ORLANDO - Gilmer's wire-to-wire run to a Class 3A Division I state championship earned the program national recognition today.

FieldTurf and National Football League Hall of Famer Howie Long named Gilmer as its Southwest team of the year in releasing the 2009 FieldTurf High School Football Awards during the American Football Coaches Convention in Orlando, Fla.

Winners were announced in eight different regions in the United States. The awards were based on tabulated votes from Howie Long and FieldTurf executives, which includes a group of former NFL players.

Gilmer began the 2009 season ranked No. 1 in Class 3A, and 15 consecutive wins later the Buckeyes were state champions.

Along the way, Gilmer piled up 782 points (52.1 per game) and allowed 267 (17.8 per game). Gilmer scored at least 39 points in all 15 games in 2009, scoring at least 70 points three times, at least 60 points in five games and at least 50 points six times.

The Buckeyes won District 17-3A, and then knocked off Jasper (57-21), Waco La Vega (44-16), Navasota (42-25) and Cuero (42-36) before defeating Abilene Wylie, 43-26, in the Class 3A Division I state title game at SMU's Ford Stadium in Dallas.

Other winners of the FieldTurf awards were:

— Northwest High School Team of the Year — Bellevue (Wash.) High School. Northwest finished 12-2 and won its seventh state championship in the past nine seasons in the 2A/3A KingCo League.

— Midwest High School Team of the Year — Shanley (North Dakota) High School. Stanley captured the Class AA state title, earning a 31-30 overtime victory — the first overtime finish of a state championship game in "Dakota Bowl" history.

— Northeast High School Team of the Year — Xaverian Brothers (Mass.) High School. Xaverian Brothers finished 13-0 and won the E-1 Division state title.

— Southeast High School Team of the Year — Dwyer (Fla.) High School. Dwyer went 14-0 in 4A Florida football, defeating Niceville, 42-14, to win the state championship.

— Great Lakes Region High School Team of the Year — Maine South (Ill.) High School. Main South won the Central Suburban South League and Division 8A championship with a 14-0 record.

— Metro High School Team of the Year — Don Bosco Prep (N.J.) High School. Don Bosco finished 12-0.

— Mid-Atlantic High School Team of the Year — HD Woodson (D.C.) High School. Woodson lost its first three games of the season, but won nine of 10 to close out the year.