GILMER — Boyd, Barr and the Buckeyes bewildered Bullard.
The No. 1-ranked Gilmer Buckeyes’ runner Kris Boyd tallied four TDs — including a reception of one of quarterback Tanner Barr’s three scoring slings — as the hosts delivered their first shutout this season by overwhelming the Bullard Panthers 62-0 in a District 16-3A dustup Friday night.
The triumph ships the Buckeyes (9-0, 5-0) into a duel for the district title next Friday against the equally unvanquished Kilgore Bulldogs in Kilgore. Bullard drops to 3-5 and 1-4.
The Buckeyes stockpiled a 35-0 lead at twirling time, neither punting nor allowing Bullard inside Gilmer’s 20. Officials began running the clock somewhat non-stop after Gilmer whipped up the lead to 49 points with 8:21 left in the third quarter.
Boyd, who carried only once after halftime, hoofed 136 yards on eight deliveries, while Barr completed 8 of 11 for 130 yards — including a 58-yard TD to Desmond Pollard on the third quarter’s first play from scrimmage. It was Barr’s final pass of the night.
After kicking off to open the clash and quickly forcing a Panther punt, Gilmer hopped 62 yards in five plays for the game’s initial tally on Darrien Lewis’s 2-yard trip. Pablin Olivares airlifted the first of seven straight PATs with 8:50 left in the first quarter.
After another Bullard punt, Gilmer rumbled 46 yards in four plays, scoring on Barr’s 27-yard airmail package to Boyd with 5:47 left in the first.
On the Buckeyes’ next possession, Olivares missed a 41-yard field goal try with 2:23 still left in the first. But the hosts would score on every other one of their first-half possessions.
Boyd screamed 57 yards on the second quarter’s first play, ending a 70-yard, 5-play scoring sally with 11:47 left. Gilmer then hopped 58 yards in five plays to score again on Boyd’s 1-yard run with 8:01 left to halftime (He appeared to have been injured on the run, only to return to score twice more).
The next Gilmer scoring surge consumed 60 yards (including a 10-yard Bullard penalty) in only six plays as Barr winged a 5-yard TD toss to Nick Smith with 4:10 left to the musical break.
After Barr hit Pollard with a TD pass start the second half with 11:43 left in the third quarter, the Buckeyes nonetheless continued to invade the Panther end zone.
Boyd sprinted 26 yards for the next TD with 8:21 left in the third, while Lewis skedaddled 20 yards for another touchdown with 1:06 left in the third. Gilmer backup kicker Tristan Olivares missed the PAT kick after Lewis’s score, but made it after the last Buckeye tally, third-string quarterback Zac Spears’ 2-yard scoring shipment to Devin Smith with 6:17 remaining in the game.
The Panthers’ deepest penetration came at game’s end as time ran out on them at Gilmer’s 21-yard-line. Bullard’s offense, led by the workhorse runner Austin Skelton, committed only one turnover (an interception), but was continually forced to punt.