BUFORD — Jones County showed that it could indeed put up some passing yards on the Buford defense on Friday.
But not nearly enough -- certainly not when the game was in the balance.
Buford's defense yielded a couple of big plays to the Greyhounds' prolific air attack in the first half but more than made up for it via its dominating ground game and stellar defensive play overall en route to a 56-26 win at Tom Riden Stadium.
The Wolves (11-1) pounded out 350 yards on the ground, including 115 for Anthony Grant and 100 for Christian Turner, as Buford stormed into the state quarterfinals for a 17th consecutive season.
The No. 1 seeded Wolves will also get to play at home in the "Elite Eight," as second-seeded Carrollton upset top-seeded Thomas County Central to give Buford home field advantage for the third round.
Carrollton would do well to bone up its run defense. The Wolves showed that their run game is hitting its stride on Friday, pounding the ball early and often -- including on the opening drive, as Grant capped a seven-play, 67-yard drive with a eight-yard scoring run for a 7-0 lead.
Buford's defense forced a punt, and then it was a case of lather, rinse, repeat -- though it was Christian Turner scoring from three yards to make it 14-0 with 5:29 left in the first quarter. Turner finished the contest with four scoring runs, averaging 6.7 yards per carry along the way.
The visitors got their offense on track with their second possession, as the Greyhounds made use of a long completion, personal foul penalty and a long scramble from quarterback Bradley Hunnicutt to set up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Hunnicutt to Drae Butts to pull within 14-6, with 3:06 left in the quarter.
It proved Jones County's high-water mark.
Buford responded with four straight touchdowns -- two on either side of halftime -- to put the contest out of reach before the Greyhounds finally got back on the board, by that time trailing 42-12.
Jones County finished the contest with 218 total yards -- 125 of that through the air -- but the Greyhounds managed just 77 total yards before the half against a Buford defense buoyed by the return from injury of linebacker TD Roof. A physical contest also took a toll on the Wolves, however, as senior defensive back Joshua Blackwell left the game with an arm injury and did not return.
Buford finished with 477 total yards, converting on 8 of 9 third down attempts. Those numbers also reflected a strong night for the Wolves' own passing game, as quarterback Mic Roof completed 8 of 14 passes for 127 yards, including a touchdown pass to Tanner Alexander. Derrian Brown also ripped off a 76-yard touchdown for the Wolves and finished 79 yards on just two carries.
