COAL MOUNTAIN — Gainesville football coach Heath Webb tried to warn his team after last week’s shocking and thrilling 27-21 upset win over Mary Persons to be on the lookout for the letdown against North Forsyth.
They didn’t see the memo apparently.
The Red Elephants could never duplicate their dominating ground attack against the Raiders, who stymied their offense in a 21-7 loss at Raider Valley Friday night.
One week after chewing up a good Bulldogs defense for 344 yards rushing, Gainesville (1-1) managed just 138 yards on the ground against North Forsyth (1-1). They had just 174 total yards for the game as quarterback Gionni Williams struggled in a 5-for-17 night passing.
North Forsyth took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run from Jared Lucero and extended its lead to 14-0 by halftime on a 4-yard TD pass from Brady Meitz to Nicky Dalmolin.
The Raiders made it 21-0 in the third quarter when Meitz scored from 1-yard out to cap a 64-yard drive.
Gainesville finally got on the board late in the third quarter on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Williams to DJ Miller to cut the lead to 21-7. But the Red Elephants could get no closer.
The Red Elephants will hit the road again next week to take on their second straight Region 5-7A opponent in Lambert. The Longhorns beat Gainesville 16-15 in 2018 on a last-second field goal.
