pretty vanilla offense. Allen was not targeted very often, and I think that will change. I also think they have to use him more in jet sweeps and reverses. I do think 17 was the better QB for GW. As for Gilmer, they maybe only had one designed run for Tennison, and they kept mostly to the ground game. Rockwell was mostly a decoy, but that will change as the season goes on. I did think Gilmer should have had one more TD. If Tennison doesn't vastly underthrow Gilow in the third quarter, that's a TD. Both teams will need to clean up the mistakes and turnovers. 3. Gilmer did not play their best D lineman in the first half. I guess discipline from last week's scrimmage. And one of the starting O lineman didn't play at all. Don't know if that was discipline or health related. But when Gilmer can line up Ward, Burton, and Borda on the D line, that gives them the best D line in years at Gilmer. It clearly showed in the run game. 4. Liked what I saw from Haynes and Jackson tonight. Both ran downhill, both saw the seam on the stretch plays, and both fell forward on almost every tackle. When they start really running zone read, it's gonna be tough for teams to stop. Really, kind of what I expected. GW played well and has some explosive players, but too many kids were playing both ways and just wore out as the game went on. I hope both teams came out of the game injury free, and good luck to GW the rest of the way. As for Gilmer, clean up the mistakes.

Ok, about THIS game … 1. Gilmer defensive line is scary good. I think it will be a problem for GW. 2. Gilmer secondary runs to the ball really well, so I don’t think the underneath stuff will be very effective. However, I think they might be vulnerable downfield on seam routes. 3. To counter this, look for Gilmer to go to a nickel package on 3rd & long. They can get so much pressure just rushing 4, they don’t have to blitz to get to the QB. 4. Offensively, Gilmer is explosive. They can score from anywhere on the field. They are mistake prone, I think. In the scrimmages there were some turnovers. But their big play capability I think will overwhelm GW. I haven’t seen GW scrimmage, so I don’t know how they will play. But I think the QBs will be sacked multiple times. I think the GW receiver will score at least once on a busted coverage big play, but I just don’t think they can hold up against the Gilmer D. Can’t wait until Thursday!!

Bump to this post. After watching the Gilmer/Kilgore scrimmage, if the GW QB is a pocket passer, he could be in for a long night. Gilmer can dominate the line of scrimmage with just their front 3 down linemen. The Gilmer depth will be too much for GW. I would expect Gilmer by 3+ TDS.

Congratulations to the Buckeyes on a great season. Playing in the State Championship is nothing to be ashamed of. Great season and a great 1st year for Coach Metzel. The day UIL announced realignment, every person in the state of Texas who knew anything about HS football knew who was going to win 4A DII. Carthage is just an all together different monster. Really, Aledo and Carthage are the two best programs in the entire state. The players graduate and move on, but the program just keeps rolling along. Congratulations to Carthage and coach Surratt. Again. For the 8th time.

Anyone know what streaming services carry Fox Sports Southwest? SlingTV doesn’t.

Congratulations Lindale from the Army of Buckeyes!! Jenkins is definitely the best back we saw all year. Would LOVE for you guys to win it all by knocking off Argyle!!

Okay, a few quick observations: 1. Give credit to Graham. A lot of teams would have rolled over at halftime, but they didn’t. They made some great defensive adjustments and played with a lot of heart and soul. They came up short, but they never quit. 2. Give credit to the Gilmer defense also. They were on the field most of the second half, and they were in horrible field position, but only gave up 14 points. They bent, but they came up big inside the 30 on several occasions. 3. Gilmer did not play well in the second half offensively. Any score would have put the game away, but they didn’t adjust well to Graham’s defensive changes. I can understand wanting to run the ball and shorten the game, but Graham had stacked the box. The wide receiver screens were good for 8 yards a pop all 2nd half, and a jet sweep or two would have gotten to the edge, but Gilmer would go away from them. And Gilmer went back to being it’s own worst enemy. 4. But what a First half!! 98 yard punt return, huge 70+ Yard TD run by Tennison, a 2nd and 35 conversion on a beautiful pass and catch by Fluellen, a beautiful TD by Spraglin (didn’t like the taunting, though, and he deserved the penalty), an absolutely perfectly played interception, a great 4th down stop by blowing up the Graham RB in the backfield. If Gilmer can put 2 halves together like that, the Carthage game will at least be interesting. Great win by the Buckeye. I love it for this group of seniors. They had it really tough as Sophomores, but they have been rewarded for all their hard work. Now on to Jerry’s World!!

Congratulations to Coach Lane and the Pine Tree Pirates!! For me, as an alumnus and a “loved the game but was never good enough to start”former player, this was a long time coming. I heard Coach Lane speak a couple of years ago, and he credited Alan Metzel for becoming a football coach. He talked about the impact Coach Metzel had in his life as a player and as a man. It reminded me of what is so great about high school football. Coaches have an AMAZING impact on the young people they coach. Again, congratulations to the Pirates!!

BTW, the stadium is better than many a college one

35-7 Gilmer at the half. Without a doubt the best half of football Gilmer has played this year. Tennison has killed them with his legs and the deep pass, and both Fluellen’s are dominating the game.

