New faces prevalent in old rivalry

GAINESVILLE - Forget recent records and forget that there are new coaches and faces at one school.

It's Gainesville against East Hall week and everyone knows what that means.

"It's two schools that over the years have not liked each other much and anything is always possible," said new East Hall coach Tim Marchman. "It's a lot like West Hall-Johnson. The only thing that has changed is that I'm over here now. I know all about big rivalries."

The two teams meet again Friday at East Hall Stadium in a Region 7-AAA battle. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on WDUN-AM 550. The Tailgate Show will begin at 7 p.m.

Marchman came over from West Hall in the offseason. And while on paper it sounds like an intriguing matchup, the two programs are headed along different courses at the moment.

Gainesville is coming off a semifinal run through the Class AAA playoffs last year with high hopes it can repeat or improve on that. Meanwhile, the Vikings suffered through their second straight 3-7 season last year and are rebuilding.

But both teams got off to good starts last week. The Red Elephants (1-0, 1-0) demolished White County 56-6 while East Hall (1-0, 1-0)rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Chestatee.

"I thought we played an outstanding game on defense last week," Gainesville coach Bruce Miller said. "We didn't expect to get that kind of offensive output but the kids worked hard during the preseason and it showed.

"I don't care that maybe East Hall isn't as strong as in the past. It's a big rival game; they're going to be fired up; and anything is possible in these kinds of games."

For East Hall, Lee Coleman leads the offense at quarterback while Patrick O'Neal and Todd Goss give the Vikings a solid backfield.

"Those guys played pretty well against Chestatee. Lee really did a nice job," Marchman said.

For Gainesville, QB Don Whitley, running backs John Castleberry and Joseph Maheffey, along with wingback Cedric Langston, racked up more 500 yards rushing last week against White County.

"The offensive line just did a great job and these guys hit the holes. We executed very well," Miller said.

Marchman said he was impressed with the film he saw of the Elephants.

"They haven't lost anything from last year. Heck, they may even be better. It's definitely going to be a big challenge for us to stay with them. We've got some speed but we don't have as much experience as they do. If we can stay with them early maybe we can pull the upset," Marchman said. "Maybe."