It could be said that Gordon Carter was always meant to coach the Gilbert Lions. Carter, a native of Gilbert, had been serving as co-head coach at Liberty (Raleigh) and had just been named the interim head coach when he was talking to then Lion head coach Jerry Miller in 1987 when he was back in the area visiting.
Carter, who was from Gilbert and played for Miller during his senior season, was offered an assistant coaching job to return home. While Carter wanted to return to Gilbert, he still needed a job.
“I told him that I had been teaching special education,” recalled Carter. “And he looked at me and said that a special education teacher had just left, and they actually had a special education position open. So, I went back to Liberty (Raleigh), turned in my resignation and came back down here to work.”
Carter served under Miller for two seasons before being named the head coach for the 1989 season. The Lions were one of the smallest schools in Class AA in 1989. His first year, Gilbert went 6-4. In 1990, the Lions were 4-6, but his team found some success in 1991. Gilbert was 7-2 during the regular season, making the Class AA playoffs.
Unfortunately, they fell in the first round to Wheeling Central, 26-14. The Lions only had 18 players for that game while Wheeling Central had 75.
Gilbert dropped to Class A in 1992. Carter’s Lions were 5-5 that season, but big things were in store for the Purple and Gold.
In 1993, Gilbert was 8-4, including a 39-20 win over Athens in the opening round of the playoffs. The Lions were 7-4 in 1994, including a first-round playoff appearance. However, something special was coming to the little town of Gilbert.
The 1995 season began with a close 13-12 loss at James Monroe to begin the season, but the Lions then reeled off seven straight wins and entered their ninth game as a huge favorite against a visiting 3-5 Fayetteville squad, but Gilbert fell in a shocking upset, 20-7. Gilbert also lost the following week to rival Matewan, 22-16, and entered the playoffs at 7-3.
The Lions then went on a playoff run for the ages. First up, they blasted Vinson, 48-6. The second round featured a match up with 3rd-ranked Hamlin. The Lions dominated in a 28-6 win.
Next up was a rematch with arch rival and 2nd-ranked Matewan. The end result was different this time around as the Lions clawed the Tigers, 14-8. Gilbert was headed the Class A championship game in Wheeling. Standing in the way was top-ranked Valley (Wetzel).
The powerful Lumberjacks were heavy favorites since they were returning to the title game for the third straight season. Most people thought that the third time would be the charm for Valley (Wetzel), but on that night purple reigned in Wheeling.
The Lions found themselves up 16-14 at the half after a second quarter that featured a Wes Ellis fumble return return for a score and a missed field goal from the Lumberjacks in the final seconds after a goal line stand.
“That was a big deal for us to lead that game at the half,” said Carter. “I feel like that field goal would’ve given them a lot of momentum, but we were excited to have the lead.”
The Lions then held a 22-20 lead with less than a minute to go when they were faced with a 4th and 1 at the Valley (Wetzel) 46-yard-line.
“I wanted to go for it,” said Carter. “We were either going to win it right there, or we were going to need to somehow stop them one last time.”
Carter called on Ellis to pick up the biggest yard of his football career, but he got more than that.
“I knew that I needed just one block,” said Ellis. “I went to the left, and Anthony Cline gave me the block that I needed. When I hit the corner, there was nothing but grass in front of me. I had tears streaming down my face at the 20-yard-line from the emotions of the moment.”
The Lions held on defensively, intercepting a pass on the final play and brought the title back home to Gilbert.
“I had never seen a celebration like it in all of my life,” stated Carter. “The WVSSAC told us that our championship game had a higher attendance than any of the other games in Wheeling that weekend. It meant so much for the community to win that championship.”
Gilbert looked to defend its crow in 1996. The Lions were undefeated until the title game but lost to Moorefield, 30-20. The next season, Gilbert saw Moorefield in the semifinals. Leading on the scoreboard, the Lions appeared to have momentum on their side until an inadvertent whistle ruling changed everything.
Carter’s son Daniel intercepted a pass and ran it into the end zone for an apparent touchdown. However, the officials huddled together and determined that there was an inadvertent whistle. Instead of a touchdown, Gilbert would have the ball in Moorefield territory. Moorefield’s defense held, and then they won it with a touchdown in the 4th quarter for a 13-9 win.
“My kids said that they never heard a whistle,” remembered Carter. “With the way the game was going, we felt like if we had scored that touchdown the game would’ve been over.”
The Lions would finish with a 9-2 record and playoff appearance in 1998 and then go 11-1 in 1999, falling to eventual runners-up Fayetteville in the second round. After a 6-5 season with a playoff appearance in 2000, Carter stepped down from the head coaching position.
However, Carter returned in 2006 and the Lions had an 8-3 season and a playoff appearance. Carter’s Lions would make the playoffs again in 2007 and 2009 before he stepped down again. Carter’s last stint in coaching was as an assistant for the Mingo Central for one season.
When it came to West Virginia high school football in the 90s there was no bigger rivalry than the Lions and Matewan Tigers. With each team winning a title during the decade while also taking part in some incredible battles on the gridiron, the all-time series ended dead even at 15-15-1.
“That may have been one of the biggest rivalries in West Virginia at that time,” said Carter. “Both teams were really good in the 90s. The most important game on our schedule was Matewan, and I am sure that it was probably the same way for them. There were a lot of tough games against Matewan.”
Gilbert’s football teams were known for physical play under Carter. His mentality was to be tougher than the teams they faced.
“We had tough kids,” said Carter. “They loved the physical part of football at Gilbert back then. It was something for us to sustain it for so long. We just felt like we had tougher kids than everyone else and used that to our advantage.”
Carter’s lasting legacy is not only measured in success on the field. It’s also with the impact he had on his players.
“He is somebody who is like a father figure to me,” said Ellis. “He was a guy who made it really easy to buy into whatever he wanted to do. He is a very humble man with a big personality. He cared about everyone. He wouldn’t just teach kids about the game of football but the game of life.”
Photos Courtesy of Michael Browning and Coach Gordon Carter
Gilbert’s 1995 state championship win can be seen here – https://youtu.be/oIf9pNaP7uY
