THOMASVILLE — Strength will meet strength Friday night in the third round of the Class AAA playoffs in Gainesville.
The hard-charging Gainesville Red Elephants will go after their 13th straight win with a least 30 points. Their opponent, the defending state champion Cairo Syrupmakers, have allowed more than a touchdown just three times this year.
The two will collide at Bobby Gruhn Field.
“All you’ve got to do is look at the people on paper,” Cairo coach Tom Fallaw said. “When you’re averaging 40 and only giving up six, I’d definitely say they’re, by far, the most talented team we’ve seen.”
Gainesville’s spread offense, which has scored at least 34 points in every game, features a pair of future Division I players, led by quarterback Blake Sims. The senior, who is committed to Alabama, has accounted for more than 40 touchdowns this year. His favorite target is future Notre Dame receiver T.J. Jones. Jones has tallied 20 touchdowns this year.
“We think their two players remind us a little bit more of the two kids we played in the state finals at Carver-Columbus,” said Fallaw, referring to quarterback DeRon Furr and wide receiver Jarmon Fortson. “I’d say that they’re pretty similar in that they can make plays and they can win games.”
Cairo’s plan to stop them is easier said than done.
“You don’t contain those kids. I mean, you really don’t. We’ll go in with the same plan that we probably had the year that we played Carver,” Fallaw said. “What you’ve got to know is that those two kids are going to make their plays. You try to minimize what everybody else does around them and hope that you can minimize them enough that you can score enough to win. It’s going to be tough.
“A couple of years ago, Furr and Fortson came down with a minute and a half to go and broke our hearts. The same thing could happen this year or they could blow us out. I don’t know. You’re not going to contain good players. You just hope to slow them down a little bit.”
Adding to Fallaw’s dilemma is trying to scheme against an experienced offensive line. All five of Gainesville’s blockers have started three year in a row. That has only made an explosive offense even more dangerous.
“Our offensive line, we can do so much with them because they’ve been starting for so long,” Gainesville coach Bruce Miller said. “When we went to the spread three years ago, our running game was pretty nonexistent. Our running game has come around and really been a staple for us. Teryan Rucker and Tyson Smith have been our running backs, and they’ve done a great job. Plus, Sims is very capable of pulling the ball down and taking off.”
Fallaw added, “I think the fact that they’re so good at quarterback and at receivers, it’s opened up their running game. Their running game is good, but those two players really make a difference. That’s kind of given the running game a chance to grow.”
According to Fallaw, Gainesville’s high-octane scoring attack makes a difficult defense much tougher to score against.
The Red Elephants have pitched six shutouts this year.
“They’ve got great players, don’t get me wrong, they do everything solid,” Fallaw said. “It helps your defense a bunch when your offense is scoring. It just provides confidence for everybody.”
Local Sports
Syrupmakers concerned about Red Elephants' explosive offense
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