It’s Hall County’s premier rivalry, born of proximity and strengthened in recent years by two of the area’s top teams.
In the 52 years Gainesville and North Hall have fielded football teams, they’ve met only 21 times, with the Red Elephants winning 17, often in dominating fashion.
But since the rivalry was renewed in 2002 after an 11-year hiatus, it’s become much more competitive, with Gainesville winning three of the last five meetings, including the No. 1 game in our list of the series’ best.
1. Both teams entered that Friday night at The Brickyard unbeaten. A fight to the finish was expected and inarguably delivered.
The Trojans scored 14 straight in the fourth quarter on touchdown runs from Hunter Wolf and Fabian Jackson to take a seven-point lead late in the game.
That’s when Gainesville quarterback Justin Fordham took over. The junior led the Red Elephants on a 77-yard drive in the final two minutes. With time dwinding and Gainesville 10 yards from the end zone, the Trojan pass rush closed in, forcing Fordham from the pocket for what turned into an incredible touchdown scramble that ended with four seconds left.
Gainesville was set to tie the game with the extra point, but after a North Hall offsides penalty, coach Bruce Miller opted for the fateful two-point conversion, sending Kendrick Harris into the end zone behind Nick Claytor, C.J. Woods and Bo Wren.
2. A year after the Trojans’ first win in the series, North Hall won again — still the only time the school has taken two straight over its rival.
The teams ended the second quarter tied, 7-7, then entered the fourth quarter tied at 13.
What turned out to be the winning touchdown came with seven minutes at the end of an eight-play drive capped by a 5-yard run by Brad Boykin. Chris Baumgardner kickstarted the march with a 38-yard punt return, and Trojans quarterback Ben Corley kept it alive, completing an 11-yard pass to John Hollifield on fourth and six immediately before Boykin’s touchdown run.
Gainesville had a chance to answer, driving 14 plays deep into Trojan territory. On fourth and goal from the North Hall 18, Red Elephants quarterback Marshall Melvin was forced to scramble, running through tacklers before being dropped at the 2-yard line with less than a minute left.
3. The Red Elephants seized an early 14-0 lead over the Trojans — the defending Region 7-AAA champs — and held on late for a win at The Brickyard.North Hall rallied to tie the game on an 18-yard Bobby Epps run in the third quarter and battled back after a 40-yard Brandon Cobb run for Gainesville with a 67-yard strike from Brandon Garcia to Derek Rich.
The Red Elephants finally put the game away in the fourth quarter when P.J. Davis broke loose on a 52-yard end-around, setting up a 1-yard score for Jeff Greene.
The game was also remembered as the Hall County debut of Hurricane Katrina evacuee Kendrick Lewis, who currently starts in the Ole Miss defensive backfield. He caught six passes for 58 yards in the Gainesville win.
4. The Trojans ended 11 games and 15 years of frustration with their first win over Gainesville, and earned their first region playoff berth in the process. The North Hall fans showed how important the win was, tearing down both goal posts in the game’s aftermath.The Trojans were down 13-0 early, but behind touchdown runs from Chris Baumgardner and Bobby Blackwell, North Hall took a 14-13 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Ben Corley provided the final margin on a 4-yard quarterback keeper late in the third quarter.