Gainesville's performance against Class 7A's second-ranked offense was the highlight of Week 9.
The Red Elephants held South Forsyth to 14 points en route to a 28-14 win and is tied at the top of the Region 6-7A standings with Denmark.
It was part of a Week 9 that saw Habersham Central upset Lanier in a big way. Cherokee Bluff roll against Lumpkin to stay atop the Region 7-3A standings with North Hall and Dawson County. Flowery Branch held on to beat Cedar Shoals and remains in the hunt for a home playoff game in Class 4A. North Hall rolled past Gilmer and Dawson County put away West Hall, setting up a possible epic ending to the season.
This week's key battles: Cherokee Bluff heads to Dawson County in a key region showdown for the top spot. Gainesville plays host to West Forsyth. If the Red Elephants win, they'll stay atop the region standings. And Buford travels across Buford Highway to play Lanier.
Friday Game Night checked in with the area’s coaches to find out how Week 9 played out, and what are the keys to getting a win this week.
You can track these games on the FGN Twitter page @FridayGameNight or the live scoreboard at www.accesswdun.com/fridaygamenight. Below are comments from the area’s coaches:
Cherokee Bluff's Tommy Jones on Dawson County ...
"Dawson has another outstanding, well-coached football team. As usual, they are playing their best football late in the season. Offensively, they have a ton of playmakers and are extremely explosive. In addition to being very talented defensively, they are both schematically and fundamentally sound. Just like any game, it is imperative that our players fully understand their job and execute it with great effort. We need to play clean, fast, and fundamental one play at a time."
Chestatee's Shaun Conley on a Thursday game against No. 2 Jefferson ...
"Since it’s 1 day we have kept the same practice schedule for our kids. We try and keep it the same for them week to week as much as we can. As far as Jefferson, obviously they are a very talented team- we are going to try and limit their big plays and we must take advantage of any opportunities they give us."
Commerce's Michael Brown on Social Circle ...
Social Circle is playing really good football right now. They are very athletic and well-coached. The kids are playing hard and playing with confidence. As always, we will need to execute the game plan offensively and do a great job of playing disciplined football on both sides of the ball to give ourselves a chance to be successful."
Dawson County's Sid Maxwell on Cherokee Bluff ...
"Coach [Tommy] Jones and his staff have done a tremendous job. Their team is very well-coached in all phases of the game. The team is much improved going into their third year of the school's existence, and the new transfers have added more explosions to an already skilled team.
"The key for us is preventing their big-play potential and taking care of the football. We need to focus on our game and keep improving on doing the little things in all three phases of the game. Our goal is to get better each week as we head toward the playoffs."
East Jackson's Cameron Pettus on playing Franklin County ...
"I know Franklin County is 6-1, and they have a very good running game and solid defense. They are playing really good football and finding ways to win very close games. Defensively, we have to stop the run. It's that simple, but so hard to do because they execute really well and they are physical. We have to score points and we must run the ball and continue to capitalize on our offense on our RPO's and play action. We already have the leading passer in school history on the season, and we need continued great play from our quarterback Greg Huggs, wide receivers Randy Smith, RJ White, Luke Lindsey and Dylan Jones and tight ends Tyler Crowe and Ethan Ardis. Ultimately, it will boil down to our line play on both sides of the ball, if we play well and physically I like our chances. Go Eagles!"
Flowery Branch's Ben Hall on Madison County ...
"​Madison County is a talented and well-coached team fighting for a playoff spot. We need to execute in all phases and avoid turnovers. We expect a very physical game from a team that made the quarterfinals last season."
Jefferson's Gene Cathcart on playing a Thursday game against Chestatee ...
"It is usual in that everything is not only moved up one full day - but the kick-off being on a school night is 30 mins earlier at 7:00 so both teams will have adjustments to make. [Chestatee coach] Shaun [Conley] is an outstanding coach that I have been friends with a long time and he, his staff and program have been through more than their share of injuries and adversity this season. This time of year when “the frost is on the pumpkin” good teams win games they are supposed to win They come out and play well from the get-go and realize that their goals extend past just that night’s game. They are extending a trajectory of momentum for their journey upwards, hopefully, or downwards, that is so important this time of year At this point in this season, especially, everyone is missing players for various reasons and teams may suffer, but programs are built to be able for the wheel to roll on, even when the spokes have to change -- and we aspire to always be such a program."
Lumpkin County's Caleb Sorrells on White County ...
"I know that they are a really good football team. Coach [Tim] Cokely has done such a great job. They play hard, they are physical, but they also have the athletes to hurt you on the perimeter. J Ben [Haynes] is obviously a spectacular player, but he's not a one-man show. He is part of a really good team, and we will have to continue to get better this week. Again, we are more concerned with us than the opponent. There are things we have identified that we are going to work to improve this week, and we'll ask the kids to go out and compete on Friday."
Rabun County's Jaybo Shaw on Elbert County ...
"Elbert is coached very well by coach [Shannon] Jarvis and his staff. They have done a great job of getting their playmakers the ball in different ways on offense, while also giving a team multiple looks to prepare for. On the defensive side, they are very opportunistic. They had multiple takeaways against Union last week. Their defense is very aggressive and is coached very well.
Our number one key no matter who the opponent is will be playing our brand of football, which is playing with relentless effort in all three phases of the game as well as being as physical as possible. Obviously, turnovers will play a major role in a game like this so we will need to take care of the football on offense and try to force a turnover on defense."
Towns County's Jason Roquemore on Greene County ...
On tape, Greene County is improving each week. For us to have an opportunity to win, we are going to do a much better job tackling in space on defense. We have had way too many missed tackles the last couple of weeks. Offensively, we are going to have to establish the LOS and run the football against their athletic front seven."
West Hall's Krofton Montgomery on Gilmer ...
Gilmer is a tough hard-nosed physical team that plays hard for four quarters. The keys to the game are field position, win the turnover battle and execute in all three phases of the game."
White County's Tim Cokely on Lumpkin County ...
"The off week really helped our team. We are as healthy as we have been in a while. We are having fun at practice and our execution is getting better. We look forward to the three big region games we have remaining. Lumpkin is a rivalry that goes back a long time. Our players look forward to this game as much as any of them. We are excited to be playing at home in front of the Warrior nation and can't wait to play."
