BUFORD — Statistically, Loganville came in with Class AAAAA’s best defense.
Friday night, the Buford defense proved it may be the best after forcing a potent Loganville offense into 22 negative-yard or no gain plays and sparking a 35-10 Wolves win at Tom Riden Stadium.
The effort helped Buford (8-1, 5-0 Region 8-AAAAA) claim its 27th overall region title, and first Region 8-AAAAA championship. Loganville, which will take the No. 2 seed into the state playoffs, was looking for its first region title since 2008.
Senior defensive back KJ Anderson was a major catalyst picking off two passes, his first interceptions of the season, and breaking up two others. The defensive line, led by Dean Powell, had three sacks and constantly forced Loganville quarterback Cameron Perkins-McLeod to scramble for his life.
The Red Devils offense had just 13 positive plays for the game as Buford held them to just 92 total yards for the game, with 54 of that coming on one play. The finished with just 5 yards rushing.
It was the lowest output of the season for the Red Devils (7-2, 4-1) who came in averaging over 32 points a game behind Perkins-McLeod, who was tallying nearly 200 total yards a game by himself.
Did the Buford defense come in with a chip on its shoulder?
“Well, we wanted to say to people that we’re still Buford no matter what classification we’re in,” Anderson said. “We wanted to make a statement. Probably the best we’ve played all year as a group.”
The effort wasn’t lost on Buford coach Jess Simpson, either.
“It seemed other than that one (bubble) screen pass, we played lights out the entire game,” Simpson said. “We came in banged up and had a lot of guys playing out of position. Just an outstanding effort.”
The Buford offense, meanwhile, dominated the No. 1 defense, which was allowing just 10.8 ppg, pounding out 338 yards rushing, paced by Anthony Grant’s 181 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries, and Christian Turner, who finished with 117 yards and one touchdown.
“I thought we were super on offense,” Simpson said. “We were physical, (quarterback) Mic (Roof) checked off when he needed, and Mic made great decisions.”
Roof connected on his first nine passes for 96 yards and one touchdown pass and engineered a 97-yard drive in the first quarter that put the Red Devils defense on its heels the rest of the game.
“That drive really set the tone,” Simpson said. “Anthony ran physical and the guys up front did a great job.”
“We talked about everybody doing their job and I thought as a group it was one of our better games,” Roof said. “We still have some things to clean up but I think this is definitely something we can build on (heading into the playoffs).”
Despite the finish, the opening minutes gave Wolves’ fans some anxious moments.
Buford opened the game with a 40-yard kickoff return by Derrian Brown and moved to the Loganville 17. But a high snap on a 2nd-and-2 went over Roof’s head and Loganville’s Shy Kim recovered at the Red Devils 29 to snuff out the drive.
Buford held the Red Devils to a quick three-and-out on their first drive and then started its second possession at its own 3 after Grant mishandled the punt. Then, Loganville looked to get another turnover as Grant was stripped after a 9-yard gain, but the Wolves were fortunate to recover at their own 26.
The Wolves took advantage marching to the Red Devils 31 and faced a 4th-and-10. Simpson rolled the dice and Roof connected with KJ Johnson for a 15-yard pass and Grant capped the 97-yard drive on the next play knifing through the Loganville secondary for a 16-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Loganville would only get as close as four points the rest of the way.
Buford dominated the opening quarter outgaining the Red Devils 138-26. The Wolves ran 19 plays to just 6 for Loganville.
Buford continued its dominance into the second quarter. Anderson picked off a Red Devils pass after a series of deflections at the Loganville 37. Grant capped a quick 6-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 Buford lead with 8:42 left in the half.
But the Red Devils displayed their quick-strike ability on their next drive drive. After a short Buford kickoff, Loganville needed just three plays, with Shy Kim taking a short slant pass from Perkins-McLeod and sliced and weaved through the Buford defense from one side of the field to the other for a 54-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-7 just over a minute later.
The Red Devils stopped the Wolves and their next drive and a beautifully executed misdirection 69-yard punt return by Rhett Mixon, where the Red Devils faked a return on the far side while Mixon caught the ball on the nearside and only had two Buford defenders to beat.
However, Mixon stumbled around the 15, fell down at the Buford 9, which proved to be a costly stumble. The Wolves defense held and forced a 33-yard Josh Moore field goal to make it a 14-10 lead.
The Wolves answered right back with a 60-yard drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass from Mic Roof to Derrian Brown with just 34 seconds left for a 21-10 halftime lead.
After stopping the Red Devils on their first drive of the third quarter, Roof capped an 8-play, 66-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jake Simpson for a 28-10 lead.
The Buford defense continued to clamp down on any Loganville comeback yielding just one first down in the second half. Turner put the exclamation point on the win with a 32-yard touchdown run with 5:36 left in the game
Perkins-McLeod finished with just 19 yards rushing and was harassed into 8-for-22 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions and he was sacked three times.
SCORING SUMMARY
Loganville....0....10....0....0 -- 10
Buford..........7.....14....7....7 -- 35
First Quarter
B -- Grant 16 run (Burgos kick) 7-0, 1:28
Second Quarter
B -- Grant 16 run (Burgos kick) 14-0, 1:28
L -- Kim 54 pass from Perkins-McLeod (Moore kick) 14-7, 7:45
L -- Moore 33 FG 14-10, 3:58
B -- Brown 9 pass from Roof (Burgos kick) 21-10, 0:34
Third Quarter
B -- Simpson 8 pass from Roof (Burgos kick) 28-10, 6:38
Fourth Quarter
B -- Turner 32 run (Burgos kick) 35-10, 5:36
