The gist
- Sunnyvale at Gilmer, Friday 9/25, 7:30 PM at Jeff Traylor Stadium — the last non-district game of the year.
- The Buckeyes are 3-1 after a 48-38 win at Sulphur Springs, and they have surrendered 171 points in four games. That is 42.75 a night.
- The line we drew ourselves last week: hold Sunnyvale under 30, or we open district 3-2. Not “might.” Will.
- Our lean: Gilmer 45, Sunnyvale 34 — and we don't get to hide behind the scoreboard on this one.
The line we drew last week
We told you Friday night, plainly, and we are not backing off it now. From the Sulphur Springs recap: “If Gilmer allows more than 30 to Sunnyvale next Friday, the offense will not save us and we open the year against district 3-2. Not 'might.' Will.” Everything about this preview is that sentence being graded in real time.
Here is what makes the line honest. Gilmer has allowed 52, 31, 50 and 38 through four games — 171 points, 42.75 a night. Joe Dodd's game notes had the Buckeyes running the ball 76.9% of the year through Sulphur Springs; that is a team that already knows it needs to shorten games. But shortening to ten possessions still lets a 42-a-night opponent beat you if you cannot get a stop.
The other half is who Sunnyvale is. This is the program that ended Gilmer's 17-season streak of advancing at least three rounds in the playoffs, 27-17 in the area round in November 2024. They walk into Jeff Traylor Stadium Friday knowing exactly what they did the last time these two programs met, and by every read they will walk in with a defense that has been vulnerable and an offense that has not been. That is the ballgame.
The matchup
Kickoff is 7:30 PM Friday, September 25, at Jeff Traylor Stadium in Gilmer. Non-district, and the last game before District 8-4A Division II opens with Pleasant Grove on October 9. Gilmer sits at 3-1 after its third straight win, 48-38 at Sulphur Springs, on Sept. 18.
The stadium math matters. Gilmer is 1-0 at home in 2026 (the 64-50 win over Kilgore) and 24-9 at Jeff Traylor Stadium in the regular season across 2020-2026 — the building renamed for the coach who went 175-26 here with three state titles. The 2025 team went 2-4 in it and squandered that equity. This team is trying to earn it back.
Around the barbecue
The smoaky game thread is where the actual argument is happening this week, and it is not a happy one. The consensus among Gilmer fans posting: the offense will be fine, the secondary is about to get torched, and the only real question is whether we can keep up with Sunnyvale in a track meet. The word stops gets typed in all caps more than once.
The most honest post in the thread cuts both ways. Sunnyvale surrendered five touchdowns each to Ferris and Paris; their defense is not exactly the ninth-ranked D in the state either. There is a real disagreement about the ceiling — Sunnyvale fans are not sure their defense holds up against this offense, and Gilmer fans are not sure this defense holds up against theirs. That is a coin flip, which is precisely why the 30-point line matters.
One thing to sit with, because more than one fan on smoaky said it out loud this week: this is the best team Gilmer has played so far. Pine Tree beat the Buckeyes 52-40 and we called that a loss to a legitimate program. If this is the best of the four, “we have to get better on defense” is not a Week 5 talking point anymore. It is the identity of the season.
Our take
One: this is the game the season pivots on, and it is not because it is a district opener — it is not one. It is the last chance to prove the defense can look different before the games start counting for something. A 44-38 win Friday buys the offense one more week off from the accountability column, then Pleasant Grove drops 45 on us on October 9 and we are having the same conversation with less runway.
If the Buckeyes hold Sunnyvale to 27, this is a program showing up when the schedule asked it to. If Sunnyvale hangs 41, the season already has a ceiling and we are pretending otherwise.
Two: the revenge angle is fun and we are not going to pretend it is not. Sunnyvale ended a 17-year run and they did it in the area round. This is not that game — no playoff DNA gets restored in a September non-district — but every kid on this roster who was in this program in November 2024 knows exactly who was on the other sideline. That matters, at 7:30, at Jeff Traylor Stadium, in front of a crowd that remembers too.
The pick: Gilmer 45, Sunnyvale 34. Marker for next week: if Sunnyvale's number is 35 or higher, come find this post and hold us to it. We said the line was 30 and we will grade it honestly either way.
Kickoff Friday, 7:30, Jeff Traylor Stadium. If you want to back a read on East Texas high school football with more than a porch shout, make your picks.