ATLANTA -- Some might have thought Buford's 10-3 win over St. Pius Friday night to win the Class AAA state title was a little too old school for them. Boring, even.
But to Wolves' coaches and players, it was music to their ears. And, it just might have been their best defensive effort ever in state championship games.
You can point to Buford's 2003 defense that held Charlton County to a single field goal or the 2007 defense that skunked Lovett in a 50-0 win. Both of those teams were loaded with future Division I players. Sure, the 2007 game was a shutout, but the Wolves had already shut out Lovett during the regular season. Been there, seen that.
But coming into the 2012 season, the word on the street among coaches and players around the area was that Buford was vulnerable and ready for a fall. The doubters, myself included, thought if ever the Wolves were to descend down to the ranks of mere mortal, this was the time.
And why not think that way. The Wolves had lost 21 starters to graduation and had eight Division I signees. On paper it was one of the youngest Buford teams, in terms of underclassmen and experience, in recent memory and lacked real star power for the first time in a decade.
"I heard that a little at the beginning of the year," Buford coach Jess Simpson said during a preview session for the playoffs. "We are young. But we also knew we had some talent if we could get them in the right spots."
They did just that.
Seniors like Jaylen Mize, Bryson Jordan, Dontravious Wilson, Mickey Bart, and Josh Cardiello were called on to provide leadership despite most of them being first-time starters themselves.
Statistically, the 2007 defense, which yielded a ridiculously low 5.4 points a game, may go down as the Wolves' finest. But the 2012 defense, it may surprise most people, finished as the second-best unit for Buford (7.02 ppg) since Simpson came to Sawnee Avenue with Dexter Wood back in 1995.
Simpson has said all year that his current group has been underestimated.
"They play with a lot of heart," he said repeatedly during their run to the title. "They know how to get to the ball. They may not be the quickest we've had, or the biggest, but they have been tough all year. We never doubted they could be good enough to get us here."
They proved that time and again Friday, stuffing St. Pius four times on key fourth down plays with less than two yards to go. They harassed Lions' quarterback Jack Spear all game long, finishing with seven sacks, including two on the Lions' final drive to seal the game.
St. Pius would finish with just 180 yards of total offense and scored 28 points below their season average. In comparison, the Lions had just under 300 yards against North Hall in the semifinals.
The Buford way over the past 17 years with Simpson as assistant and now head coach has been run the ball and play great defense. Nothing changed Friday and we see why.
Senior Dontravious Wilson would provide the key play of the game when he sprinted 39 yards on a fourth down run to break a 3-3 tie with 9:10 left in the game. He had runs of 13 and 5 on that same drive before his big sprint and then turned it over to the defense, which stopped the Lions three times on downs, twice in the final three minutes, in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
"We didn't panic and just stayed with what we do," Wilson said. "I just told them to get me the ball and I would it take from there. They opened a huge hole and I just took off.
"But the defense kept us in the game and gave us a chance. They played a great game. We never doubted they could get the job done."
And never again should we.
Thursday
February 6th, 2025
9:22AM
