GHSA announces possible delay of football Class 5A state semis

The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) has indefinitely postponed the Class AAAAA Gainesville–Langston Hughes until further notice due to a challenge of the judge’s ruling made last week that granted the Red Elephants a request for an injunction against the governing body of Georgia high school sports.

Now it could potentially impact three other teams in the process, according to a report.

A report on Saturday afternoon said the GHSA released a statement regarding the remaining teams in the association’s Class 5A high school football playoffs, which are Roswell, Thomas County Central and Rome. Per the report, the statement from the GHSA came from media liaison Marvin James.

Saturday morning, GHSA Executive Director Tim Scott notified the remaining Class 5A football playoff teams that the Thomas County Central–Roswell semifinal, scheduled December 5th, could potentially be postponed.

On Monday afternoon, GHSA will meet virtually with all parties involved—including Thomas County Central, Roswell, and the district athletic directors—to determine the next steps and finalize a plan moving forward.

The GHSA is filed an appeal to the ruling made by Hall County Superior Court Judge Clint Bearden in giving Gainesville an injunction that would’ve allowed all 35 suspended players to play in the state quarterfinal against Langston Hughes.

The Georgia governing body had initially decided to suspend 39 Gainesville players, but decided to uphold 35 of those suspensions and to not suspend four Red Elephant athletes.

According to an attorney from a 11Alive report, the legal battle between the GHSA and Gainesville could drag on until next season if played out under normal circumstances of how a court process goes.

“We’re not sure where it’s going to go, or how it’s going to end, or how many players will or will not play,” attorney Darryl Cohen said via the report. “We would call it a case of first impression. I call it a case of crazy impression. Never seen anything or heard anything like it before, and I hope we don’t again.”

“If we really play out the legal process, this could go on until next season. The judge will make a ruling, whoever he or she is, and then we’ll go from there. That can be appealed as well.”

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