2019: Listed as a starter at tight end on the preseason depth chart. Was also chosen as one of five EWU team co-captains for the 2019 season. He is from Corvallis, Mont., and is just the 11th player in school history from that state to letter in football for Eastern
.
2018: He scored on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Gunner Talkington on a fake field goal against North Dakota State (1/5/19) in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. He had three catches for 37 yards in that game, giving him six catches for 87 yards and three TDs in his last two games of the season. He had a pair of touchdown catches (3 and 29 yards) and finished with three catches for 50 yards against Maine (12/15/18) in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. He had four catches for 41 yards in a 34-17 win at Montana State (9/29/18).
2017: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Started five games as a tight end and played in a total of 11 as a sophomore. Gilder caught six passes for 74 yards and two scores. He had a pair of catches against Portland State with twin 11-yard TD catches.
2016: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. He caught three passes for 31 yards and a touchdown as a redshirt freshman, and played in all 14 games. Gilder made his lone start of the season when he made his starting debut versus Northern Arizona (9/24/16) when EWU started with multiple tight ends. His first career catch was for 7 yards against NAU, and he had a 1-yard touchdown catch versus Montana State (10/22/16). His third grab was a 23-yard gain against Central Arkansas (12/3/16) in the FCS Playoffs. He helped Eastern rank second in FCS in total offense with an average of 529.6 yards per game, trailing only Sam Houston State at 547.3 per outing. Eastern was the FCS leader in passing offense (401.0 yards per game), and was third in third down conversions (52.1 percent), third in completion percentage (.679), third in scoring offense (42.4), and third in passing efficiency (168.2). Eastern quarterbacks were sacked only 24 times in 620 passing attempts (one sack per 25.8 attempts). In EWU’s second scrimmage of the spring, he returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown and had a blocked extra point attempt.
2015: Redshirted. Was selected as EWU’s 2015 Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year. Was selected as the team’s offensive scout team player of the week once.
HS: Graduated from Corvallis HS in 2015. Selected to play in the Montana East-West Shrine Game. He earned All-State honors in Class A as a senior after playing as a quarterback and defensive end for the Blue Devils. He was also selected All-State in basketball and chosen to the USA Today All-USA Montana Boys Basketball team as a second team pick. There were only five first team selections and five on the second team. He averaged 20.1 points per game as a senior while making 56 percent of his shots. His Corvallis classmate Jesse Sims is now a rival as a defensive end at Montana.
Personal: Management and interdisciplinary studies major. Born 9/20/96 in Missoula. Mont. His parents are Jefferey and Janie Gilder.
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| Year |
GP |
PC |
Hi |
Yds |
Apr |
Apg |
TD |
Lg |
| 2016 |
14 |
3 |
1 |
31 |
10.3 |
0.2 |
1 |
23 |
| 2017 |
11 |
6 |
2 |
74 |
12.3 |
0.5 |
2 |
23 |
| 2018 |
15 |
20 |
4 |
237 |
11.9 |
15.8 |
7 |
29 |
| Totals |
40 |
29 |
4 |
342 |
11.8 |
8.6 |
10 |
29 |
