GAINESVILLE — At this stage of the high school football season, teams poised to make playoff runs are either worn-out or battle-tested.
Gainesville coach Bruce Miller is hoping it is the latter for his group. However, before last week’s impressive 46-18 win over Cedar Shoals to snap a two-game Region 8-AAAAA losing streak, he wasn’t really sure which way things were leaning for his team.
“It’s always a tough balance and we had some things going on that were either going to make or break us,” Miller said. “The kids did a great job of picking themselves up last week and becoming more of the team I thought we could be.”
The Red Elephants (5-3, 5-2 Region 8-AAAAA) already have faced more than a season’s worth of adversity with key injuries and suspensions along the way. But just in time for the stretch drive to finish the regular season, they are getting back close to full-strength.
Senior defensive lineman Cole Handte and senior linebacker Demichael Borders both returned last week and senior cornerback Toddrick Turner returns this week after missing the last few games.
They will help the Red Elephants take on Loganville (7-1, 6-1) Friday night on the road with a chance to take over second place in the region. A loss, however, could put Gainesville right back in the soup with Flowery Branch looming in the season finale and the spectre of missing out on the playoffs altogether.
Miller said the top-to-bottom balance of the region leaves little margin for error.
“Talent-wise the region has taken a big step up,” Miller said. “Every team is well-coached, and you can get beat any Friday in this region. That puts a lot of emphasis on making sure you are ready to play every week and not making any mistakes.
“In the two (region) games we lost we made a lot of mistakes and paid for every one of them. However, in the games where we have been able to force some turnovers, we’ve had a lot of success. That is the key to any game in this region. The teams are too good to make mistakes and win.
“For us, just getting back some of our key guys is huge. Cole and Demichael had big games last week and having Toddrick back gives us the depth in the secondary we’ve been missing. Those little things make all the difference.”
Miller said they are treating every game the rest of the way as a first round playoff game.
“Every game in the region has some kind of playoff implication. Everyone but probably Heritage, (Conyers), Cedar Shoals and Apalachee still has a shot,” Miller said. “It’s almost do-or-die the rest of the way for everyone except maybe Lanier. You can’t afford any mistakes the rest of the way.”
Having a full-strength defense will be crucial for the Red Elephants as they try to slow down a potent Red Devils attack led by quarterback Cameron Perkins, receiver Shy Kim, and running back Darryl Giles. They have scored the most points of any team in 8-AAAAA (222, 27.7 ppg) in a similar style offense as Gainesville.
“They are a talented team and really only Lanier has been able to slow them down,” Miller said. “But we feel good about our defense when we have all our pieces and we’re about as close to full strength as we can get. We cannot give up the big play. We’ve had way too many of those for my liking. It should be a good battle for both teams.”
The Loganville defense, fourth-best in Class AAAAA, also has yielded the second-fewest points in the region (70) behind Lanier. The Gainesville offense’s ability to generate some drives may be the key to the game.
The Red Elephants are averaging over 30 ppg in region play. But, in their two 8-AAAAA losses, they have scored just 15 total points. Miller said the culprit is easy to spot.
“Turnovers have really hurt us (in the losses),” Miller said. “At times we weren’t really playing as a unit the way you need to to have success. I think last week we started playing like a team and having everyone focused on the same things. I like what I’ve seen in practice and I think we’re finding our path to success.”
That means Miller and the offensive staff have had to change philosophies ever so slightly in their patented spread attack. Typically a pass-first mentality, they have had to adopt more of a run-first mentality with the dual-threat capability of quarterback Messiah Dorsey.
Dorsey has not generated the same numbers through the air as predecessors Deshaun Watson or Mikey Gonzalez but can put tremendous pressure on a defense with his feet.
“You have to play to a player’s strength,” Miller said. “Messiah can really break down a defense running the ball, which can then help us open up the passing game. It’s kind of been the other way around the last few years but I think we’re finding a way for Messiah and the offense to have more success.
“We’re not putting up the numbers we have been, but I think we’re good enough on offense to make a deep run (in the playoffs). The key for us is to limit our mistakes. If we do that, we can beat anyone. When we don’t, we can lose to anyone.”
