WINDER – It wasn’t easy, but Gainesville football flashed its tenacity in a 40-26 bounce back win at Winder-Barrow on Friday.
And after an extra week to reflect on a lopsided loss to Grayson in the season opener, the Red Elephants were more than happy to get back on the field and in the win column in their Region 8-AAAAA opener.
"I really didn't know what to expect tonight,” Gainesville coach Bruce Miller said. “We played Grayson and that's the only game we've played; they're a mighty good football team. But so are they (Winder).”
A big reason why is Bulldoggs running back Cece Green, and the senior standout had a night to remember, doing his best to haul Winder to a victory while rushing for 343 yards and two touchdowns. Green’s stellar effort helped Winder to out-gain Gainesville 541-346 in total yards.
Yet Red Elephants (1-1, 1-0 Region 8-AAAAA) quarterback Messiah Dorsey showed in his second start that he was also ready for the spotlight, manufacturing five touchdowns, three on the ground, to help Gainesville to an early lead that it never relinquished. Dorsey finished the night with 141 yards passing and 74 rushing.
Chris Byrd also put up 117 yards rushing for the Red Elephants, who pushed ahead to a 27-0 first half lead.
Winder began chipping its way back into the contest, but Gainesville answered to hold a 40-14 advantage with 11:54 remaining. The Bulldoggs (1-2, 1-1) weren’t finished, however, pulling within 40-21 on an 80-yard scoring run from Green.
They could not close the gap, however, as the Red Elephants held grimly to the victory.
“We had a hard time stopping that running back (Green). But I have to say, every time they would score our kids would answer,” Miller said. “At the end of the night all you can look at is 'hey we won it,’ and that's our goal every night we play is to win it. I'm proud of our guys for fighting and hanging in there. Winder's a very improved football team.
“(Dorsey) has just got to keep getting better and better I don't think we'll ever be to a point that we think we're good enough. We've got to keep working on the little things and getting better and better at things. We've got a lot of work to do, but you know you've got to keep improving at this point in the season. And that was a good win."
Gainesville picked off three Winder passes on the night.
The Red Elephants will play host to Apalachee next week.
Winder will travel to Loganville looking to bounce back.
