Pre-game incident sparks Wolves to big win over Mary Persons <b> (VIDEO) </b>

BUFORD -- Never disturb a sleeping giant.<br /> <br /> Mary Persons should have heeded that advice 30 minutes before kickoff with Class AAAA No. 1 Buford Friday night in the two teams' Class AAAA second round playoff game. The Bulldogs started a trash-talking scrum with the Wolves at midfield during warm-ups and apparently the Wolves did not forget.<br /> <br /> The Wolves scored on four of five first half possessions and shut down a potent Mary Persons offense to take a surprisingly easy 35-14 win at Tom Riden Stadium.<br /> <br /> Buford (12-0) next will play host to Marist, a 31-21 winner over Griffin. The victory for the Wolves marked the 15th consecutive trip to the quarterfinals for the Wolves.<br /> <br /> Senior Evyn Coooper, who had 113 yards to pace a Buford rushing attack that posted 260 yards on the ground, said the pre-game incident helped fuel the fire.<br /> <br /> "We were ready to play any way, but they came out and kind of disrespected us. That got us going a little bit," Cooper said. "We practiced hard for them all week and we came out focused. It was a good win."<br /> <br /> Last week the Wolves did not get going until the second quarter. There would be no slow start this time.<br /> <br /> It started with Mary Persons trying to catch Buford napping with an onside kick to start the game. The Wolves recovered at the Bulldogs 49 and needed just seven plays, capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by Josh Thomas less than two minutes into the game.<br /> <br /> The first half ended with Luke Humphrey hitting Isaac Nauta on a 21-yard touchdown pass with 6 seconds left in the half for a 28-7 lead. In between, the Buford defense induced two three-and-outs, forced one Jake Johnson interception, and allowed just one Johnson TD pass, a 35-yarder on a 4th-and-8 early in the second quarter.<br /> <br /> It was effectively over after that.<br /> <br /> "We knew they were going to be a tough opponent but we had a great week of practice," Buford coach Jess Simpson said. "Our guys were fired up all week for this and the incident before the game I think jacked them up some more. If you're not fired up at this time of year something's not right.<br /> <br /> "As for the onsides kick at the start, (Mary Persons) has done that a couple of times this year and our special teams coaches were ready for it. (Mary Persons) probably felt like they had nothing to lose. We did a good job after that of being aggressive. Our running game was excellent I thought." <br /> <br /> The Buford offense, particularly its ground game, was dominant from the beginning. Thomas, Cooper, and Martin Mangram took turns running through the Bulldogs defense. Thomas added a second touchdown on the Wolves second possession and Magram had 29 yards on their third possession, capped by his 1-yard scoring run with 5:07 left in the half for a 21-7 lead.<br /> <br /> The final three minutes of the half broke the Bulldogs' will. After forcing a Humphrey fumble with 2:48 left, Johnson was picked off by David Curry, who returned it to the Mary Persons 49 with 40 seconds left.<br /> <br /> Buford appeared to have a 51-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Curry but it was called back for holding with 21 seconds left. It looked like the Wolves would be content with a two touchdown lead.<br /> <br /> However, Cooper turned the corner on the left side and rambled 44 yards to the Bulldogs 21 with 13 seconds left. Humphrey and Nauta connected on the next play for a 28-7 halftime lead.<br /> <br /> "That was a big play," Simpson said. "We did a great of executing at the end of the half."<br /> <br /> The Wolves put the game out of reach quickly in the third quarter. They took the opening drive 35-yards, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Jordan Perlotte. Copper, however, did most of the damage with 32-yards on five carries on the drive.<br /> <br /> After the two teams traded punts most of the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs finished the scoring with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Keri Harvey with 2:32 left in the game.<br /> <br /> Thomas finished with 57 yards and two touchdowns but left the game late in the third quarter after being hurt on the Bulldogs interception return. Perlotte had 51 yards and a score.<br /> <br /> Mary Persons (9-3) was held to just 69 yards rushing. Johnson finished just 9-of-18 for 156 yards.<br /> <br /> <b>SCORING SUMMARY</b><br /> <b>M. Persons</b>.....0.....7.....0....7 -- 14<br /> <b>Buford</b>...........14....14....7....0 -- 35<br /> <br /> <b>First Quarter</b><br /> BUF -- Thomas 10 run (Bonadies kick) 7-0, 10:16<br /> BUF -- Thomas 2 run (Bonadies kick) 14-0, 1:14<br /> <br /> <b>Second Quarter</b><br /> MP -- Bledsoe 35 pass from Johnson (Hampton kick ) 14-7, 9:07<br /> BUF -- Mangram 1 run (Bonadies kick) 21-7, 5:07<br /> BUF -- Nauta 21 pass from Humphrey (Bonadies kick) 28-7, 0:06<br /> <br /> <b>Third Quarter</b><br /> BUF -- Perlotte 3 run (Bonadies kick) 35-7, 7:44<br /> <br /> <b>Fourth Quarter</b><br /> MP -- Harvey 38 pass from Johnson (Hampton kick ) 35-14, 2:32<br /> <br /> NOTES: It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools. ... The Bulldogs had allowed just 55 total points over their past eight games until Friday. ... Buford was held 12 points under its season average. It was the Wolves' third-lowest output of the season. ... The 35 points allowed by Mary Persons was the most against the Bulldogs this season and the most allowed since yielding 40 to Westside-Macon in October of 2012.