Football: Buford ranked No. 1 nationally among small schools
Buford’s football team is No. 1 in a national poll released Tuesday that ranks the best small-school teams in the country.
Calhoun, a program that Buford has the past two seasons in the Class AA final, is the only other Georgia team in the top 25 of MaxPreps’ small-school preseason top 25. Buford has won four straight championships in AA, Georgia’s second-lowest of five classifications. Buford’s enrollment last spring was 870. Class AA groups schools with enrollment of about 600 to 1,000 students.
Stephen Spiewak, who compiled the rankings, said Buford was an easy choice. Buford has several Division I recruits, including linebacker Dillon Lee (committed to Alabama), defensive backs C.J. Moore (Virginia) and Paris Head (Vanderbilt) and All-American lineman Vadal Alexander.
”In what was seemingly supposed to be a down year [in 2010], they rolled to AA state title,” Spiewak said. “They return an amazing amount of talent for a school their size. Key players returning, continuity in a coaching staff that has an amazing track record of consistency, riding a 12-game winning streak in which they’ve outscored opponents by an average of 30-plus points.”
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154 comments Add your comment
Obb V. Ustroll
July 28th, 2011
1:23 pm
lol @ grown men living vicariously through their high school football team
C-Town
July 28th, 2011
1:47 pm
Where is CARVER???? Carver will beat Buford again this season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw5kupEFid8&feature=related
From Where I Sit is a TROLL
July 28th, 2011
2:19 pm
From Where I Sit
Why so bitter and resentful?
Congrats to Buford and Calhoun.
Jefferson
July 28th, 2011
4:34 pm
C-town, you think Carver will be better than last year? Didn’t they lose a lot of seniors?
You can pretty much count of Fitz being back, they will be tough again.
Pete
July 28th, 2011
6:33 pm
Didn’t all three of the players mentioned in the article play rec-ball at Collins Hill park? Wow!
Pete
July 28th, 2011
6:38 pm
Come to think of it, I think a lot of the past stars for Buford played at Collins Hill..Cody Getz, Dallas Lee, Darius Walker to name a few. Now that CH has some of the best coaches in the state, I don’t that will be happening anymore.
blu eagle
July 28th, 2011
7:47 pm
Wow, the trash talking has started in July high school football must be getting close.Good luck to everyone this year!
QUARTERBACK
July 28th, 2011
8:15 pm
HOG WASH TO ALL OF YOU. ITS TIME TO ‘ T’ IT UP AND GET ON WITH IT. MAY THE BEST TEAM WIN. ALL THIS CRAP ABOUT RECRUITING IS NOT WORTH THE TIME IT TOOK TO TYPE IT. IT IS NOT LEGAL TO RECRUIT IN GA. ACCORDING GHSA RULES. HAS ANYBODY HAD TO FORFEIT GAMES????????? NO-NO-NO
Buford alum
July 28th, 2011
8:58 pm
I read so many of these comments slammin’ Buford……..what a bunch of “sour grapes, whiny little girls”…….get over yourselves – Buford played in the Herbstreit Classic two years against teams way bigger than they were and Buford kicked butt; Buford has a hard time getting anyone to play them during the regular season – some AAAAA teams have been contacted to play and decided they didn’t need to lose to a AA team………do none of you ever read anything that doesn’t include your own team (an article two years ago lamented Buford’s efforts to get good games)? – oh yeah, when you read Buford is going to stomp all over AA again this year……….yes, Buford has played larger classification teams – last year, #3 ranked AAA Gainesville got slammed out the gate on their own field……………and most of you folks forget that last year was Buford’s “down year” and we still won………you can hate all you want, but jealousy gets you nowhere – Buford had made MaxPrep’s regular football list that includes teams of all classifications but since you didn’t see your school’s name, you neglected to realize Buford did……….
warner robins
July 28th, 2011
9:50 pm
these maxpreps rakings are obsured ,they got buford ranked no2 in the state &68 nationally,buford is
not the 2nd best team in the state,they lost to carver,68 nationally give me a break buford would make 90 % of the 67 teams ranked ahead of them look silly they are definatlly a force to reckon with but they are not the 2nd best team in the peach state,maxpreps always pays attention to these al,fl,tx,ohiono matter what teams its all about money,maxpreps is a lie,crenshaw lost to north gwinnett,by the way they made sure that ng was ranked no 1 at the time just to make ga look bad,crenshaw won a state championsip in cal 45-7
ng did not win a state championship,ga also beat 2 of flordias state championship teams proofs in the pudding,tx wont play a ga team
Reeze
July 29th, 2011
1:14 am
Gotta give Buford their props for what they’ve accomplished the past decade , but I can’t really see a national ranking , nor can i see them being one of the best teams in Ga….I always thought to be the best , you have to beat the best. We’ve been waiting for years for Buford to schedule a non-region game that the entire state would turn their attention to…..Carver early last year was a good step , and Buford was shut out , they did recover and win state , but i felt Calhoun was a better squad last year than Buford…..I don’t and never will buy into this BS about not wanting to lose to a AA squad ….Northside ,Lowndes , Colquitt for example will just about schedule anyone will to suit up.
