As storied as Gainesville High School football is, it took 99 years for its first state championship, remarkably winning it in 2012, the first year the school jumped two classifications into AAAAA. The Red Elephants, however, had come close several times and might well have been unofficial state champions during their most successful years 1923-25, going undefeated while rolling up huge scores and holding the opponents to no or a minimum of points. The streak started in 1923 when fans lined the sidelines or sat on the embankments at City Park to watch the games. No grandstands, no lights.