After an area-round win over Hallsville, Lancaster coach Chris Gilbert drove to Allen to catch a glimpse of his next opponent, the winner of the Lovejoy-Terrell game. As he is fond, Gilbert sat in the stands.
Almost immediately, he started catching some good-natured ribbing from familiar faces in the Terrell crowd: the little-league coordinator, an old booster club president, a drill team coach, and several of his former players. Gilbert coached Terrell for two seasons (2009, 2010) before heading to Lancaster.
"They were giving me the business pretty good," Gilbert said. "They all told me how the red Tigers were going to beat the orange Tigers next."
In what Terrell coach Mike Shields has jokingly dubbed "the Chris Gilbert Bowl," Lancaster (9-3) and Terrell (11-1) will play at 6 p.m. Friday in Grand Prairie, with a trip to the Class 5A Division II regional final on the line.
The two friends have seen their careers intertwined over the past decade, coaching against each other at various stops and seeking each other's counsel when taking their current jobs. They've also proven to be among the area's best, turning stagnant programs into state powers in short order.
Gilbert left the head coaching job at his alma mater - South Oak Cliff - to take the Terrell job in 2009, intrigued by the chance to coach in a one-school town with a history of success. Terrell won two state titles in its history, and had a reputation of having talented athletes in its program.
"You could always look at their guys in warm-ups," said Shields, who faced Terrell in district while at Red Oak. "And it was like, 'Man, they look good.'"
Gilbert found immediate success, improving Terrell from three wins to a playoff qualifier in his first season. The Lancaster job, however, was too hard to pass up.
"I was excited about the opportunity to come back closer to the Metroplex," Gilbert said. "But I always thought that Lancaster could be a place that could win a state championship in football... If you could ever get the thing going, you could be a dog in the hunt."
Since arriving at Lancaster, Gilbert has done just that - making the state final in 2012 with a talented group of players, such as Texas A&M's Nick Harvey and Daeshon Hall and Houston's Demarcus Ayers.
That season, Lancaster's only two losses were in the state final to Cedar Park (whose coach, Joe Willis, is now at Colleyville Heritage) and Shields' Red Oak team.
Terrell struggled after Gilbert's departure, winning four games in three seasons with two different coaches at the helm. But when Shields called to ask him what he thought about the job opening, Gilbert told him it was poised for a turnaround. Gilbert knew a good group of kids were coming through the program. Terrell's senior class - with standout running back Dawonya Tucker - was in seventh grade in Gilbert's final season, allowing only one touchdown that year.
Last season, Terrell went to the playoffs in Shields' debut. This year, Terrell won its first district title since 1997.
"I thought we could come out here and get in the playoffs," Shields said. "And we preached to the kids about winning the district championship, but if somebody asked me if we'd get 10 or 11 wins, I'd be like, 'Ooh. Umm....' It's been better than I expected."
Twitter: @corbettsmithDMN
