Gainesville offense finding rhythm at just the right time

GAINESVILLE -- For the last few years facing Gainesville's offense offered opposing coaches a choice: death by a thousand cuts -- or explosion:<br /> <br /> Keep the Red Elephants in front of you and watch them move five yards by five yards down the field with a precision pass/run game -- or play tight coverage and risk Gainesville's athletes burning you with big plays.<br /> <br /> This year the knife was supposed to be more dull, however. The fire was supposed to burn a little cooler.<br /> <br /> As the Red Elephants have shown the last two weeks, however, they still have plenty of steel and flame. And while record-setting quarterback Deshaun Watson may now be carving up collegiate defenses, Gainesville is not short of game-breakers, averaging 47 points through two Region 8-AAAAA wins.<br /> <br /> "Right now I don't know how you can look at us and say, 'we've got to stop this one guy,' " Red Elephants coach Bruce Miller said. "We're starting to understand the people we can count on, and the people that will make plays. We're also spreading the ball around, and we're starting to show that we have plenty of outstanding players in this group."<br /> <br /> One of them is quarterback Mikey Gonzalez, and the senior is showing that -- while he may not bring the game-breaking run threat that Watson possessed -- he has a knack for getting the ball into the hands of playmakers both on the perimeter and down the field, players who can get loose for those big gains.<br /> <br /> "Mikey's played extremely well; he's making the right reads and making the throws -- very few times has he had a missed check-off," Miller said. "His ability to get us in the right play is huge, and he's completing almost 75 percent of his passes."<br /> <br /> Make that 77 percent to be exact, as the senior is averaging 214 yards and 2.3 touchdown passes per game (644 yards total and 7 TDs against 2 interceptions).<br /> <br /> "He was one of the few bright spots we had against Grayson," Miller said of Gonzalez, who made his first start in a 39-0 loss to the No. 4 team in Class AAAAAA -- a learning experience that the senior says he and his teammates took to heart.<br /> <br /> "Every single week we've been focusing on getting better, and we've already come a long way," Gonzalez said. "We're still nowhere near where we want to be, but we're hoping to peak by the end of the season."<br /> <br /> If the last two weeks are any indication, the Red Elephants are certainly on their way up. And while Winder-Barrow and Apalachee may not rank on the level of Grayson, Gainesville showed in the two victories -- 46-6 over the rebounding Bulldoggs and 48-7 over the Wildcats -- that it can still attack defenses in a similar manner to its last four years.<br /> <br /> The wins saw Gonzalez spraying the ball around the field to playmakers such as Rodney Lackey, Chris Williamson, Messiah Dorsey and Chris Byrd. Of the group only Lackey starred for the Red Elephants offense in 2013 -- the senior also featured in the 2012 Class AAAAA championship team -- but Williamson, Dorsey and Byrd each possess the kind of speed and toughness to carve up and burn opposing defenses.<br /> <br /> Lackey currently leads the team with 15 catches for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Dorsey also has 15 receptions for 156 yards and 2 scores. Williamson, meanwhile, is averaging an impressive 17.5 yards per catch (10 receptions so far, 2 TDs).<br /> <br /> "They're all big, physical and if they get the chance to breakaway and make a big play they will," Gonzalez said. "We knew what Rodney could do, and I've played with Messiah since we were 12 and knew about his ability. Chris (Williamson) has only been here for a little while, but we knew he was talented, and he's showing it to everyone now. <br /> <br /> "Chris Byrd has been big for us too."<br /> <br /> Indeed, Byrd's rise at running back has been timely for a junior that was supposed to spend most of the season tracking down ball carriers. Yet when his older brother Michael (who totaled 1,630 yards and 17 TDs in 2013) went down -- first via a concussion and then via a foot injury -- Byrd was happy to step in as the team's main rushing option.<br /> <br /> "I've loved it; it's been my time to shine, and I've taken advantage of it," said Chris Byrd, who also continues to play plenty of snaps at linebacker. "The coaches have gotten me in shape so I can play the whole game."<br /> <br /> The iron-man Byrd leads the team with 149 yards rushing and 2 TDs, while also also catching 11 passes for 111 yards and a score. He's also tied for fourth on the team in tackles with 21, including 17 solo stops. And while his older brother should return soon, Byrd could still see plenty of time on both sides of the ball.<br /> <br /> "Chris is just a pure football player, and he has a two-way mentality," Miller said of the 5-foot-9 dynamo that has proven hard to tackle.<br /> <br /> "Most defenders think I'm going to use my speed and try to get to the corner, and they run up thinking they're going to tackle me -- that's when I have to shock them," said Byrd, who is adept at getting underneath defenders and bowling them over en route to big gains.<br /> <br /> Byrd acknowledges those big gains may be hard to come by this Friday, however, as a rising Heritage, Conyers squad pays a visit to City Park.<br /> <br /> The Patriots opened 0-3 but the total point difference from all three was just 14, and Heritage bounced back in impressive fashion last week, downing Flowery Branch 35-16.<br /> <br /> "I know they're big and fast at the line of scrimmage," Byrd said of a defense that has not allowed more than 28 points this season and is allowing just 16 points per game through three region contests.<br /> <br /> "They're very athletic, and size-wise they may be similar to Grayson," Miller added.<br /> <br /> As the Red Elephants have shown, they have come a long way since that Grayson contest -- and Friday night will be a huge opportunity to make it known on a bigger stage.<br /> <br /> "Each week we're making gains, little and big," Byrd said. "The linemen too are getting better and quicker. We're getting there."<br /> <br /> At this rate it won't be long before foes have to start making that unenviable choice -- again.