TrueGREENMachine
July 29th, 2011
7:23 am
Too bad these Buford BOYS were not around from 1982 – 1985 when a TEAM in Rome,GA called West Rome won 4 AA State Championships in a row and went 59-1.With a National Championship in 1985,Even though those are just given and not played.Now that would have been a good ballgame to have these two schools matched up. No team even scored on West Rome in 1985 until the playoffs! Not even 3 points during the reg season play.And these guys were playing very good teams.
AVikingFan
July 29th, 2011
10:03 am
I agree Reese. The three teams you mentioned, and a few more, will play anyone willing to get on the same field. But honestly, this article was about “small” high schools across America. And like’em or not, Buford and Calhoun have consistantly done well over the years against schools their size. I’ve said for years a really good team wins all the games they should win, most of the games against equal teams, and some of the games when they are underdogs. Buford does that. They seldom get beat when they are expected to win. Let’s agree to let them enjoy this ranking. I wish my Lowndes team would win all the games we SHOULD win, and I know you and the Eagle feel the same about NSWR. Unfortunately we don’t win all the games we should, ala Lowndes vs Grayson in 08, Lowndes vs NSWR and Camden in 09, Lowndes vs Tifton and Collins Hill last year, and your team vs White Water last year and WR in 09.
BTW, Reese – great to hear from you again! Where’s the Eagle?
Rabun County
July 29th, 2011
10:31 am
I don’t know much about National Rankings for High School Football and don’t really care, but here is what I can tell you- I played against Buford way back when (when Rabun had a halfway decent football team) Darius Walker and Mikey Henderson were their stars. They always, Always beat our eyeballs out. They were just more talented. However, one game late in the 4th quarter when the score was 52-14 or something like that, a Buford Defensive back intercepted a pass while we were driving deep in to their territory against their 3rd string. He caught it on the run and there was no one between him and scoring. The guy stopped at mid-field and took a knee so Buford could take 4 snaps and run out the clock. I don’t care what you say about their recruiting that takes class. They had dominated the game and everyone knew it, but this guy some 2nd or 3rd string guy takes a knee instead of running up the score. That took class.
Peachtree Ridge
July 29th, 2011
12:32 pm
once again we are accuses of whining and crying…..who cares if Buford beat you 52-14 and showed class by taking a knee. What he should have done was go over and give the ball to coach with flowers attached. Thats class. The point is Buford does not play anyone folks. Raburn County? WTF or you f ing serious? Okay I am listening so please tell us, who is going to beat Buford this season? No one, the next season, no one, the next season, no one. Okay if, I say IF, they were to have been playing a all Gwinnett schedule, and not in a panty wad division……wud they win every game and go ndefeated? Dont give me this numbers pulling from the school crap, your team is recruited, it does not come from the city limits and it hasn;t in a while, when i say team, I mean the guys that start….Play someone and stop living off the herbstreit you played twice and one of those teams truly sucked and were made out to be good.
, who gives a wad.
NoNameDefense
July 29th, 2011
1:12 pm
you must give a wad. you have multiple post in this thread!
Have you done your school shopping yet!
Pete
July 29th, 2011
1:47 pm
Rabun, they don’t have class, flashbacks maybe. They just grew up playing in the GFL where if you beat a team by more than 32 points you have to pay a fine to the league.
NGHS 09
July 29th, 2011
3:38 pm
Respect is always there for what Buford does and has done. I do have to lean towards the comment about Buford playing in a Gwinnett region though. I played in region 7 AAAAA 05,06,07,08 and it is truly a brutal grind. Both regions in Gwinnett wear down any team that comes out on top no matter the score. People can’t knock this if they have never experienced this. Hell i wish NG had played in Camden’s region my four years so we would have been rested up for the playoffs. I mean my senior year we had 5 starters out with injuries before the playoffs and we still made it to the Qrt finals. I worked out at the Factory in Sugarloaf with half of Buford’s defense and hung out with Cody Getz, Dallas Lee, Landon Anderson, and some others. (All North Gwinnett, Mill Creek, or Collins Hill district players) Now as far as talent goes, I played the Ridge when they made title runs and i played Norcross when they had Darius Hanks, Bryce Butler and D.J. Adams. I never came out of a game until the fourth quarter if i was lucky. Sure there were easy games like South Forsyth and North Forsyth and Northview. They are gone though and the only easy games in that region are Mountain View and Meadowcreek now. Even more so now that Mill Creek and Collins Hill have leveled the playing field. Idk a whole lot about region 8 AAAAA but i do know that if you ask Brookwood how brutal last year was in region play they will tell you how hard it was. Just ask Grayson or South Gwinnett or Dacula or Central Gwinnett. My point is that Buford would not be as successful every friday in Gwinnett AAAAA. The speed of the game is completely different and the grind of all four quarters is a whole different animal. I played Camden in 05 when i was at South Forsyth and i played Lowndes in 07 in the concrete jungle for the state title. Trust me by the 15th game Buford wouldn’t be standing. No one is saying they wouldn’t win, i truly believe they would be a great AAAAA program, but they would not win every year. Anyone who thinks they would has their heads to far up in the clouds. I’ve seen it first hand and played it, AAAAA playoffs are unforgiving and whoever can limp their way to the finish line wins. I’m not trying to bash Buford or take anything they have done away from them, i am just stating my opinion.
