GAINESVILLE - Gainesville football took plenty of lessons from last year’s loss to Grayson.
The Red Elephants hope they can do the same this time around.
Gainesville battled throughout but could do little to slow the No. 3-ranked team from Class AAAAAA, as the Rams pounded their way to a 34-0 victory at City Park in Gainesville.
“What we do with this from here on out is what counts,” said Gainesville football coach Bruce Miller, whose team dropped a 39-0 decision to Grayson last season before going on to reach the Class AAAAA quarterfinals. “There’s a lot of teams that fold their tents in situations like this; we’ve got to keep fighting and get ready for an improved Winder-Barrow team in a couple of weeks.
“Most teams improve the most from game one to game two, and we need to do that.”
Gainesville (0-1) showed some spark at times, including 77 yards rushing from Chris Byrd. But Grayson’s sizable lines of scrimmage dominated, pinning the Red Elephants’ down and yielding just 118 total yards.
The Rams, meanwhile, rolled their way to 452 yards -- 272 of that on the ground, including 156 yards for standout running back Camryn Brent.
“I thought we fought hard all night, and we showed some stretches there with the run game,” Miller said. “But we also made some mistakes and allowed them to get some big plays.”
The first big play nearly went Gainesville’s way -- the Rams fumbling on their first offensive snap and then fumbling again four plays later -- but the visitors recovered each loose ball and began to churn their way downfield.
Gainesville fought from the outset, doing its best to slow the Rams’ powerful offense and responded with two stands in its own territory. But the Red Elephants could not stop Grayson kicker Will Van Pamelen, who split the uprights on kicks of 38 and 47 yards to give the visitors a 6-0 lead with late in the first quarter.
Gainesville’s offense never found the traction needed to keep the pressure off, however -- and once the second quarter started Grayson found plenty.
Brent provided the spark to help the Rams take control, as the senior running back bulled his way to touchdown runs of 2 and 12 yards -- en route to 126 yards on 16 carries in the first half.
Gainesville’s offense managed just 60 yards before the interval -- 36 yards coming on one completion from Messiah Dorsey to Tae Turner.
The Rams also found a way to score on defense, Darius Martin picking off Dorsey and rumbling 21 yards to make it 27-0 with just 2:36 left in the second quarter.
Grayson rounded out the scoring on an 81-yard bomb down the middle, as Chase Brice found Evan Sturgill running wide open for the final score.
Gainesville will take next week off as it prepares for the 2015 Region 8-AAAAA campaign.
“The next nine games are what really counts,” Miller said. “It’s good that we have some time to get back together, but you’d also like to get out and play and get this taste out of your mouth.”
SCORING SUMMARY
GRAYSON..........6...21....7....0 -- 34
GAINESVILLE.....0....0....0....0 -- 0
First Quarter
GRAY - Van Pamelen 38 field goal, 8:36, 3-0
GRAY - Van Pamelen 47 field goal, 3:43, 6-0
Second Quarter
GRAY - Brent 2 run (Van Pamelen kick) 7:29, 13-0
GRAY - Brent 12 run (Van Pamelen) 2:54, 20-0
GRAY - Wright 21 interception return (Van Pamelen kick) 2:36, 27-0
Third Quarter
GRAY - Sturgill 81 pass from Brice (Van Pamelen kick) 3:16, 34-0
