GILMER, Texas — The Gilmer Buckeyes are in the process of getting fitted for their state championship rings. But, they may need some help from the Buckeye faithful.
"A number of community members, people, it’s really amazing how many people come up to me and go ‘hey coach, if there’s a young man who’s gonna have trouble getting a ring, you let me know’ you know that kind of thing. So, it was getting to the point where we had to organize that," Gilmer head football coach Alan Metzel said.
That’s right, Gilmer fans were trying to donate to the championship rings fund before the superintendent even posted about it on Facebook.
It’s the city’s first championship since 2014, and folks were clearly ready for it.
With Gilmer doing Gilmer things this past fall, they added another state championship trophy to their vault, and now some wonder if the community will get behind them and help them get some rings.
But of course they're going to step up, this is Gilmer -- a community that loves their Buckeyes.
"I think it’s what needed to be done, a lot of businesses stepped up, we stepped up and contributed, some others have as well. I think to award and reward everybody that’s deserving, I think it’s a good move for them to reach out to the whole community," CEO at ETEX Communications and Gilmer dad Charlie Cano said.
Even with kids all done and graduated from Gilmer, parents like Vici Wolfe said the passion for the Buckeyes still runs so strong throughout the entire community.
"It started with Jeff Traylor. We are a community that has to support our kids. If we don’t support our kids, they don’t grow up knowing what that’s like. But, I think that the whole program grows those boys into men, and we have to get behind them," Wolfe said.
And that’s what this community has done. In the offseason, the regular season, the post-season, it doesn’t matter, they get behind the Buckeyes.
"We do what we can as a community to better our community, to grow our community, to make these kids want to go out into the world and do something special," Wolfe said.