"We want to be where Flowery Branch is," Howard said of his region rivals and the defending 7-AAA champions. "They've got what we want."
On Friday, Gainesville showed it's serious about clinching those goals, scoring twice in the second half in a 2-0 victory over the ninth-ranked Falcons at City Park.
Yonis Yanes and Russ Puckett provided the winning margin, Yanes scoring early in the second stanza, while Puckett sealed the win with a strike 10 minutes from the final whistle.
The goals capped a measured performance from the Red Elephants (6-1, 2-0 Region 7-AAA), in which Gainesville produced more scoring opportunities and grew in confidence as the game progressed.
Much of that was due to the play of the Red Elephants' forwards -- including Yanes and Puckett -- who went from anonymous in the first half to dominating at times in the second half.
"I challenged them at halftime. I was really upset with them," Howard said. "But they worked it out."
Gainesville's strikers worked it out by working harder -- running to open up space for the Red Elephants' midfielders and giving their teammates better angles for passes.
Their determination paid off early in the second half, as Yanes ran onto a throw-in deep on the Flowery Branch right flank, turned a defender in the Falcons penalty area and blasted his shot into the far side of the Flowery Branch goal.
The strike gave the Red Elephants a 1-0 advantage with 35:41 left to play.
"That was a sweet turn and shot," Howard noted.
But it didn't seal the outcome.
The Falcons (5-3-1, 2-1) battled throughout, using quick counterattacks and precision set-plays to keep Gainesville from building on their growing momentum.
Memo Rodriguez nearly leveled the match for Flowery Branch just a minute after the Red Elephants took the lead, volleying just over the Gainesville goal from 18 yards.
"It could have gone either way," Howard said. "They really put us under pressure back there, but Phillip Gaines played well in goal and our defense played well."
After a tightly played first half -- when the ball spent most of the time in midfield -- the first goal began to open things up, and Yanes almost put Gainesville two up with 33 minutes left, firing a shot off the Falcons' goalpost.
Rodriguez then headed a rocket shot right at Gaines off a Flowery Branch corner kick.
Yet the Red Elephants' chances carried more bite -- though sophomore midfielder Monish Lahiry fired high on two clear opportunities midway through the second half.
Lahiry and Puckett made up for the misfires with 10 minutes remaining, however, playing some slick short passes up the Falcons left wing before Lahiry put the junior striker in open space 16 yards from the Flowery Branch goal.
Puckett capitalized on the lay-off, drilling a shot into the left corner of the goal past a stranded Zach Clark.
The victory set off wild celebrations in which Puckett was cautioned for pulling off his shirt -- one of four yellow cards on the night (two for each team).
"It was a physical game but it wasn't dirty," Howard said. "They really battled, and so did we."
Lahiry, Gabriel Osorio and Aidan Riesing clashed with Brannon Lloyd and Edgar Medrano throughout the game, each pulling off impressive moves and drawing the occasional "ahh" from the crowd -- fitting for a key 7-AAA battle.
Yet Howard knows that one win doesn't mean a whole lot in this deep region.
"We've got to keep developing," Howard said. "We've got to come out every single game and do this."
Maybe then they can have what the Falcons already have.
Gainesville will travel to Creekview on March 13.
Flowery Branch will travel to take on No. 6 West Hall on Tuesday.
Gainesville's Monish Lahiry gets shoved to the ground by a Flowery Branch defender during the Red Elephants' 2-0 win at City Park on Friday.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/3/218407