BUFORD, Ga. — Buford coach Bryant Appling is a hard man to please.
His Wolves picked off three passes, harassed Milton quarterback Derrick Baker all night, and eventually held on for a 20-13 win Thursday night to open the Phillip Beard Stadium era in grand fashion. Buford also snapped the Eagles' 25-game winning streak.
But it was hard for Appling to look past a plethora of penalties, special teams issues, and other first-game miscues that are typically common in an opener.
“I’m happy that we won. I’m proud of how physical the guys played, especially in the second half, but just way too many mistakes,” he said. “I lost count after 14 or 15 penalties. Just can’t have that. We have a lot to work on.”
While the defense definitely had its issues with the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Baker in the first half, Appling and the Wolves made adjustments at halftime. The defensive line trio of Bryce Perry-Wright, Dre Quinn, and Cam Simmons found pressure early in the third quarter and were instrumental in a pair of interceptions that turned the game around.
Silas Nuckles jumped a deep route off a Baker throw on the run and then serpentined his way for 71 yards and a score to give Buford a 17-7 lead less than two minutes into the third quarter.
“The game plan was always to go after him,” Perry-Wright said of Baker. “We didn't get to him like sacks, but we let our DBs go to work and they made some plays. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. It was just typical Georgia ball right there. The best in the country.”
The second INT came less than three minutes later on the Eagles' next possession when Joshua Echols stepped in front of a Baker pass and returned it to the Milton 7, resulting in a 20-yard Andrew Ivaniciuc field goal.
It stayed that way until midway through the fourth when Milton backup Trey Hasan connected with Jordan Carrasquillo for a 28-yard TD pass on fourth down with 5:53 left. But Simmons blocked the PAT to keep it at 20-13.
Milton got one last possession, but Brendon Davis picked off Baker with 50 seconds left to seal it.
Offensively, the Wolves went to the air when they needed a big play, with Dayton Raiola finishing 13-of-19 for 159 yards. The Wolves had just 73 yards rushing, but got enough tough yards when necessary.
“We challenged the kids to be physical coming out of halftime and break their will, and to an extent, and I believe they did that,” Appling said. “We did find a way to be physical, and I'm proud of that. But we will need to play a lot cleaner than that moving forward.”
The opening Buford drive started strong with Raiola completing a 12-yard pass to Torre Costin to the Buford 48, and a 9-yard Raiola scramble got the Wolves to the Eagles 41. But a holding call wiped out a Tyriq Green run to the Milton 20, and Milton’s Gage Lawrence batted down a pass at the line to force a punt.
The Wolves forced a short punt on Milton’s opening drive and would use that to strike first. They moved down to Milton 7 and had a potential 1st-and-goal at the 2. But an offensive pass interference call pushed them back to the 22, and they had to settle for a 39-yard field goal from Andrew Ivaniciuc.
The Eagles answered back quickly in just three plays. Baker scrambled for a 20-yard run and then hit E.B. Bailey on a 55-yard bomb for a 7-3 lead. But the Wolves made it three consecutive scoring drives for the two teams.
Buford started at its own 9 and got early help with a pass interference call on the Eagles to move them out. Raiola went 5-for-5 on the drive, including a 42-yard acrobatic catch by Costin to the Milton 18. A 16-yard pass to Braylon Williams got them to the Milton 2, and Green finished it with a TD run for a 10-7 lead.
Buford was in prime position to add to its lead late in the half, driving to the Milton 7 with under a minute left. But Raiola was picked off in the end zone, and the Eagles ran out the final seconds to go to the half.
Milton opened the third quarter quickly, moving to the Buford 34 on just four plays. But after a holding call wiped out a 34-yard TD pass that would have given them the lead, the Buford defense answered.
Perry-Wright and Quinn flushed Baker out of the pocket, and Nuckles picked off the pass.
That set the tone for the rest of the way for the Wolves to christen Phillip Beard Stadium with a win, something they were unable to do for the old Tom Riden Stadium in 1990.
NOTES: Buford Facilities Director Tony Wolfe estimated more than 11,000 people crammed the state-of-the-art facility. The nationally ranked matchup was also the first game of the 2025 season for teams in the northeast Georgia area covered by AccessWDUN and Friday Game Night.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/8/1297768/football-buford-milton-8-14-25