Two area teams ready to test themselves in state semifinals

Posted 5:10PM on Tuesday, December 2, 2014

And then there were two. Only Buford and Commerce remained standing when the dust settled on last week's state football quarterfinals -- and the Wolves and Tigers can now see their dreams of a berth in the Georgia Dome coming into focus. But there's one big piece of business each squad must first attend to in order to make that trek to Atlanta. The state semifinal round will kick off on Friday, with both teams heading on the road -- Buford making the relatively short trip to Cartersville, while Commerce must make the lengthy drive to Irwin County. The Tigers (10-2) will be making their first state final four appearance in eight years and will be gunning for their first championship berth since 2000 when they face off with the Indians (10-1-1) in Ocilla in a Class A Public battle. Commerce showed that it can win with defense last week, knocking off Calhoun County 10-0 at home. The Tigers have allowed just one touchdown in two playoff games and really clamped down in the quarterfinals, yielding 111 total yards. Commerce will face an explosive Irwin County offense in the semifinal -- one that has averaged 34 points in two playoff wins and is putting up 30 points per game for the campaign. The Indians defense, meanwhile, has been hot and cold in the postseason, tossing a shutout in the opening round before yielding 29 points in last week's win over Dooly County. Irwin County will be making its second straight semifinal appearance -- even though the Indians are under a brand new head coach in Buddy Nobles. Commerce coach Michael Brown, meanwhile, is in just his second campaign in charge of the Tigers. Speaking of new coaches, Cartersville's Joey King is in his first year in charge of the Purple Hurricanes and is at the forefront of his program's second semifinal appearance in three seasons -- Cartersville reached the 2012 Class AAA before falling. The team that blocked the Purple Hurricanes' path that season was Buford, and the Wolves are again standing in the way, this time in Friday's Class AAAA semifinal -- a game that will be broadcast live on WDUN AM 550. Buford will be making its eighth straight semifinal appearance on Friday and is looking for its eighth straight championship game appearance -- the Wolves have claimed six state championships during that streak (and nine since 2001). That said, don't expect Buford to roll into Friday's battle overconfident. The Wolves (13-0) make sure to respect every playoff foe -- and Cartersville is certainly an opponent that deserves regard. The Purple Hurricanes (12-1) won Region 7-AAAA and proved talented and tough enough to fend off traditional power Sandy Creek in last week's quarterfinals, 35-31. It was the most points Cartersville has allowed this season thanks to a defense that comes in to this weekend yielding just 9.5 points per game. Buford's defense, meanwhile, continued its own mean streak last week, giving up just two field goals in a 30-6 defeat of Marist -- a result that brought the Wolves season average to a paltry 5.5 points per contest. This week Buford will take on a Cartersville attack scoring 41 ppg -- a unit sparked by a freshman quarterback. Trevor Lawrence has been a revelation in his first varsity campaign, passing for 2,908 yards and 26 touchdowns against just 6 interceptions. Lawrence played like a grizzled playoff veteran in Friday's quarterfinal win, leading two clutch, fourth quarter scoring drives and passing for 300 yards in the process. It is the kind of match-up made for a late season contest and one that we'll be glued to at Jacobs Media -- along with Commerce's battle at Irwin County, as the Tigers and Wolves look to book a spot in the year's biggest game. STATE SEMIFINAL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE FOR AREA TEAMS: Dec. 5 CLASS AAAA Buford at Cartersville -- Radio: AM 550 CLASS A Commerce at Irwin County