Pressure is what a team makes of it. It could become a driving force to stay at the top. Heavy expectations also can become a burden and take the focus away from action on the field.

We’ll probably get a chance to see how Gainesville High’s football program can handle a new set of expectations this week. The Red Elephants (3-0) should ascend to the top spot in Class AAA, as a result of losses by No. 1 Carver-Columbus and No. 3 Flowery Branch to Creekview last Friday. Carver shouldn’t drop too far since its loss was to Class AAAAA’s seventh-ranked Northside-Warner Robins.

However, it will be Gainesville that controls its own destiny as to whether it stays on top of the polls for the remainder of the regular season. High expectations are nothing new to circulate around this program with a buzz that the Red Elephants would be a state title contender, which started circulating well before the season even began.

Players will be talking about their new-found status among the state’s top teams. Coaches can only pray that a state poll ranking doesn’t curtail the momentum that Gainesville’s team is currently playing with, especially with rival North Hall (1-1) visiting City Park on Friday night.

If the polls do in fact put Gainesville on top this week, the Red Elephants need look no further than last season for a team to model itself after. In an almost carbon-copy of what is probably about to take place, Carver dropped out of the No. 1 spot after Week 3 last season, following a 22-0 loss to Baldwin. Carver’s loss put Cairo in the No. 1 spot, which it held the remainder of the regular season and eventually won the state title.

However, Gainesville shouldn’t put too much emphasis on the polls. The Red Elephants were doing just fine without the top spot in the polls in hand. Gainesville’s subregion games that lay ahead, especially the season finale against Flowery Branch (2-1), will decide the playoff seeding and region title. That is clearly much more important than any No. 1 spot in the state polls could amount to during the regular season.

Another program that has handled the pressure in recent seasons well has been Buford (2-1). Before last Friday’s loss at Lovett, the Wolves were unwavering in their approach to taking one game at a time. Even with a loss, the Wolves will be a program to contend with for the Class AA state title. That loss by Buford snapped a 32-game winning streak, 49 -game regular season winning strek and 58-game region winning streak all at once.