The 5th-ranked Class 2A Eagles ended a long siege of frustration at Gilmer’s hands, not only achieving their first victory against Gilmer since 2000 (the same year that the Buckeyes lost at home.) A 34 game home winning streak snapped in a 47-41 victory for the Eagles. Trailing 17-14 at halftime, the Eagles rebounded to tie the game 27-27 at third quarter’s end before unleashing three rushing TDs in the final quarter (quarterback Jalen Overstreet’s 3-yarder with 9:49 left, followed by Allen’s big bang of 41 yards (with 9:21 remaining) and 62 yard scamper(with 7:05 left). Gilmer fought back fiercely, reaching the Tatum 29 before quarterback Luke Turner suffered his fourth interception of the night, three in the fourth quarter alone, with only :79 seconds left. Gilmer took the lead in the first quarter on Gus Johnson’s 9-yard hop before Overstreet bounced 51 yards for a Tatum score. The Buckeyes surged ahead 17-7 in the second quarter on Adan Olivares’s 32-yard field goal and Turner’s 10-yard run before Overstreet lofted a 41-yard TD to Fite just before halftime. Olivares nailed a 21-yard field goal in the third quarter to put the hosts up 20-14 but Allen’s TD thrust, followed by Overstreet’s 49-yard TD dash, put Tatum up 27-20. Gilmer tied up the game as Turner heaved a 4-yard TD throw to Wesley Johnson. Tatum led 41-27 before Gilmer procured its final TDs on Turner’s 20-yard run with 8:45 left and his 20-yard heave to Johnson with 5:43 left, which proved the contest’s final score. Overall for the night- the game featured over 1000 yards of offense. Tatum had 443 on the ground. Lead by senior BJ Allen”s 292 yards on 23 carries. Gilmer totaled 260 yards on the ground and in the air.

Michael Garland – East Texas Analyst

^{Tatum running back BJ Allen rushed for 229 yard on 23 carries in a victory over Gilmer.}