GAINESVILLE, Ga. — It’s the semifinal round of the Georgia High School Association playoffs. Now is not the time to relax.
But for Gainesville, you wonder if the hard part isn’t already behind them, so to speak. In the last three weeks, the Red Elephants have had to battle the GHSA, the courts, then the GHSA again…and then to top it off, they had to take on No. 1 Hughes on a short week of preparation in the quarterfinal round.
A 40-32 victory on the road against the Panthers last week was the climax to one of the wildest fortnights in Gainesville history, if not in the history of the GHSA.
“I’m just so proud of our players,” Niblett said. “We’ve been through a lot, and to go through all that and then to play like that at their place was just a shout out to everybody involved here.”
However, the win wasn’t a total surprise for a Big Red group that came into the season as one of a handful of teams expected to challenge for the Class 5A title. But the manner in which they dispatched the Panthers was certainly noteworthy.
Gainesville (11-2) dominated the lines of scrimmage, forced three turnovers, and led 37-16 and 40-24 in the fourth quarter. They led 6-0 three plays into the game and then used a 21-point second quarter to blow it open.
The 37-16 lead was the largest deficit Hughes had faced all season. The three turnovers also was the most by Hughes in a game this season.
Now, the Red Elephants will hit the road once again, this time traveling over to Rome on Thursday with a spot in the Class 5A championship game on the line.
Rome (11-2) offers a similar challenge as Hughes, especially on offense. The Wolves are led by dual-threat junior quarterback Aidan McPherson, and his favorite targets — seniors JJ Winston and Darnell Collins — are big-play game-breakers. Collins caught a 68-yard pass for a touchdown vs. Jackson County. Freshman running back Jeremy Ferguson also played a significant role in their quarterfinal win over the Panthers two weeks ago.
“(Rome) has three really good receivers, their running backs run hard, and their quarterback can make plays from anywhere,” he said.
Niblett said containment and turnovers were the keys against Hughes and feels a similar effort will be required on Thursday.
“For the most part, I thought we contained (Hughes’ run-game) when we needed to contain it,” he said. “We put them in some third and long situations. But I think the biggest thing was getting the three turnovers.
“We’ve got to get some turnovers. We want to win the run totals also. In order for us to be effective, we’ve got to be able to run the football, and be able to stop the run in the playoffs.””
Against Jackson County, the Wolves had trouble holding down Panthers’ running back Daylon Maxwell early. Maxwell ran for over 80 yards in the first half as the game was tied at 17 at the break.
But Rome shut out Jackson County in the second half as its front-7 wore down the Panthers. Maxwell and the Panthers were held to less than 50 total yards in the second half as the Wolves pulled away for a 31-17 victory.
“Rome is huge up front. They got a couple of guys that are 340, 320, and then they’ve got an extremely, extremely active pass rusher,” Niblett said. “They’ve got really, really good players and have a good scheme.”
Hughes held Gainesville to less than 300 yards of total offense. But Big Red cashed in on every turnover, including scoring on their opening play of the game (a 33-yard touchdown pass from Kharim Hughley to a wide-open Legend Wilmont) after the defense forced a fumble on Hughes’ second play to open the game.
“Offensively, when we get an opportunity to score, we got to go score,” Niblett said. “When we got the fumble, we knew what we wanted to do on the first play. It was an opportunity we talked about during the day that if we get an opportunity for this ball, we’re going to take it.
“Originally all week, the pass actually went to a different place. But (on Friday) Kharim got his eyes up, and we were able to hit Legend on the sideline.”
The Red Elephants have not been shy about what their ultimate intentions have been: winning just their second-ever state title and first since 2012. They are one step from getting that opportunity next week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Back in January, this group knew what they wanted to do. They want to win a state championship,” Niblett said. “If we want to do that, we’ve got to win this next one in order to get a chance to win the last one. It’s about being in the moment.”
Niblett used “significance” when describing their mentality coming into Thursday.
“It’s about being locked in on what we’re doing and being significant, which is our word for the week,” he said “Within that word, there’s the word IF, and you can either use the word in the present, or you can use it in the past. We want to use it in the present.
“IF we play up to our standard. IF we take care of the ball. IF we score in the red zone. IF we get stops on third down. IF we’re using that word the right way to create the significance that we need on Thursday, we can win the game.”
Gainesville at Rome
Records: Red Elephants (11-2, R7, S2); Wolves (11-2, R5, S1)
Last week: Gainesville beat Hughes, 40-32; Rome beat Jackson County, 31-17 (Nov. 28)
Radio: 94.5 FM The Lake
Time: 7:30 p.m., Barron Stadium, Rome
Statisticals: Gainesville leads series 1-0. Jr. QB Kharim Hughley (160-of-249 2,344 yards, 32 TD, 6 INT passing; 49-252 yards, 6 TD rushing). Jr. RB Nigel Newkirk (183-1,496 yards, 19 TD, 9 100-yard games rushing; 12-128 yards, 1 TD receiving) and So. RB Dwight Lewis (105-856 yards, 8 TD) all had huge games last week vs. Hughes.The Red Elephants defense forced 3 Hughes turnovers (1 INT, 2 FR) last week. Rome is led by dual-threat Jr. QB Aidan McPherson and his favorite target is Sr. WR Jeremy Winston. The Wolves defense forced 2 Jackson County turnovers and held them scoreless in the 2nd half in the quarterfinals.
Why watch it: Can/will history repeat itself? It has a habit of doing that and Gainesville won the only meeting between the two programs, 41-14 in 2012, as part of their run to the Class 5A state title. After the way the Red Elephants dominated Hughes last week on both lines of scrimmage, you have to feel this is a matchup that favors them. Jackson County was able to run the ball effectively against the Wolves in the Elite 8 matchup. Big Red was able to run for over 150 yards last week behind Newkirk (20-71 yards) and Lewis (7-75 yards) vs. a Hughes defense that was not allowing much on the ground.
Next: Thomas County Central-Roswell winner in championship game
The post Football: Big Red one win from Benz and another title shot appeared first on AccessWdun.
