BREAKING: Gainesville wins in court; suspended players will play against Langston Hughes in 5A quarterfinals

The Gainesville football team filed and won an injunction on Wednesday to reinstate each of 34 players who were ruled ineligible for the Red Elephants’ quarterfinals matchup against Langston Hughes this Friday. A superior court judge granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to allow the players to take the field.

The program – under the legal guidance of lawyer Creighton Lancaster -- pled its case to a Hall County court citing that the players’ suspensions, which stemmed from a sideline-clearing fight against Brunswick in the second round, should be overturned and their players were acting in self-defense. Northeastern Judicial Circuit Judge Clint Bearden heard the case, in which Lancaster argued that the GHSA did not appropriately apply the bylaw regarding players who enter the field during altercations and that the governing body should recognize self defense as a right.

"I am overjoyed with excitement for our kids," Gainesville Athletic Director Adam Lindsey said in a statement. "I hate that it had to come to this (injunction), but in the end it is about what is best for our kids. Go Big Red!"

The four players who were involved in the initiation of the fight will still sit out the quarterfinals matchup.

The video evidence showed a Brunswick player initiate the fight by removing one and then another Gainesville players helmets. Seconds later, another Brunswick player line-drive spear tackled a defenseless Gainesville player. The sidelines then cleared and chaos ensued.