Ok, a few quick observations: 1. Gilmer had a great defensive scheme for this game. They were in a nickel package almost all night (maybe a couple of times in a dime). They forced the corner with Matthew Burton and had Jett Jones as the QB spy. There were no passing lanes, and for the most part they forced the QB to scramble laterally without being able to turn it up field. Great game plan and great execution. 2. Gilmer also cut down on the penalties. A bad holding penalty in the second quarter probably took a TD away, but they didn’t shoot them selves in the foot all night long. 3. Offensively, Gilmer took what CM gave them. The downfield passing game wasn’t working, so Gilmer ran the ball all night at 5-7 yard a pop. Haynes ran all over the CM defense (I would love to see his stats tonight). He’s a sophomore and spent the entire regular season on JV. I wondered all year why he wasn’t on varsity, but he’s playing big when it counts. 4. I do wish Tennison would just throw it on 4th down. He has a tendency to take off and run a little too soon. That’s fine on 1st - 3rd downs, but on 4th and 20, just chunk it up. He’s not going to get the yardage with his feet, and there’s always a chance of a big play or PI if he throws it. But that’s really nit picking. 5. Maybe the play of the game was a great catch on 3rd and long by Mason Hurt. CM had just scored to cut the lead to 17-14. If Gilmer doesn’t convert, CM gets the ball back with momentum. But Hurt reaches out and makes a great snag to secure a first down, and Gilmer goes on and scores on the drive to push it to a 10 point lead. overall a great win. Looking forward to next week.

The Gilmer secondary has really struggled these last two weeks. Maybe the return of Smith at safety will help. If Gilmer’s D line can get some pressure, that would also help. But Gilmer has to clean up the mistakes.

Wondering if any team other than Gilmer having buffering issues with NFHS? Hasn’t been a problem all year with Gilmer broadcasts until tonight. If it’s a UIL problem that’s pathetic. If they want fans to stay home they better provide the bandwidth

A couple of quick observations: 1. Great game, but Gilmer has to be the team coming away with all the confidence. Lost the turnover battle, gave up a TD right before half after an awful roughing the passer penalty, and still won the game. If they can clean up the mistakes I’d have to give them an edge in the rematch. 2. 2nd half showed why Tennison is so special. He made some great passes, but the key was his legs. When he’s on the edge with a run - pass option, he’s incredibly dangerous. 3. PG freshman is crazy good, maybe the 2nd or 3rd best player on offense. I remember the PG junior high coach actually warning the Gilmer coaches about him in 7th grade. He has Clear D1 potential if he continues to develop 4. Dylan Fluellen. Enough said. 5. Gilmer’s defense made great 2nd half adjustments. The Dline played great, and almost all of the kids are underclassmen. Really great game from Gilmer D. overall, a great game and a lot of fun to watch.

Ok, a few quick observations: 1. Game ball goes to Mason Hurt. He’s told the day before the 1st scrimmage that Tennison is going to be the QB. He accepts his role as a receiver and has been the 2nd best receiver on the team this year. And tonight when Tennison got knocked out of the game he comes right in at QB and plays great. Exactly what you want from a senior leader. 2. The offense actually moved the ball better with Hurt at QB. seemed like they ran the ball more and better, they blocked better, calls came in quicker, and they got in a rhythm. I can’t figure out Gilmer’s play calling with Tennison at QB. It seems the main reason to start him is because of his running threat, but they rarely run zone read with him. The offense doesn’t seem balanced or in rhythm. But it did with Hurt when he came in. 3. Offensive line play has to improve. Tennison got beat up tonight. Red zone offense has got to be better also. Gilmer failed to convert on 3 separate trips to the red zone. 4. I have no idea why Spraglin got ejected. LE player was on top of him. LE player wouldn’t let him up after the whistle, & LE player was throwing the punches. So why were both players ejected? Made no sense. Gilmer still makes too many mistakes, and their offensive line play has to improve if they want to make a serious playoff run.

Gilmer will win. But they still need work, especially on the offensive line. They haven’t been able to get a running game going yet this year. Hopefully they can get that going. Gilmer will need to be two dimensional to make a deep run in the playoffs.

Biggest issue Gilmer STILL has to address is mistakes. The offense is it’s own worst enemy. Still too many penalties.

The difference between the two teams is line play. Carthage Oline manhandled Gilmer Dline. That meant Carthage dominated running game and was in 2nd and short all night. Meanwhile, Carthage Dline dominated Gilmer Oline. Gilmer could never establish a running game. The had to rely on the high risk, high reward of the downfield passing game. Credit Gilmer for fighting back in the 3rd quarter. But Carthage won the battle of the trenches tonight.

Couple of quick observations: 1. Lindale RB is the real deal. Great speed, big, and tough to bring down. He should get a LOT of touches this year, especially when district starts. 2. Gilmer kept trying to get the screen game going in the first half, and it wasn’t working. Once they started pushing the ball downfield to the wideouts, the offense opened up. Mason Hurt and Dylan Fluellen had monster games on the outside. 3. Gilmer defense clearly played better in the second half. I don’t know if adjustments were made or what, but the defense seemed in better position in the second half. 4. Both teams need to cut back on the mistakes. The difference in the game was clearly the 2nd half turnovers by Lindale. But Gilmer was in that hole because of 1st half turnovers. really enjoyed this game. Glad to see Gilmer come out and play with such fire and intensity after being 21 down. That’s really encouraging to see