But he didn't figure on his No. 1-ranked Elephants having to come-from-behind twice, at home, before pulling away late to beat Villa Rica 26-15 in the first round of the Class AAA state playoffs.
"We knew they were good and we knew it was going to be tough," Miller said. "We didn't help ourselves on offense until the last quarter-and-a-half. But we made plays down the stretch when we needed too and that's what good teams do."
Gainesville (11-0) advances to play Westminster next week at Bobby Gruhn Field. Westminster whipped Elbert County 35-0 to advance.
After falling behind 7-6 in the second quarter on the first of two Sergio Jones touchdowns for Villa Rica, Gainesville marched down the field and took a 12-7 lead into halftime on a quarterback sneak by Don Whitley with 18 seconds left in the first half.
Jones struck again early in the third quarter to give the Wildcats (7-4) a 14-12 lead.
That seemed to wake up the Gainesville offense. The Elephants took the next possession and a 3-yard pass from Don Whitley to Mel Hill in the corner of the end zone gave them a 19-15 lead they would never relinquish.
Joseph Maheffey scored from 7-yards out with 1:30 left in the game to put the game away.
Gainesville led just 6-0 early in the second quarter on two Will Williams field goals.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/11/168448