The Gainesville High School Big Red Machine Marching Band and cheerleaders will drum and leap to new heights as they rev up the crowd and players for the Class AAA semifinal state playoff against undefeated Screven County.

The football team's rise to the top has created a grand opportunity for the marching band and cheerleaders to show their stuff too.

"My concept is that it's as much everybody's opportunity as it is the football players'," said band director Larry Miller.

Head cheerleading coach Lara Freeman agreed.

"This is a once in a lifetime chance for the girls to cheer and be televised," she said.

The 114 member ensemble of instrumentalists, flag twirlers, dancers, and majorettes will perform the same award-winning half-time show that's rallied the crowd back home at Bobby Gruhn Stadium.

Beaming their slogan, "Attitude in your face," the Big Red Machine will belt out Michael Jackson tunes, "Bad," "Tornado," "Thriller," "Beat It," and "Ease on Down The Road." The performance earned 23 awards at a recent festival in Dallas.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for the band to expose our talents and help support our football team," said flute player Hillary Pierce.

The 18-member cheerleading squad has been drilling new acrobatic routines for the Dome appearance. Few Gainesville fans have seen a Red Elephant cheerleader "fly." That's what Leigh-Anne Gross and DoAnn Bui will be doing to make audience eye-contact at the dome, where the performance field is below the first row of seats.

In a new series of stunts, Gross and Bui will be hoisted, tossed, and steadied on teammates' shoulders to reach a height where spectators can see them.

Cheerleaders have crafted noisemakers to give to supporters at the Dome, Freeman said.

A semi-final win at the Dome would bring the Red Elephants back home the following week to play for the state championship. But, whether that happens or not, their marching and cheering classmates appreciate their drive toward the top.

"We're very proud of the football team," senior cheerleader Molly Childers said. "This is so special our senior year. To go so far is something we've always wanted to do."