What a game. World circumstances being what they are, this one ought to get you going and excited!

It's hard to tell what to expect from Carthage, to be honest, and I say that relatively speaking. Obviously, we know a Scott Surratt team is going to be well-coached. We know Carthage will not be short on talent by any means. A big-time QB with a big-time arm and plenty of targets to spread the ball around to. Maybe they don't have the explosive playmaker that they've had the past few years, but the offense is just so dang efficient.

As far as the Carthage defense, it's just really hard to gauge what they've got. Size, yes. Speed, yes. Discipline, yes. But this is a one-game sample size against a Kilgore offense that is not bad, but not even close to Gilmer-level. The Buckeyes have an embarrassment of riches on offense ... and they're not even 100% healthy yet. Gilmer is good enough to score on Carthage

Gilmer's defense looks like it's made marked improvements over the past few seasons. They have size, speed and they've got some hard-hitting ball hawks. They're still giving up some big plays and some big numbers. BUT, they've made some really good halftime adjustments, like last week against Lindale. That's all well and good, until you play a team like Carthage that understands how to counter those second-half adjustments with new wrinkles of their own.

I think this will be a fairly high-scoring game. If there's a team that can keep Gilmer under 40, it's Carthage, and I think the Bulldogs will have to do that in order to win. If Carthage was playing their fifth game on Friday, I'd probably lean towards them. Right now, though, I see Gilmer pulling out the win in a shootout. I think the game experience the Buckeyes have right now will pay some dividends. Practice is great, but you can't simulate that game speed, no matter what kind of experience you have. I think it makes a difference on Friday.