Football Recap: Athens Beats Gilmer for Their Fourth Straight Victory + How To Watch

Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Athens walked away with it. They walked away with a 57-49 victory over the Gilmer Buckeyes on Friday. The win was familiar territory for the Hornets, who have now won four contests in a row.

David Richardson

Passing Yards

11/14/25 vs Gilmer	222
11/07/25 vs Bullard	91
10/23/25 vs Rusk	160
09/19/25 vs Jacksonville	92
09/12/25 @ Palestine	207
+ 2 more games

David Richardson was his usual excellent self, throwing for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 13 passes, while also rushing for 57 yards and one score. That's the most passing yards he has posted since back in August. Emanuel Moore was Richardson's top target, picking up 130 receiving yards and one TD.

Despite the loss, Gilmer still got an impressive performance from Zade Taylor, who rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.1 yards per carry, and also threw for 316 yards and three TDs while completing 76.7% of his passes. Taylor has been hot recently, having posted three or more passing touchdowns the last three times he's played. Gilmer's leading receiver Solomon Jackson was Taylor's top target yet again, picking up 128 receiving yards and three scores.

Athens' victory bumped their record up to 9-2. As for Gilmer, their loss dropped their record down to 4-7.

Looking ahead, Athens will take on Krum at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The Hornets will need to watch out since the Bobcats have now posted at least 31 points in their last five matchups. Gilmer does not have any more games scheduled as of now.