Big plays propel Elephants into AAA quarterfinals

GAINESVILLE - For the first time since 2005 the Gainesville football team will head to the third round of the Class AAA state playoffs.

The Red Elephants scored the first 28 points and then held off a second half rally to beat Cartersville 42-28 Friday night at Bobby Gruhn Field.

The first half was all Gainesville as the offense ran up and down the field while the second half saw the Gainesville defense make two big stops to preserve the win.

The Elephants (12-0) will take on Carver-Columbus next week. The home team will be determined by a coin flip on Saturday morning.

Teryan Rucker and Blake Sims had big games to lead the Gainesville offense. Rucker made the most of his touches with 91 yards rushing and one touchdown on just seven carries and another 96 yards passing on two catches, including an electrifying 95-yard TD pass that helped keep the Purple Hurricanes at bay.

Sims finished with 216 yards passing and three touchdowns for the game.

"We were able to jump on them early and that was huge," Gainesville coach Bruce Miller said. "Blake played well and Teryan made some big plays for us."

The defense, however, was not to be overshadowed. The Elephants forced four cartersville turnovers, including a huge fumble recovery for a touchdown by Austin Calvert in the pivotal first half.

Highly-tauted Cartersville quarterback Donavan Tate, the son of former University of Georgia running back Lars Tate, had a big game with 259 yards passing and TDs but the Gainesville made him earn it as he was just 18-for-38 on the night.

"I thought our defense played pretty well on the night," Miller said. "We had the big fumble recovery and the secondary got two big interceptions at key times. Cartersville was one of the most talented teams we've played all year."

Statistically the game was a dead-heat with Cartersville racking up 413 yards of offense and Gainesville piling up 421 yards of offense. The big plays by the Gainesville defense proved to be the difference leading to 14 points for the Elephants.

Now Gainesville will wait for the coin flip and then get ready to take on Carver-Columbus.

"We'll enjoy this for a couple of days and then get ready for Carver," Miller said. "The big thing is to win and to move on and we've done that. carver will be a huge challenge for us. But I like the way we're playing right now so I like our chances."