BUFORD — Buford finds itself in a position it hasn’t faced since before the start of the millenium.
The Wolves prepare this week to take on Bishop Timon-St. Jude out of Buffalo (N.Y.) on Friday night at Tom Riden Stadium trying to avoid their first 0-2 start to a season since 1998.
Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. and the action can be heard on WDUN AM 550 beginning with the Tailgate Show at 6 p.m.
While it may not be a familiar place for the Wolves -- who fell to Class AAAAAAA No. 2-ranked Roswell in a 24-7 loss two weeks ago -- the thought does not appear to have coach Jess Simpson and the rest of the staff overly concerned.
“Our goal is to be better at practice today,” Simpson said earlier in the week. “The record will take care of itself.”
Buford (0-1) certainly can be excused for dropping its first season-opener since 1998, considering the Hornets, like the Wolves, were coming off a state runner-up finish in 2015. Roswell lost to Colquitt County in the Class AAAAAA finals and came into the 2016 season among the favorites to get back to the Georgia Dome.
Also, the Wolves, who remained atop Class AAAAA despite the loss, are taking on another ambitious non-region schedule with the likes of Roswell, Bishop Timon, and Jeff Davis out of Montgomery -- a traditional power in Alabama trying to regain its swagger -- before jumping into its Region 8-AAAAA schedule, starting with Clarke Central on Sept. 30 on the road.
With two weeks to address any apparent weaknesses exposed by Roswell, Simpson said whatever those are it will be about working on themselves more than whether they have the personnel to match up.
“Roswell is a very talented and well-coached team,” he said. “We’ve worked on every area of our team these past two weeks. Our focus has been on ourselves.”
Bishop Timon, which is playing its season-opener, is led by junior quarterback Matt Myers, a potential Division I prospect, and possibly junior Division I prospect in offensive lineman Jeremiah Sanders. However, Sanders transferred to the private Catholic school just last week and is awaiting approval from the Monsignor Martin Association in New York. The move created a riff because of the timing of the move and triggered accusations of recruiting and tampering by the Tigers’ coaches, according to a story in the Buffalo News.
“They have a talented quarterback,” Simpson offered on the Tigers, who advanced to the second round of the New York state playoffs each of the past two seasons.
Despite last week's 24-point yield -- the most given up by a Buford defense since losing at McEachern last season -- the Wolves had their moments against a Roswell offense that averaged 41.6 points a game in 2015 in spite of tallying just 13 in the state finals.
Still, Simpson said more could have been done.
“We played three quarters of OK defense,” he said. “But four quarters of good defense is required to compete with an opponent like Roswell.”
Offensively Buford struggled against the Hornets’ big, fast defense and could face another challenge this week. Getting junior running backs Anthony Grant and Christian Turner, as well as senior quarterback Mic Roof unleashed, will be key.
“Finding guys that will play with great toughness and technique (is what we’re looking for),” Simpson said. “We’re still trying to find guys we can trust to play together for four quarters.”
BISHOP TIMON-ST. JUDE (BUFFALO, N.Y.) at BUFORD
-- WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
-- WHERE: Tom Riden Stadium, Buford
-- RADIO: WDUN AM 550
-- BISHOP TIMON-ST. JUDE (BUFFALO, N.Y.) (0-0): Season opener for the Tigers
-- BUFORD (0-1, 0-0 Region 8-AAAAA): Ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAA; bye last week; lost 24-7 to Roswell two weeks ago
-- NOTABLE: First-ever meeting between the two schools.
