CONYERS — Gainesville expected a battle on Friday night at Salem.
And the Red Elephants defense was ready for it.
Gainesville forced six Salem turnovers -- including four interceptions -- to help pull away for a 34-6 victory over the Seminoles in Conyers.
The Red Elephants' opportunistic ways overcame 318 yards of offense from Salem -- which suffered a second straight defeat after opening the season 4-0 -- while Gainesville's offense put up 376 yards of its own, including 253 total yards and three touchdowns for quarterback Messiah Dorsey.
"I think we played really good. I knew coming in that they were a pretty good football team. That's the best we've played all year," Gainesville coach Bruce Miller said. "Now we gotta keep playing good. I thought our guys really stepped up to the challenge and we did some mighty good things."
Indeed, the victory set up a huge showdown next week at City Park with undefeated and sixth-ranked Lanier for sole possession of first place in Region 8-AAAAA.
"We're gonna take 24 hours and enjoy this, and tomorrow we'll get back to work on Lanier," Miller said. "I think it'll be a great football game."
The Red Elephants (4-1, 4-0 Region 8-AAAAA) jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, a Chandler Staton field goal -- the senior hit two of three attempts on the night, narrowly missing a 45-yard attempt -- and a Chris Byrd touchdown pass doing the damage. Byrd totaled 115 yards on the night, 84 of that on the ground
Yet the Seminoles found traction in the second quarter and pulled within 10-6 on a short touchdown run. Gainesville responded with its biggest offensive possession of the contest, however, firing right back into the lead on a seven-yard touchdown run from Dorsey, who completed 19 of 31 passes for 209 yards and rushed 44 yards. Martavius Davis led all receivers with seven catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Davis' 35-yard scoring catch madde it 24-6 at the half -- the strike coming after the Red Elephants jumped on a muffed punt return by Salem.
"Messiah Dorsey and Chris Byrd really played well on offense," Miller said. "And (Martavius) Davis made several big plays for us. Defensively, just the whole defense did a great job. We just clawed and fought and came out a winner."
Camden Young came up with his second turnover of the night after halftime, pouncing on a Salem fumble at the Gainesville 15 (he also had a first half interception). And by the time Chris Lyles picked off another pass late in the third quarter, the Red Elephants were on their way to a win with a 27-6 lead behind another Staton field goal.
