blackflag79

Wow! I certainly don't think anybody in 4A D2 would complain one iota!

Yep, I can't argue that. Gilmer has to actually PROVE they can play with Carthage before even the majority of their own fans will agree with that rationale. Both teams have improved since the first meeting. The thing is, the Dawgs have gotten into the Buckeyes head space, and shaking that is hard to do. You certainly can't play "scared" on offense against anybody, especially the Dawg defense. You have to relax and do what you do best. Any team left will absolutely have to play their very best football for a FULL 4 QUARTERS to have a chance at beating Carthage. You can't just go out there and punch them in the mouth, and lay down. You have to get back up and keep punching because you know Carthage will. I just hope Gilmer has that opportunity. There's too many good teams still trying to get to Jerry's world to overlook anybody. Our players minds better be on Van this week for sure. If not, we might not get there.

I heard someone say that Gilmer set a record in this game for penalties and penalty yards, over 250 yards in penalties I think. Nothing stopped the Buckeyes but themselves. Cudos to Caddo Mills. They made some great plays. We definitely can't play that way again for the rest of the playoffs or our goals will not be realized. Every team that is left is a good team and very capable of beating us if we continue without discipline. The Buckeyes remind me of box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

The Buckeyes "should" win this one comfortably, but they can't afford to take any team lightly. Lowly Mexia moved the ball on us way too easily, although they only scored twice. I know some of our defensive starters had limited playing time against Mexia, and a lot of that yardage given up can be attributed to some of the subs. To their credit, they didn't break but twice all game. Caddo Mills has a better team on both sides of the ball than Mexia, so we need to stay focused. I would absolutely LOVE to see us play a complete game on a weekly basis. The competition gets better and better the further into the playoffs we get.

Ouch! We held them to only 70 points, not 71....

That ain't no joke. I'm not sure how the coaches are punishing these kids, or even if they are, but whatever the punishment is it's NOT WORKING. It's the same players time and time again for the most part. I was speaking more about during the game when the offense takes place. Bench them, then make them pay for it in practice. I don't care how good of a player they are.

Discipline does seem to be an ongoing problem for the Buckeyes. Way too many unsportsmanlike penalties, which can kill drives offensively and extend drives defensively. That's one thing that needs to improve for sure, especially against stiffer competition. Those kind of penalties should not be happening this late in the season for sure. It should've been nipped in the bud early in the season when the games were not going to count except on their won/loss record. I would've made a player ride the bench for a series or two for a first offense, and progressively stiffened the discipline upon each seceding penalty.

Oh, and I did, too. He ain't from Gilmer. He's just trying to stir the pot.

Heck, I would be happy with a one point win. A win is a win. Even I wouldn't place any bets on a score between these two teams. This game will probably be close just like last year, just my humble opinion. I would love to see us beat them comfortably, but I don't really see that happening unless we are firing on all cylinders in all phases of the game. PG has gotten better as the season has gone along just like well coached teams do.

Oh, believe me, I have noticed the difference with Coach Edwards running the show. There's an obvious difference. Our defense is better than it has been for many years. I never was a fan of the previous DC (I won't mention any names), except for early in his tenure. I do believe if our defense would've been just a few ticks better than average over the years we would've had at least a couple more titles. Now...., not to get ahead of myself...., we just need to figure out how to stop those red Dawgs..., and not play scared on offense....

Oh, my! I thought I was on the Friday Night app for a few moments... For what it's worth, PG runs an offense that our defense has traditionally had trouble with. One reason is you can't emulate it in practice. You have to play gap control, seal the edges, and hope everybody does their job and makes sure tackles. Discipline is tantemount for sure. Easier said than done for sure. I do think Gilmer will win by a couple of scores, and could be a little more if they play sound defense, avoid turnovers and costly penalties, and find an offensive rhythm early. Otherwise, it could be a lot closer than it should be, in my humble opinion. I know PG will be UP for this game, just like the Buckeyes should be. The first goal is at hand. What are we going to do?

I haven't seen a pitch picked off like that before, a straight line to the backfield without even as much as a bobble. He timed that about as perfect as you can get. That was definitely a poorly designed play. I have seen an option pitch picked off before and ran in for a TD, and a quick pass outside picked off and ran in for a TD, just not one like this.

The Buckeyes played really sloppy against Pitt. Some of that had to do with Pitt being a little better than their record indicates, but penalties, turnovers, and lack of focus were major contributors. I expect the Buckeyes to play much better this week. Liberty-Eylau has played us some close games in the past even when we were much better on paper. I expect nothing less than the Leopards best effort. I hope we regain our focus and cut the mistakes, or this game could be closer than it should be.

I think Pitt could win out and get the third spot in district. They will definitely get their first win this coming Friday night.

I highly doubt it. They are nearing 1,000 students in their high school according to their superintendent.

It appears likely that the numbers for 4A go up, meaning going from the bottom at 515 last realignment to around 550. Even at the numbers Gilmer has, they will remain 4A-D2. If I remember correctly, they raised the top of D2 to 880 at last realignment, which means you're right. I was thinking of the numbers from a couple of alignments ago. One thing I can say for sure, we are dealing with the UIL, meaning we have no real idea how things will play out. They should add another classification, but I don't think they will anytime soon.

The good news is Carthage might stay in D2..... Some other perennial powers might move up to 5A, too. Argyle is very close, as are several others. Celina will definitely move up to D1.

Gilmer will likely move up to 4AD1 unless the UIL changes the numbers significantly. Gilmer High had a record number of students at the beginning of September, 794, I believe.

There have been a few years where we played flat against Spring Hill and the score was closer than it should've been. I don't expect anything other than the best effort that the Panthers can muster. They would love nothing more than to beat the Buckeyes. Honestly, I just don't see the Buckeyes playing flat. If they do, they will struggle..., still win, but struggle. I just think this year's team will try to put Spring Hill away early, then sub players in freely for experience. I look for the score to be about 35 to nothing before halftime. The Buckeye offense has to put some work in and find their rhythm early. I think they will. I also look for the Buckeye defense to wreak havoc in the trenches, too. SH's QB will have to be able to move a LOT just to get passes off. I think the Black Flag Defense will be in the Panther backfield on a regular basis. JMHO.

I believe the only game Gilmer won was the JV game.

Ain't that the truth? If they both decided today to leave would be fine with me!

I would have to say 4 more years after this one, Scott will take a job in the college ranks. Sooner or later, he has to think about how big that retirement check will be. I also think Coach Preston will get an offer that he can't resist somewhere along the line. Enjoy it while you can.

Well..., they are homers for sure. Heck, if you want the real truth, you could call "holding" on nearly every play on either team. Some are just more obvious than others, and sometimes those get missed. Officials are human. They will make mistakes. No excuses here. Carthage is a just a better team...again. We will have to make leaps and bounds and have a little luck if/when we meet y'all again this year. Our coaches have a whole lot of figuring out to do to have any chance against Surratt, Preston, and company.

Okay...., the "what if" game again. I do agree that Carthage will beat us worse when/if we meet again, unless something major happens. Dropped balls early didn't help us either. Our offensive line has to play better for sure. Etc., etc.

I believe the gap did shrink "some", but not nearly enough. You can always go back and say "if" so and so hadn't have done this, or wouldn't have done that, we would've beaten them worse. Hindsight is 20/20. We could say that as well. I do agree with the last sentence. It will probably be worse when/if we meet again.