blackflag79

I won't be confident we can beat Carthage until we do. Our coaching staff has to be able to get our guys prepared and coached up in a game against Surratt, Preston, and company. What works on other teams won't work on Carthage. Our coaches have to break through and mix things up, adjust on the fly, and make a little magic happen. Our talent is fully capable to give Carthage a good, competitive game. We just have to be able to do the aforementioned, and break through with a win. We're bringing the tinkers' dang hex with us tonight, so be prepared to see something you haven't seen in a long while. Go Buckeyes!

Every town has "those" people. No delusions here on our part. We know what we are up against.

I heard that Surratt contacted Nick Saban and asked if they would be interested in playing them. Nick said, "No way!"

Neither would a game with Aledo. Most years, Carthage wouldn't be able to keep it close, much less win.

No, we don't. There are some rookie posters on here that have no idea what they are talking about. A call, or two, or three may go against you, but we know you just have to play through it. I just hope it doesn't come down to that. I hope the refs just let the young men play, and not interfere with penalties. Most of Gilmer's games this year have exceeded 3 hours, at least three lasted 3-1/2 hours because of flag happy refs.

Haha..., just remember, I work in Kilgore, know some folks in Carthage, and live in Gilmer..., so I can tell you that absolutely applies to all of us... Just go to either of our Walmarts.

And that folks is how you beat perennial playoff teams consistently...

Wow! I haven't seen a single post on this thread that says Gilmer will win, yet some Carthage posters are just assuming that our broadcasters speak for all of us fans. Our broadcasters don't have a real grasp of reality, in my opinion. This would be a MONUMENTAL win if we were to pull it off. I am a realist, and I know a whole lot of things would have to go right for us, and a bunch of things would have to go wrong with Carthage for us to have a legit shot at taking them down. It is what it is. I might feel differently if we would've beaten them recently, but that hasn't happened since 2015.

They are legendary alright. They are most definitely homers. I don't think they really believe half of what they say. Most Buckeye fans know what we are up against. Preparation meets opportunity, though. We will have both, but we appear to be overmatched in this one.........again. Surratt's offense and Preston's defense are second to none. It will take a monumental effort, both from the players, and the coaches, with lots of lucky breaks, to have any palpable chance at a win in this one. YES, I am a Buckeye fan for life, but I have no illusion of what we are up against. Let's go Buckeyes!

There are several players for Gilmer that require attention from athletic and fundamentally sound defensive players. Yes, our #1 will be the fastest player on the field, for sure, but it won't matter if we can't get him past at least the first level of the defense. The other players are #3, #7, #13, #11, and #14 (when he is out there). I just wish we played the vertical game more if that is what the defense is giving, provided we can give #11 time to throw, and I also wish there were a way to get #14 in space. He should be on the field all the time, in my opinion. He's probably the 2nd fastest player on the team. I'm not the coach, and I'm sure there is a reason for it, but I'm just saying. I am hoping we can at least give Carthage a good test, and not get blown out on the field. Maybe, just maybe, we can keep the score respectable......., or am I being too cocky and arrogant?!!

This is the exact reason I don't like PG. Not all of them, but there are so many of their fans that know absolutely nothing about football. It irks me to no end when they get the benefit of the calls throughout a game, yet when they get called for an obvious penalty they boo the refs. I saw them get away with PI, holding, and taunting on a bunch of plays when we played them. The boos are not just here and there, it's throughout. If the refs would call all the penalties against them, they would rarely be able to overcome them. That's usually the same for any team. Yes, they had a better team than us when we played them. No doubt about it, but them booing obvious penalties just didn't sit right with me. First of all, I am obviously a Buckeye fan. Sadly, we just plain get outcoached when we play Carthage. I don't know how to get that fixed. Preston's defense stops us before we can even find any sort of rhythm. We will have to figure out ways to get scores, and several of them. The Carthage offense usually just mashes and gashes us throughout the game. We will have to get stops on regular basis..., something we haven't done well for most of this year. We are definitely an improved team defensively, but we're not the same level as Preston, in my opinion.

Back on topic of this thread title... I think this game will likely be close unless there are a few turnovers. I don't see either team blowing the other team out.

