Football Recap: Athens Finds Playoff Glory Versus Gilmer + How To Watch

It's playoff time, and Athens had no trouble coming through when it counted. They walked away with a 57-49 win over the Gilmer Buckeyes on Friday. Winning may never get old, but the Hornets sure are getting used to it with their fourth in a row.

Julious Brewer

Receiving Yards

11/14/25 vs Gilmer	63
11/07/25 vs Bullard	47
10/23/25 vs Rusk	0
09/19/25 vs Jacksonville	47
11/08/24 @ Bullard	29
11/01/24 vs Center	76

Athens' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Julious Brewer led the charge by rushing for 112 yards and one TD on only seven carries, while also picking up 63 receiving yards and one touchdown. That's the most receiving yards Brewer has posted since back in November of 2024. Emanuel Moore also helped out with an impressive 130 receiving yards.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Athens was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 308 rushing yards. They rushed for 102 more rushing yards than Gilmer's also-impressive total of 206.

Despite the loss, Gilmer still got an impressive performance from Zade Taylor, who rushed for 113 yards and three scores while picking up 7.1 yards per carry, and also threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns 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 TDs.

Athens' record now sits at 9-2. As for Gilmer, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-7.

As of now, neither Athens nor the Buckeyes have any future games scheduled.