High school football: Tenacious defense a big part of success for No. 5 Gainesville

Oct. 13—Gainesville's football program has understandably garnered a lot of attention for its 6-0 start to the 2022 season.

It's just as understandable that the team's offense has been a major focal point for that attention.

After all, the fifth-ranked Red Elephants (6-0, 2-0 Region 8-6A) have lit up the scoreboard whole season, averaging 37.8 points per game and breaking the 30-point barrier in all but one game behind a plethora of playmakers.

The Gainesville defense has kind of flown a little bit more under the radar, but a closer look reveals that the unit has been just as important part of the team's big start to the season by holding opposing offenses to just 13.8 points per game.

It will also likely play a big role as the Red Elephants head down the home stretch of the regular season toward its quest for a Region 8-6A championship and a berth in the Class 6A state playoffs, starting with Friday night's game against Habersham Central (2-4, 0-2) at City Park Stadium.

The fact that the defense has kept a little lower profile doesn't seem to bother the individual members of the unit.

In fact, it seems those members prefer keeping laser focused on getting their individual and collective jobs done.

"We've got to stay in the present time," said senior linebacker Jeremiah Telander, who currently leads the Red Elephants with 45 combined tackles and assists, including four tackles for loss, and an interception. "We can't think about 6-0. We can't think about playoffs or (a) region championship. We just have to focus on practice and what we put in to beat the team that we're playing that Friday and just do our assignments, run to the ball and have fun, and we'll take care of business."

Taking care of business is something the defensive unit has had in mind from Day 1 since head coach Josh Niblett and his staff, including defensive coordinator Steve Davis, took over in January.

And looking at the results, it seems that plan has come together relatively quickly.

That's is true, but as Davis point out, the results thus far from the defense aren't quite as simple as drawing a straight line from January to today.

"We came in, the whole defensive staff, learning the kids," Davis said. "We didn't know who could play what (positions) or where. We kind of heard, but that (process has) been most of, man, a large part of April, May, June, July.

"We get into the first week of August, (and) we're a four-man front team. Then we became a three-man front. We felt like we tried (the four-man front). We're kind of learning the kids ... and kind of adjusted to kids strengths, and it took us a while. It's still taking us a while, but we're kind of finding our way right now at what our kids can do at just the right time to finish these last four (regular season) games and hope we make a good run in the playoffs.

There are other factors that make the defensive unit's adjustments and quick change in direction even more impressive.

For starters, as Niblett points out, the Red Elephants had to make adjustments to their own system, but also to the dramatically varied offensive systems of the opponents they've faced so far this fall.

"I've been really excited about our defense and the things they've had to face this year," Niblett said. "Starting the year off against Marist, which runs the triple-option, which is totally different from any other (opponent). So now, you've got to get ready for that, and our guys did a heck of a job that week. Our staff did a good job of getting our guys ready, and our guys believed in what we were doing.

"We go from that to the next week (against Mountain View against an offense that sends) four or five (receivers) wide and throwing it vertical about every rep. Then we faced teams that wanted to be physical in the box. Then you face a team that's a little more of a wing-T team. So we've seen a bunch of different looks from an offensive perspective, but I can't say enough about that group."

Furthermore, it wasn't just a new coaching staff and a bunch of different opponents' schemes the Gainesville defense had to adapt to.

They also had to get to know each other.

In addition to a few players who transferred into the program, like Telander (from North Hall) and fellow linebacker Carmelo Byrd (from Lanier), there were plenty of other new faces in the locker room just from incoming freshmen and from sophomores who spent more time with the Red Elephants' junior varsity team from a year ago.

However, Byrd — who is also among the unit's leaders with 25 combined tackles, two TFLs, three interceptions and a forced fumble — says that it didn't take long for the holdovers and newcomers to the program to form a bond and chemistry that has helped lead to the success the unit, and the whole team, has experienced.

"We built that bond from the summer coming in," said Byrd, who is originally from Gainesville and returned to the school system after moving to the Lanier district in Gwinnett County in eighth grade. "We worked ... all summer, and me being (one of) the youngest on the team and I'm playing with a whole bunch of seniors, it pushes me not to take a play off."

That chemistry, as well as the extra sense of purpose instilled by the new coaching staff, has also helped create what has become two other strengths of the Gainesville defense.

One of which is its depth. The Red Elephants have gotten plenty of production from veterans like Tennessee-commit Telander and fellow seniors like cornerbacks Dre Raven and Elias Ballard, linemen Stacy Hopkins, Jarrious Harris and Adarian Cheek and linebackers Nasir Summerour and Luke Cooper.

However, they've also gotten surprising contributions from younger players like sophomores Byrd, Julius Columbus and Cash O'Callaghan and freshman Kadin Fossung.

"It's a lot of guys," Niblett said. "It's not like we play the same 11 the whole game. We're playing close to 20 guys on defense throughout a game. So there's a lot to be said for that, for our kids, for our staff.

"We're continuously trying to add depth ... on a day-to-day basis. By doing that, it allows us to still be (in games) in the fourth quarter, and that's where we want to be."

The other strength that everyone agrees has been a big factor in the defense's success is an aggressive approach that leaves the unit in attack mode.

"One thing about our defense is we run to the ball very well, all 11 guys on the ball," Telander said. "Coach (Niblett) preaches that all the time, and we practice that. So that's a big thing for us."

It's an approach that Niblett and Davis has hammered home from the beginning, and one that has been reinforced by facing the high-powered Red Elephants offense in practice every day.

"We play against the best offense every day (in practice), Monday through Friday," Byrd said. "I mean, once you come (into a game after practicing) against this offense and you're playing another team, they don't match up to what we see on a daily basis.

"I think that improves most of the offensive guys and most of the defensive guys. I think we impact on each other."

Friday's games

Cherokee Bluff vs. Walnut Grove

Chestatee vs. North Hall

Flowery Branch vs. Jefferson

Gainesville vs. Habersham Central

Johnson vs. Towns County

Riverside Military vs. Bethlehem Christian

West Hall vs. White County

BYE: East Hall, Lanier Christian, Lakeview Academy