Gainesville’s first-year head coach Josh Niblett has validated the hype of his seven state titles won in Alabama by coaching the Red Elephants into the finals for the first time in 10 years.
On Friday, Gainesville takes on Hughes in the 6A final round of the GHSA State Playoffs. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on December 9 at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta.
Records, rankings: Gainesville is 14-0, the No. 1 seed from Region 8-6A and No. 4; Hughes is 14-0, the No. 1 seed from 5-6A and No. 1.
Last meeting: This is the teams’ first meeting.
Things to know: Gainesville was 5-5 last season in Class 7A but is one victory from its first state title since 2012 and first undefeated, untied season since 1925. First-year starting QB Baxter Wright has thrown for 3,152 yards and 38 touchdowns. Naim Cheeks has 2,316 yards from scrimmage, 1,775 rushing, and scored 23 touchdowns. Leading tackler Jeremiah Telander, a linebacker committed to Tennessee, is the team’s only major Power 5-conference commit.
Hughes has a trove of committed D-I talent that includes DB Terrance Love (Auburn), DL Josh Horton (Miami), OL Bo Hughley (Georgia) and TE Jelani Thurman (Ohio State). Hughes has two 1,000-yard rushers (Jekail Middlebrook and Justus Savage) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Jaden Barnes). Prentiss “Air” Noland has thrown for 3,832 yards. His 52 TD passes are four short of the state record set by Macon County’s K’Hari Lane in 2016.
The Panthers need two points to break the state record for points in a season set by Rome with 758 in 2017. They can become the first team in GHSA history to score at least 40 points in every game, and they can become the second, after Valdosta in 1971, to beat every opponent by more than 20 points.
Hughes, a south Fulton County school that opened in 2009, was the 2021 runner-up to Buford. The Panthers have been ranked No. 1 since preseason. They’ve never won a state title.
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