GAINESVILLE — Gainesville football coach Bruce Miller was only half joking.
“Players only meetings on Monday may be mandatory from now on,” he said after watching his team score 28 straight points to pull away for a crucial 46-18 Region 8-AAAAA win over Cedar Shoals Friday night at City Park Stadium.
The Red Elephants (5-3, 5-2 Region 8-AAAAA) were coming off two straight region losses and faced the prospect of falling out of the playoff race with another loss.
On Monday, following an ugly 44-7 loss to Clarke Central last week, the players held a closed-door meeting to air-out their problems. Miller wasn’t privy to the details but liked the result.
“I have no idea what they talked about. But we had a great practice Monday and really all week and the guys really responded well tonight,” Miller said. “Our kicking game was good, our defense, except for three big plays, played great, and I think that is probably the best we have run the ball all year.”
Senior Tae Turner, who was named Homecoming King, also had a big night on the field with over 100 return yards and 82 yards receiving with one touchdown to help Gainesville shake off a slow first quarter. He said the Monday meeting could be the catalyst to a late-season surge.
“We just talked about coming together and playing as one unit,” Turner said. “You saw that tonight. I think this will help us the rest of the way. A great team effort.”
Meetings aside, the first quarter resembled the last two games with early-game mistakes and turnovers. Gainesville had a Turner punt return to the Jaguars 3 less than a minute into the game the first time they touched the ball called back for a penalty.
The Red Elephants had a first quarter fumble that Cedar Shoals turned into a 6-3 lead. The Jaguars took a 12-10 lead early in the second quarter when the Red Elephants defense broke down on a simple dive play to allow a 77-yard touchdown run by Jafary Colbert.
But senior quarterback Messiah Dorsey capped a methodical drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to reclaim the lead, and after the defense forced a quick 3-and-out, Dorsey and Turner connected on a 35-yard touchdown pass for a 24-12 halftime lead.
Gainesville blew things open in the first three minutes of the third quarter with a second Dorsey touchdown pass and blocked punt returned for a touchdown by Demichael Borders for a 38-12 lead.
Despite the rough two weeks, Gainesville is now in position to climb into second place with a win next week at Loganville.
“This was a huge win for us,” Turner said. “Now we’re right back in things. Now we just need to start focusing on Loganville. They are a good team and will take another team effort from us.”
It was a first half full of big plays by both teams on both sides of the ball.
Gainesville got the first break just seconds into the game when the Jaguars botched an attempted reverse on the opening kickoff and were forced to recover the ball at their own 3 to start the game. The Red Elephants forced a quick 3-and-out to get a short field.
But the drive stalled at the Cedar Shoals 6 and was capped by a 23-yard field goal from Chandler Staton for a 3-0 lead.
Cedar Shoals was forced to punt again on its second drive and Gainesville looked poised to add to its lead. But a fumble at the Jaguars 34 snuffed out the drive and Cedar Shoals took its first lead two plays later on a 40-yard touchdown run by Jaivanni McDavid with 52 seconds left in the first quarter for a 6-3 lead.
The Red Elephants answered quickly. After a Turner return to the Gainesville 44, the Red Elephants faced a 3rd-and-9 at their own 45 at the end of the first quarter. Dorsey opened the second quarter with a perfectly executed quarterback draw on third down and raced untouched 55 yards for a touchdown to give Gainesville a 10-6 lead.
Gainesville forced another Cedar Shoals punt on its next possession but the Jaguars would stop the Red Elephants on fourth down. The Jaguars’ Colbert then broke his 77-yard scoring run to reclaim the lead for Cedar Shoals, 12-10, with 6:53 left in the half.
It would be all Red Elephants after that. Gainesville needed less than two minutes to cap a 44-yard drive with a 3-yard Dorsey scoring run and then added the 35-yard touchdown pass from Dorsey to Turner on a 3rd-and-21 with 1:27 left in the half for a 24-12 lead it would take into halftime.
The Gainesville defense allowed the two big plays but also sacked Cedar Shoals quarterback Akeem Glenn four times and registered eight plays for losses in the first half.
The third quarter began the way the first half ended. Gainesville’s Roadarius Timmons returned the opening kickoff to the 48 and Dorsey hooked up with Turner for a 47-yard pass to the Cedar Shoals 5 and then Dorsey connected with Martavius Davis for a 5-yard touchdown pass on the next play for a 31-12 lead just 44 seconds into the second half.
The Red Elephants special teams then got into the scoring act after the defense forced a quick 3-and-out. Kris Montague blocked the ensuing punt and Borders scooped up the ball and returned it 5 yards for another touchdown and a 38-12 lead with 8:57 left in the third quarter.
The Jaguars cut the lead to 38-18 late in the third quarter when Freeman scored his second touchdown of the game on a 31-yard run to cap a 66-yard drive. Gainesville responded right back with another long drive, capped by a 3-yard run from Kadarius Smith to go with a 2-point conversion run by Andy Hayes on a bad snap for a 46-18 lead with 10:05 left.
Dorsey finished with 122 yards rushing and 102 yards passing for Gainesville. Chris Byrd added 64 yards rushing for the Red Elephants.
Colbert had 141 yards rushing to pace Cedar Shoals (1-7, 1-6).
SCORING SUMMARY
Cedar Shoals....6....6....6....0 -- 18
Gainesville........3...21..14....8 -- 46
First Quarter
GHS -- Staton 23 FG 3-0, 7:08
CS -- McDavid 40 run (kick failed) 6-3, 0:52
Second Quarter
GHS -- Dorsey 55 run (Staton kick) 10-6, 11:51
CS -- Colbert 77 run (run failed) 12-10, 6:53
GHS -- Dorsey 3 run (Staton kick) 17-12, 4:49
GHS -- Turner 35 pass from Dorsey (Staton kick) 24-12, 1:27
Third Quarter
GHS -- M. Davis 5 pass from Dorsey (Staton kick) 31-12, 11:16
GHS -- Borders 5 punt block return (Staton kick) 38-12, 8:57
CS -- Colbert 31 run (run failed) 38-18, 1:02
Fourth Quarter
GHS -- K. Smith 3 run (Hayes run) 46-18, 10:16
