ATLANTA -- The immovable object met the irresistible force Friday night at the Georgia Dome and it was no contest.
Ware County's Class AAAAA-best defense crumbled under the weight of Gainesville's high-octane spread attack as the Red Elephants piled up 445 yards behind the arm and legs of Deshaun Watson in taking a dominating 49-13 win over the Gators to capture the Class AAAAA title.
Gainesville jumped on Ware County with two early touchdown drives and then took advantage of three Ware County turnovers to pull away in the second and third quarters. The Elephants led 42-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
The big lead made things almost anti-climatic as the final seconds ticked down on Gainesville's first-ever state title after six near-misses going all the way back to 1960.
Almost.
"This is for everybody that has ever gone to Gainesville High School," Gainesville coach Bruce Miller said while hoisting the title trophy. "It's a special moment for the city and the players. I am so proud of these guys."
Senior safety Fred Payne, who had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a 68-yard interception return to set up another Gainesville touchdown, did not have a hard time describing his feelings. He was part of the 2009 team that lost 13-12 to Peach County on the final play of the Class AAA title game.
"It's just a wonderful feeling," Payne said. "After that loss I always knew we would get back and have another chance. We wanted to do this for the city as much as for us."
Senior center Chase England, also part of that 2009 team, said it was even better than he could have imagined.
"Just pure excitement," he said. "I always hoped one day we could do this and now we have and it's just an amazing feeling. We're state champions!"
Junior Deshaun Watson was not part of that 2009 team, but his record-setting season was the catalyst for the Red Elephants finally breaking the jinx of the winningest program in Georgia to not win a state title.
Watson broke the all-time single-season passing mark on his third pass of the game -- an 11-yard strike to Tray Harrison -- and finished with 314 yards and three touchdowns passing for the game. He ended the season with 4,021 yards and 50 touchdowns passing.
"It's just the greatest feeling in the world," Watson said. "We felt confident coming into the game and the quick start really got us going. After Fred's play you could see they knew it was over. We didn't let up and got it done."
He capped an opening drive for Gainesville with a 17-yard TD pass to Caleb Hayman just five minutes into the game and then gave the Elephants a 14-0 lead with a 4-yard TD run four minutes later.
After the two teams traded turnovers late in the first quarter, on the third play of the second quarter, Payne would scoop up a second Ware County fumble and ramble 37 yards for a touchdown to ignite the rout.
"That was huge. It really took the steam out of them and we kept the pressure on after that," Miller said. "Fred played a tremendous game."
That gave the Red Elephants a 21-0 lead and they would extend it 28-0 with just over two minutes left in the half on a 5-yard TD pass from Watson to Rodney Lackey.
Ware County would get its only points with just 44 seconds left in the first half on a 2-yard run by Xavier Tobler to cut it to 28-7 at halftime. He would finish with 85 yards on 21 carries but was far under his playoff average coming into the game.
Payne would strike again for the Elephants early in the third quarter picking off a Jammar Johnson pass and returning it to the Gators 2. Watson scored two plays later on a 1-yard run for a 35-7 lead. Watson and Hayman, who finished with 10 receptions for 134 yards, would connect again in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard TD pass for the final Gainesville score.
"We wanted to start fast and we did. But it was a total team effort," Miller said. "The defense held down a great offense and I felt we would be hard to stop if we didn't make mistakes. Other than a couple of crazy fumbles, we did that.
"It's great to finally get (a trophy) and now we won't have to hear people say we're the best program to never win one. We did it!"
The large gorilla that was attached to the Red Elephants backs for all these years was last seen headed down Georgia Avenue toward Zoo Atlanta.
NOTES: Gainesville did not punt the entire game.....The 49 points was more than the Gators had allowed in their last seven games combined. It was also just two points fewer than Gainesville teams had scored in their other six finals appearances combined.
SCORING SUMMARY
Ware County....0.....7......0....6 -- 13
Gainesville.....14....14....14....7 -- 49
First Quarter
GHS
Monday
July 28th, 2025
4:24PM
