#bEASTTexas Football Countdown: Gilmer

Published 5:45 am Sunday, August 21, 2022

Gilmer’s Rohan Fluellen (17) breaks away from a China Spring defender during Friday’s Class 4A Division II state championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Editor’s Note: During the 30 days leading up to the high school football season, we will be spotlighting teams ranked in the preseason #bEASTTexas Fabulous 15 for the 2022 season. The series continues today with the No. 3 team in the Class 6A/5A/4A poll: the Gilmer Buckeyes.

All they do in Gilmer is win football games. The Buckeyes have made the playoffs every years since 2001, winning state titles in 2004, 2009 and 2014. Gilmer has won double-digit games 17 times since 2003. The Buckeyes have gone 14-2 with losses in the Class 4A Division II championship game in each of the past two seasons.

Poll history: Gilmer has been ranked in every edition of the poll. In 2019, they started the season at No. 8, got to as low as No. 11 and as high as No. 6. Since the start of the 2020 season, the Buckeyes haven’t fallen below No. 7. Gilmer made it to as high as No. 2 four times in 2020 and four times in 2021. The Buckeyes spent the entire 2021 season in the Top 5.

That dude: Rohan Fluellen. The three-star cornerback who is committed to TCU plays both ways for the Buckeyes. Fluellen had 81 catches for 1,373 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. He added eight interceptions on defense and three touchdowns in the return game.

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For more on Gilmer and other East Texas high school football programs, check out The Zone magazine, which is scheduled to release on Aug. 21 inside the Tyler Morning Telegraph and Longview News-Journal.

Aug. 26: at Chapel Hill

Sept. 2: Kilgore

Sept. 9: Paris

Sept. 16: at Lindale

Oct. 7: *at Pleasant Grove

Oct. 14: *Liberty-Eylau

Oct. 21: *at North Lamar

Oct. 28: *Spring Hill

Nov. 4: *at Pittsburg

*District 7-4A Division II Game

All games at 7:30 p.m.