Gilmer Offense Propels Buckeyes to 57-39 Win at Bullard [VIDEO]

BULLARD -- Fighting for its playoff life in the District 16-3A race, Bullard pushed Gilmer for more than three quarters before the Buckeyes' offense proved too much.

Junior quarterback Tanner Barr accounted for almost 300 total yards, while junior running back Josh Walker scored three touchdowns to power Gilmer to a 57-39 victory at Panther Stadium to eliminate Bullard from the "District of Doom" playoff race.

Gilmer (8-1, 5-0) hosts No. 4 Kilgore (8-0, 5-0) next Friday in the 16-3A championship game. Kilgore has already clinched the Division I playoff berth from the "District of Doom," while Gilmer has secured the No. 1 seed from the district in the Division II bracket. Bullard's loss gave Henderson the No. 2 seed in D-II.

Barr ran 10 times for 135 yards, including seven carries for 98 yards and a touchdown in the second half. Barr's six-yard scoring run with 2:21 remaining gave the Buckeyes' their 18-point victory margin and capped a 10-play, 57-yard drive -- all on the ground -- that drained 5 1/2 minutes off the clock to end Bullard's playoff hopes.

"We had to empty the playbook tonight. You hate doing all that stuff, but they were that good," said Gilmer coach Jeff Traylor. "I have nothing but the utmost respect for (Bullard) coach (Shannon) Wilson and what he's done here, and those seniors. Those are some fantastic kids."

Gilmer, which used the reverse a couple of times and scored on sophomore Chase Tate's 45-yard receiver pass to sophomore Kris Boyd, outgained Bullard 547-334, including a rushing advantage of 338-182.

Barr completed 8 of 17 passes for 164 yards, including a 75-yard screen-pass touchdown to Walker for a 22-14 second-quarter lead. Walker had two catches for 86 yards to accompany his 35 yards and two rushing touchdowns on eight carries.

Bullard (6-3, 2-3) trailed 43-24 in the third before Brentavian Henderson's one-yard touchdown run and Holden Bryant's 31-yard interception return TD cut Gilmer's lead to 43-39 with 10:16 left in the game. But Barr ran for 32 on the next play, and Jamel Jackson followed that with a 42-yard touchdown run for a 50-39 advantage.

"We had to finish it," Walker said of the Buckeyes' ability to respond after Bullard cut the lead to four points. "That's what we've been stressing all week in practice. Finish, finish, finish."

Jackson carried six times for 71 yards, all in the second half. Boyd had six first-half carries for 91 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown on the game's first play. Gilmer jumped to a 15-0 lead in the first two minutes thanks to Boyd's run and DeVondrick Dixon's 41-yard interception return touchdown. Dixon also broke up a pass. Gilmer safety Dylan Bowman added an interception.

Henderson led Bullard with 98 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, while Mebane completed 11 of 20 passes for 152 yards, one touchdown, and two picks. Bryant caught three first-half passes for 31 yards.

Bullard pulled within one, 15-14, after Colton Mebane's 10-yard touchdown strike to Haden Bryant and Sal Guiliano's 11-yard jet-sweep touchdown with 50 seconds left in the first quarter. Then came Walker's 75-yard screen score and the Barr-to-Tate-to-Boyd double pass touchdown, which stretched Gilmer's lead to 29-14. Bullard's Weston Gray hit a 30-yard field goal late in the second to cut Gilmer's advantage to 29-17 at halftime.

Henderson's one-yard touchdown run trimmed Gilmer's lead to 29-24 halfway through the third, but Gilmer answered with Walker's two touchdown runs (12, 5).

Bullard concludes its 2012 season next Friday at Spring Hill.

Gilmer 57, Bullard 39
Panther Stadium, Bullard
Gilmer -- 15 14 14 14 -- 57
Bullard -- 14 3 7 15 -- 39

First quarter
GIL -- Kris Boyd 80 run (Pablin Olivares kick) -- 11:37
GIL -- DeVondrick Dixon 41 interception return (Josh Walker pass from Tanner Barr) -- 10:17
BUL -- Haden Bryant 10 pass from Colton Mebane (Weston Gray kick) -- 7:57
BUL -- Sal Guiliano 11 run (Gray
Second quarter
GIL -- Walker 75 pass from Barr (Olivares kick) -- 7:04
GIL -- Boyd 45 pass from Chase Tate (Olivares kick) -- 4:14
BUL -- Gray 30 field goal -- 0:30
Third quarter
BUL -- Brentavian Henderson 1 run (Gray kick) -- 6:40
GIL -- Walker 12 run (Olivares kick) -- 4:49
GIL -- Walker 5 run (Gray kick) -- 1:59
Fourth quarter
BUL -- Henderson 1 run (Mebane run) -- 11:13
BUL -- Holden Bryant 31 interception return (Gray kick) -- 10:16
GIL -- Jamel Jackson 42 run (Olivares kick) -- 9:57
GIL -- Barr 6 run (Olivares kick) -- 2:21

GIL              BUL
First downs                        16                  19
Rushes-Yards                33-338          45-182
Comp.-Att.-Int.                 9-18-1         11-20-2
Pass Yards                        209                152
Penalties-Yards               7-59               4-34
Fumbles-Lost                     2-0                3-0
Punts-Avg.                       3-39.0           3-35.3

INDIVIDUAL
Rushing -- Gilmer: Tanner Barr 10-135, Kris Boyd 6-91, Jamel Jackson 6-71, Josh Walker 8-35, DeVondrick Dixon 1-12, Chase Tate 1-(-2), TEAM 1-(-4). Bullard: Brentavian Henderson 15-98, Houston Alexander 11-55, Colton Mebane 16-22, Sal Guiliano 2-6, Haden Bryant 1-1.
Passing -- Gilmer: Tanner Barr 8-17-1 164, Chase Tate 1-1-0 45. Bullard: Colton Mebane 11-20-2 152.
Receiving -- Gilmer: Patrick Finch 3-49, Josh Walker 2-86, Kris Boyd 1-45, Slade Morris 1-13, DeVondrick Dixon 1-13, Jaidon Parrish 1-3. Bullard: Haden Bryant 3-31, Connor Mebane 2-60, Houston Alexander 2-22, Zack Holladay 2-18, Sal Guiliano 1-14, Jess Wood 1-7.

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