GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Twice within a month, Gainesville has had a chance to show that it could win the games that matter most.
For the second time, however, the Red Elephants were left pondering just what is needed to clear that final championship hurdle.
Milton, the top-ranked team in Class 5A and a squad many feel is the current gold standard in Georgia, left City Park Stadium late Friday night with a 42-24 victory and control of Region 7-5A as the regular season winds down to its final stages.
It was much the same story as their trek to No. 1 Carrollton (Class 6A) last month. Untimely penalties, little mistakes, and being unable to get off the field on third down turned a competitive game at halftime into a no-doubter by the fourth quarter.
Gainesville coach Josh Niblett knows his group is close but also knows it must find that final missing piece of the puzzle to attain championship status.
“As we talked about before, there are little things within the game that you got to take full advantage of, and if you don't, you know, it'll come back to bite you,” Niblett said afterward. “We get them backed up to start the second half, but then we just couldn't get off the field. Two or three times, we had them stopped on third, and then they convert on fourth down. We had some untimely penalties that hurt us.
“This was kind of a semifinal or final kind of match up and atmosphere. It’s the kind of game where you can gauge where you're at. So I think that's the critical part. We just gotta learn how to win these games. That's our next step in this program, and within our process is to learn how to win these games.”
Coupled with Roswell’s win over Chattahoochee on Friday, the loss dropped Gainesville (6-2, 3-1 Region 7-5A) into third place in the region standings behind the Eagles (8-0, 4-0 Region 7-5A) and the Hornets (6-1, 3-0 Region 7-5A). It was the first home loss for Gainesville since Niblett arrived in 2022.
The Red Elephants close out the season in two weeks against Roswell but first with travel to Chattahoochee next week. Finishing second and with a home playoff game to open the playoffs is still within their grasp.
But Niblett said they can't get ahead of themselves.
“We’re not concerned with the playoffs or anything like that right now,” he said. “We have Chattahoochee next week, and that’s our only focus starting on Monday.”
The opening minutes against Milton could not have gone worse for the Red Elephants.
Quarterback Kharim Hughley was sacked for 11 yards on the opening play as Gainesville went a very quick three-and-out. After a short punt, the Eagles needed just two plays as Luke Nickel found a wide-open Ethan Barbour for a 39-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead barely two minutes in.
The Red Elephants' second drive produced one first down—on a Milton roughing penalty—but ended in another punt as they committed two big penalties, including one that negated a 20-yard pass for a first down.
The Eagles followed with a 4-play drive, capped by a 23-yard TD pass from Nickel to Tristen Payne for a 14-0 lead just six minutes in.
But Gainesville found some traction over the final 17 minutes of the first half, as a 32-yard pass play from Hughley to Taz Smith ignited not only the offense but the entire sideline. That drive ended in a 31-yard field goal from Francisco Johnson, and then Trent Jones picked off a Nickel pass.
Two plays later, Hughley and Jeremiah Ware connected on an electrifying 73-yard bomb to cut the lead to 14-10 early in the second quarter.
Milton answered back as Nickel and Georgia-commit Ethan Barbour connected on a 55-yard touchdown pass to increase the Eagles’ lead to 21-10. That was the first of several moments where Big Red appeared to have stopped Milton, but a roughing-the-passer call kept the drive alive.
The Gainesville defense then stopped the Eagles on downs, and Hughley threw for 18 yards to Smith and 12 yards to Shane King before capping the quick drive with a 39-yard keeper around the right end to pull them within 21-17 by halftime.
Considering the 9 penalties for 105 yards in the first half, the second quarter rally was remarkable.
“We felt really good at halftime,” Niblett said.
But the Eagles showed their championship mettle in the second half. The Eagles outscored Gainesville 21-7 after halftime, all on TJ Lester touchdown runs as they took control on the ground. Nickel finished 18-of-31 for 286 yards, and Lester had 139 yards of rushing, 124 coming in the second half.
Gainesville was held to a season-low 54 yards rushing as the Red Elephants struggled against the Eagles’ powerful front-7 that came in with 53 TFLs on the season.
Hughley, still just a sophomore, was 13-of-25 passing for 232 yards, 1 TD and no interceptions. Carmelo Byrd was held to just 20 yards on 10 carries for the game.
