Three minutes into the game, Gainesville High's Christian Gomez's shot struck the crossbar.

Six minutes later, Johnson High's Edgar Ochoa took the rebound off his missed shot and hit a hard strike into the back of the net to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

While those events proved how hard-fought the game was, the biggest strike of the night came from lightning, which ended the game with 15:31 left in the first half.

The Area 8-AAA championship between the No. 4 Red Elephants (13-2, 10-0) and No. 5 Knights (13-2, 10-1) will resume where it left off on a date to be determined.

While the boys game ended abruptly, the girls got their game in, and it proved to enlarge the bevy of teams vying for a spot in the Class AAA playoffs.

Gainesville's Hartley Carter found Mary Katherine Dempsey for a goal in the first half to give the Lady Red Elephants a 1-0 win and ruin Johnson's bid for an area championship.

"It's been an up and down season," Gainesville coach Mark Wade said. "We needed a big win."

The Lady Red Elephants (11-5, 8-3) couldn't have picked a better time for a critical win. Gainesville's victory, combined with Chestatee's win over West Hall, creates a five-way tie for third place in the area.

Those five teams are all chasing the sixth-ranked Lady Knights (12-2-1, 10-1).

"I hate it for Johnson," Wade said. "But it's been a long time since we've been on the good side of a tight game.