At times it was not pretty, but the conclusion came in the form of another decisive victory for the Gilmer Bobcats.
The GHS defense was there when the offense stumbled last Friday versus Murray County, and they held the Indians to a paltry 6 yards of total offense. Despite three first half Bobcat turnovers, they still built an insurmountable four-score lead by halftime.
Gilmer added a final touchdown to begin the third quarter before a running clock was instituted, and the Cats rolled to a 36-0 victory.
“I told the kids not to take this for granted,” head coach Paul Standard said. “I’m very proud of our kids. We had the goal to be the first Gilmer team since 2014 to be 3-0. Our defense got challenged this week (at practice), and they rose to the occasion and they played. I thought our defense played great.
“Offensively, there were times we played great and times we played sloppy. We’ve got to fix those things. I’m not overly concerned because I know what kind of kids we have. We have a quarterback who is in a pressure situation every snap because he has to make a decision. His biggest thing is he has got to put things behind him and move forward. I thought he responded well.”
The Indians punted on their first five possessions while their remaining two drives of the first half ended with fumbles. MCHS found itself tackled for losses much of the night as its running game found itself in a 6-yard hole on 30 carries by game’s end.
GHS fullback Brock Titus had the most carries on the night with 13 and finished with 78 yards. He was the Cats’ go-to back on their first drive as he carried four times for 39 yards. He gashed the middle of the Indians’ defense for 25 yards on the drive’s first play, and rushed for 2 more and into the end zone on the eighth play.
The drive spanned 58 yards and after MCHS jumped offside twice on the extra point attempt, Standard opted to go for two. Halfback Will Kiker added the conversion for an 8-0 lead with 4:01 left in the first quarter.
Gilmer’s second drive got going at its 49. Halfback Hunter Watkins took a first down pitch 28 yards around the left corner. On the next play, Kiker hit the right edge where he broke three tackles and took the ball 33 yards for a touchdown.
GHS led 15-0 following Connor Seim’s first of four successful extra points.
A Murray defensive lineman popped the ball loose from Bobcat quarterback Issac Rellinger on Gilmer’s third drive. MCHS was forced to punt after three plays, but Bobcat Mason Smith was unable to field the kick cleanly.
Murray took over at the Cats’ 32, but a bad shotgun snap on first down resulted in a 9-yard loss and killed the drive.
The Bobcats next possession began at its 13, and the Cats needed six plays to reach pay dirt. Rellinger and Titus each ran twice to move GHS to 30. Next it was Watkins’ turn, and he took a sweep around the left end. He broke a pair of tackles and was eventually chased down by Indian Noah Densmore at Murray’s 14 after a 56-yard gain.
Following a 5-yard penalty on the Indians, Kiker carried twice. His final rush covered 4 yards where he broke a tackle and kept his knee off the ground and scooted into the end zone for a 22-0 lead with 2:37 left in the half.
What came next were some ball handling follies as the teams combined for three fumbles on six plays. A fumbled Indian snap on their third play gave GHS the ball 12 yards away from the end zone when Gilmer’s Kendall Sanders recovered.
After an 7-yard run by Titus, Rellinger fumbled and MCHS took over at its 11. However, Murray promptly fumbled the ball right back on first down, and GHS lineman Hunter Brown was there for the recovery.
GHS regained possession at Murray’s 11 with 51 seconds left in the half. An inadvertent whistle erased a 4-yard touchdown run by Rellinger on second down. On the next play, Kiker took a sweep 3 yards and across the goal line for a 29-0 halftime lead.
Gilmer’s offense added its final score to begin the third quarter. Titus was back at it and rushed three straight times for 13 yards. On the drive’s fourth play, Watkins hauled in a 22-yard pass. Fifteen yards were added to the end of the reception when Densmore dragged Watkins to the ground by his face mask.
Following a 6-yard pick up by Titus, Watkins hit the edge for 15 more yards down to the 3-yard line. Titus then took care of the rest to cap the seven play, 69-yard drive for a 36-0 lead four minutes into the quarter.
A running clock was used after Murray’s first of three second half punts.
Gilmer fielded a mixed squad of starters and reserves on its next drive, which ended with a fumble on a botched hand off. Junior varsity players took the field for the Cats’ final drive that concluded with another fumble on a hand off.
Gilmer is 3-0 overall and will wrap up its nonregion schedule Friday at Ringgold (0-2).
“My hat’s off to Murray. Coach (Kurt) Napier is doing a great job in a tough situation, and I know he’s going to get his team going in the right direction in time,” Standard said.
“Ringgold is the toughest team of the first four; no doubt. They’re well-coached, and I know our kids will be up for the challenge. Hopefully, we’ll get a couple of our kids healthy who are dinged up and then have a good week off before region play.”
Friday’s kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.