ATLANTA - Buford coach Jess Simpson said earlier in the week the thing that concerned him most as his Class AA No. 1-ranked Wolves prepared to take on rival Lovett was whether his young defense could stop the experienced and high-flying Lions' offense.
His concerns proved valid as Lovett ran out to a quick 28-7 lead behind quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff in the first half and then held on in the final moments to stun Buford 28-21 in both teams' Region 6-AA opener.
The loss for the Wolves (2-1, 0-1 in region) snapped their 32-game win streak and ended their streak of 50 consecutive regular season victories.
Carkhuff finished the game with 190 yards on 18-of-29 passing and three touchdowns and ran for another score. Carkhuff connected with Drew Stockton on an 8-yard scoring pass and with Eric Hood for a 32-yard touchdown.
The Lions (3-0, 1-0) took a 28-14 lead into halftime and it stayed that way until Buford's offense finally got going. But it wasn't their vaunted running game that the Wolves turned too.
After the Lions went up 14-0, quarterback Alex Ross connected with Jessel Curry on his first TD pass and then hit Curry for another score to cut the lead to 28-14.
It stayed that way until Nathan Staub scored for Buford with just over five minutes left in the game to cut the score to 28-21. And the Wolves would get one last crack at tying the game after they forced a Lovett punt with three minutes left.
But Buford would have to start at its own 6-yard-line. The Wolves drove down to the Lovett 18 but Ross was picked off at the goalline as time expired to set off a Lovett celebration.
Wednesday
November 27th, 2024
5:26PM
