Gainesville blitzes Oconee early, sets up Monroe showdown

GAINESVILLE -- Gainesville exploded for 34 second quarter points en route to a 66-7 demolition of Oconee County Friday night in a key Region 8B-AAA game at City Park Stadium.

The Red Elephants (5-1, 2-0 Region 8B-AAA) started quickly with Deshaun Watson connecting with Stephen Mason for a 49-yard bomb on the first play of the game that set up a 6-yard touchdown run by RayRay Thomas three plays and just 38 seconds later.

After a Damian Grayson interception of a Oconee County pass on the Warriors' next possession, Thomas capped a quick 58 second drive with another touchdown run for a 13-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

It stayed that way until the second quarter when Watson hit Mason for a TD pass and then scored on a quarterback sneak after Oconee County (2-4, 0-2) fumbled the ensuing kickoff to spark a three touchdown explosion in a two minute period for a 47-7 halftime lead.

Gainesville finished with a staggering 707 total yards for the game. And it was a balanced attack. The Red Elephants pounded out 384 yards rushing, led by 96 from Harrison on his one carry and 89 yards from Thomas. They got 323 yards passing from Watson and Mikey Gonzalez to 10 different receivers. Watson finished with 223 yards and Gonzalez added 100 yards.

The Red Elephants have now scored 250 points in their five-game winning streak and allowed just 38 points in that span.

Gainesville will have a shot next week to put a stranglehold on the top spot in the subregion playing host to a very talented Monroe Area team at City Park. The Purple Hurricanes (5-1, 2-0) are coming off a win over Walnut Grove. The winner will own the head-to-head tiebreaker with two regular season games remaining.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/10/242595