STATE CHAMPS: Buford roars back to claim 11th football crown and third straight (VIDEO)

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

Posted 3:18PM on Sunday, December 14, 2014

ATLANTA -- After eight minutes of shock, Buford gave St. Pius eight minutes of awe. Turnovers, penalties, and big plays plagued the Wolves as they fell behind 10-0 to the Golden Lions in the first eight minutes of their Class AAAA state title matchup Saturday at the Georgia Dome. But in typical Buford fashion, the Wolves responded in a big way exploding for 34 points over the next eight minutes en route to a stunning 55-10 demolition that clinched their seventh state title in eight years. Buford coach Jess Simpson said he was not surprised by the Golden Lions start, or his team's response. "St. Pius is a solid, well-coached team and they came out ready to play. We were not surprised by that," Simpson said. "We had the fumble, gave up a big run. We made some early mistakes and they took advantage of it. "But our guys never quit. There's no panic in them and they responded the way I expected them too." The first eight minutes were nightmarish for the Wolves. If it could go wrong, it did. Buford allowed a 41-yard pass to its 39 on the first play of the game but did force a St. Pius punt on the next set of downs. On the Wolves first offensive play of the game, Evyn Cooper was stripped and St. Pius recovered at the Buford 13. The Golden Lions turned that into a 26-yard field goal by Mike Matthews for a 3-0 lead. The next Buford drive was stalled by penalties and the Wolves were forced to punt. The Golden Lions looked to be stopped again by the Buford defense but facing a 4th-and-1 at their 40, Dalton Wilson broke through a crowd of Buford defenders at the line and then outraced two Wolves 60 yards to the end zone for a shocking 10-0 lead with 4:18 left in the first quarter. It was the largest deficit Buford had faced all season. The Wolves trailed three times against McEachern in the third game of the season but never by more than six points. But as bad as the first eight minutes were, the next eight minutes were as dominant as Buford has been all season. Looking for a spark, Buford brought in junior quarterback Brett Shepherd for a change of pace. He lit up the Buford crowd, and the St. Pius defense. Shepherd went around right end, cut back, and turned a simple run into a 61-yard game-changing touchdown. "That was a huge momentum swing for us," Simpson said. "We were looking for something to get us going and he made a great play." Shepherd said he knew they needed something after the bad start. "Things weren't going our way and we needed a play and I was thinking I could do it," Shepherd said. "The line did a great job of creating a hole and I just took off, cut back and saw the end zone. You could see the momentum change right there." The avalanche started rolling from there. The Buford defense would stuff the Golden Lions on their next possession and Aaron Auer and Brandon Marsh connected on a perfectly executed 39-yard halfback pass for a touchdown two plays later for a 14-10 lead. The Wolves would score twice within 87 seconds when David Curry knifed his way through traffic for a 40-yard punt return for a touchdown and on then on the Golden Lions next play, Tennessee-commit Quay Picou scooped up a fumble and rambled 11-yards for a touchdown for a 27-10 lead. "It was a slow-motion type of experience," Picou said of his fumble recovery. "I just saw the ball, scooped it, and ran straight as fast as I could. But we didn't think it was over at all. We didn't relax until the end." Cooper would finish the first half scoring for Buford with an 8-yard run with 8:07 left in the half for a 34-10 lead. Buford would leave little doubt in the second half taking the opening kickoff 64 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 15-yard TD run by Josh Thomas. The Wolves added a second third quarter touchdown on a 60-yard TD pass from Luke Humphrey to Aaron Auer and finished the remarkable 55 unanswered points run with a 1-yard Connor Tarleton TD run with 7:40 left in the game. Picou said they never panicked despite the wild opening minutes. "Coaches tell us to just stay focused and keep doing what you do," he said. "(The defense) knew we could hold them and we knew the offense would get going. Brett's run was big, then the pass, and things just started rolling from there. "It feels great to go out with another title. Every year we have in the back of our minds to try and keep (the title streak) going. It's a motivator. It's hard to describe how I feel right now." The Golden Lions had their eight minutes. The problem was they needed for things to end right there. They had over 100 yards of offense in those early moments but would finish with just 182 total yards for the game. Buford came in allowing just 41.6 yards a game rushing and St. Pius managed 59 on its one scoring play. The Golden Lions managed just 48 yards on 32 carries the rest of the way. "Other than that one run and the one pass the defense played lights out," Simpson said. Buford piled up 234 yards on the ground, led by Shepherd's 91 on five carries. Humphrey was 8-for-15 for 144 yards and one touchdown and Aaron Auer had four catches for 126 yards and two TDs. Auer came into the game with just 16 catches and two scores on the season before Saturday. SCORING SUMMARY ST. PIUS....10.....0.....0....0 -- 10 BUFORD....14...20...14....7 -- 55 First Quarter SP -- Matthews 26 FG 3-0, 8:30 SP -- Wilson 59 run (Matthews kick) 10-0, 4:18 BUF -- Shepherd 61 run (Bonadies kick) 10-7, 3:51 BUF -- A. Auer 39 pass from Marsh (Bonadies kick) 14-10, 1:08 Second Quarter BUF -- Curry 40 punt return (Bonadies kick) 21-10, 11:58 BUF -- Picou 11 fumble return (kick failed) 27-10, 11:41 BUF -- Cooper 8 run (Bonadies kick) 34-10, 8:07 Third Quarter BUF -- Thomas 15 run (Bonadies kick) 41-10, 7:25 BUF -- A. Auer 60 pass from Humphrey (Bonadies kick) 48-10, 0:57 Fourth Quarter BUF -- Tarleton 1 run (Bonadies kick) 55-10, 2:12

Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

STATE CHAMPS: Buford roars back to claim 11th football crown and third straight <b> (VIDEO) </b>