That's awesome to hear. Rumors... I hate unsubstantiated rumors. They do no good for anybody involved. I did observe him being a little gimpy, and slow getting up, after getting pounded a couple of times. I know he wasn't 100% after that. Their coach rotating QBs is none of our business anyway. I know he did what he thought gave them the best chance to win. As I said before, Sunnyvale was well-coached, and well prepared for us, and it definitely showed. We did what we had to do to get the win, and that's what matters most. I would love to see our Buckeyes put together a complete game. The 3 turnovers we had in this game were uncharacteristic, and certainly didn't help our cause. We had gone 5 games in a row without a turnover before Friday night, if memory serves.

Wow! The coach must have had a reasonable explanation. At least I hope so for his sake.

I wasn't as optimistic as you were. I thought Gilmer would win, but I thought it would be by a couple of scores. You're probably right about their use of Peterson at QB. We did just enough to slip by, and their non-use of him may have been the difference. We'll never really know. I heard he held him out for disciplinary reasons, but I don't know that for sure.

You are wrong, especially about me. I always give credit where credit is due. Sunnyvale is well-coached, had a great game plan, and executed that game plan to a high level. No doubt about that. I'm not making excuses about the way the game was played as far as Xs and Os. I only made an observation about OUR team since I've watched every game this year. We played emotionally flat. There's no excuse for that, just an observation. A lot has happened in the last 2 to 3 weeks in our community, and that could have something to do with it. If you haven't read about it, that's on you. We did overcome despite the emotional roller coaster this team has been on. That says a lot about the character of this team.

Tell me something I don't know. To be as horrible defensively as we were earlier in the year, I think we are playing much better. After all, we had no other choice but to improve. It likely ain't going to be good enough to beat the likes of anybody left after this round. I have no illusions about that. I haven't said anything about us being "a totally different team". You have absolutely no idea what I think, or what I know. Ask any poster on here. I am not that guy. And, you are dead wrong about "the only streaks and consistency that really count". Tell that to the young men that put their all in it every year, and don't even make it to the playoffs, let alone make it into the playoffs. Sure, EVERYBODY wants to hoist the state championship trophy every year, but just because they don't doesn't make them losers. I guess in your world NOBODY counts unless they hoist a trophy in late December.

By the way, all three of the teams that Gilmer lost to are still playing, with a total record of 33-3. That's a testament to the strength of schedule. This also marks 17 straight seasons that Gilmer has played over the Thanksgiving holidays. That's a testament to consistency. Aubrey will certainly be a tough team to overcome, for sure. We should be prepared. For those who don't know, Aubrey was the team that we beat by 1 point to win state in track last year, so the Chaps definitely have speed.

We scored 59 points against y'all, and 41 against Sunnyvale. The O-line does their job more times than not. They "could" be nastier for sure because most of them are very large. I would settle for effective more than nasty any day that ends in "y".

You could be right, but that ain't me. I know who we are and what we're capable of. We were FLAT emotionally. We are not a good enough team to overcome that going forward. Every team we play will be very good from here on out.

No, I am not gauging those two defenses. Sunnyvale had a much better defense than Center, no doubt about that. I was just saying we came out as flat as a pancake, and it took forever for us wake up and play. Our offense could've done better had we not have been flat emotionally.

I feel that if the Gilmer we saw play last week comes out onto the field, we get our butts kicked. If the team that came out and played Center, we should win. It still won't be a "comfortable" win. Aubrey is well coached, and we can't afford to have an "off" night, regardless. Every team from here on out is good, and has the potential to send us home for basketball season. I don't know about the team, but I ain't ready for round ball season.

You're definitely not lying. The Sunnyvale coaches deserve the credit for having their team prepared. They did an incredible job considering Gilmer had a LOT more talent, speed, and athleticism. Some of the things they did kept our defense flat-footed, and contained our offense better than the vast majority of our opponents this season.

I was just stating realistic facts. I have never said anything "bad" about Carthage, including coaches, players, and fans. The points you have made in your post are things that most of us already know, and it is what has made y'all a perennial power. I haven't seen any team that is better coached and prepared for their opponents, nor coaches who can make in game adjustments on the fly as quickly as Surratt and Preston at any level, let alone in 4A. Carthage has the deepest playbook of any team I've ever seen, and they can execute their playbook to its fullness the further the season goes along. Most of us are a little jealous of the success Carthage has had over the past 15 seasons or so. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that any state championship in 4A-D2 will go through Carthage. Yes, there will be some haters out there, but that just means you're doing something right, something most teams aspire to. Gilmer used to have, and still does have other fanbases that talk bad about us, our coaches, etc. even to this day, and we haven't had the overall success Carthage has had. It just comes with the territory.