Gainesville High School has officially filed an injunction in an effort to stop the Georgia High School Association’s ruling that would sideline 35 football players ahead of Friday’s Class 5A quarterfinal game, FOX 5 Atlanta has learned.
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The emergency legal filing comes after GHSA voted during a virtual hearing Tuesday to uphold suspensions stemming from last week’s playoff-game brawl in Brunswick.
GHSA originally suspended 39 Gainesville players after video showed a Brunswick defender ripping off two Gainesville helmets and striking a player, triggering a third-quarter melee. Players from both sidelines rushed the field, prompting officials to end the game with 1:57 remaining and award Gainesville the win.
Gainesville officials argued that many of the suspended players never left the sideline and that those who did were acting out of protection, not aggression.
Brunswick High has accepted GHSA’s penalties — 41 suspensions, a $5,000 fine, and a one-year postseason ban — and has begun its own internal discipline process.
Legal challenges to GHSA rulings are not new. Georgia courts have temporarily halted GHSA decisions several times in the past decade, including cases involving Cook High in 2023 and Charlton County in 2018.
Gainesville is being represented by Harber, Hartley and Hawkins, LLP. It is not yet known when a judge will issue a ruling on the injunction.
FOX 5 is working to gather additional details and will update this story as soon as new information becomes available.