valyboy32
July 29th, 2011
5:37 pm
wolf bait are sick to think buford would cake walk thru 3-a oh yeah what up topper its almost time baby ga hschftblll
valyboy32
July 29th, 2011
5:39 pm
it really would be hard to win in 3-a really when sandycreek recruiting all the talent out of those soory atl schools
valyboy32
July 29th, 2011
5:39 pm
hey reese long time time to strap up again baby
valyboy32
July 29th, 2011
5:40 pm
peach county baby!!!!
wolfbait67
July 29th, 2011
8:29 pm
valybouy32………U musthave ate the worm in that Peach to way U are tripping….South Atlanta does not know what good football is.selah
POOMAN
July 29th, 2011
8:33 pm
BUFORD continues to improve every year. If you ever get the chance to venture by BUFORD high school, check out the new youth football fields. Talk about state of the art facility! There is not a youth program in the state that compares to BUFORD’s……………….period! # brand new youth football fields and field turf, sitting right behind the visitors stands of the high school field! Money well used by the City of BUFORD! BUILD IT, AND THEY WILL COME!!!! They are coming folks, coming in herds!!!!
Buford '78
July 29th, 2011
10:27 pm
If Buford had enough students to be in a higher classification, they would win there too. It is a solid program no matter what the size of the school. Haters are haters and are to be pitied.
Trojan94
July 29th, 2011
11:15 pm
I will agree with valyboy32 it is hard to win AAA and if buford played in this class championships would be hard to come by. Yes they beat gainsville last year but gainsville had lost a lot of talent from the year before.
Trojan94
July 29th, 2011
11:26 pm
Here is my ? could buford have have beaten sandy creek carrollton peach co or cairo last year to win AAA title?
Reeze
July 29th, 2011
11:37 pm
Valyboy ,I think Buford would run over the majority of AAA , against Sandy Creek or Peach county Buford wouldn’t have a snow balls chance in hell . Valyboy , two weeks until Northside and Peach county square off , how are you guys looking this year
Buford
July 29th, 2011
11:46 pm
Everyone just keeps making excuses, Buford is the best period. Congrats to Buford with the ranking. Everyone else is just trying to re-live their glory days in highschool football. It’s not cool to hate. Get over yourself, I don’t see you out on the field playing your heart out and winning all of these games.
Phildo
July 30th, 2011
8:43 am
Buford, Griffin, and Charlton County no doubt have fine football teams, but they all play within their size rankings, as opposed to Marist, a AA sized school that plays at the AAAA level and constantly wins an average of 10 games a year, with occasional state tiles to boot. I suspect that the others could not accomplish this feat on the same basis as does Marist, and for that reason I would put Marist, who was selected several years ago by Sports Illustrated as one of the top teams in the country (#14) regardless of size and titled as “The little school that could”, at the top of all state schools with under 1,000 daily attendance. Not to mention that they have won the Governors Cup at the AAAA level for the best overall sports program every year that the cup has existed.
I suspect that Spiewak of MaxPreps failed to actually look at daily attendance when making his picks, focusing more on the classification in which a school played, but that is understandable since Marist is such an anomaly.
Again, however, all due credit and congratulations to Buford, Griffin, Charlton County and others for the fine programs that they have. I find nothing more enjoyable than watching a good high game featuring two very strong teams. Beats the pros and colleges every time.
Trojan94
July 30th, 2011
10:05 am
phildo you have a good point! marist
Flyer
July 30th, 2011
11:29 am
Phildo you have it right. There are also some others like Marist. Don Bosco Prep and De La Salle are always in the hunt for the best in the country and they have similar enrollments to Buford. However, they like Marist, choose to play in higher classifications. Buford on the other hand is content to stay in AA.
2A supporter
July 30th, 2011
1:48 pm
To Where I sit……Sir, Buford has tried to play 5A schools. No 5A school wants a part of them. They know they would lose. My child goes to a 2A school. We play Buford every year. Do you realize the size of these kids they recruit? There offense and defensive line average 6 feet 4…300lbs. They are as big as most pro teams! Buford has no business being in the classification they are in. 3 years ago they were rated #48 in the nation in all classifications. They would beat 5A teams routinely in the state of GA. 5A schools refuse to even consider them on their schedule. 2 years ago they flew to TX. to play a 5A texas school which they dominated!
QUARTERBACK
July 30th, 2011
2:22 pm
Enter your comments here
Lowndes96
July 30th, 2011
3:36 pm
2A Supporter, I can understand your frustration of having to play buford when your a small school. But buford is not unbeatable, Cook almost beat them last year and they couldnt come close to matching their size. Also there are plenty of AAAAA schools in this state that would play buford, buford wants you to play a home and away series with them, it doesnt make monitary sense for a big time AAAAA program to do that. Some of the schools that come to mind are camden, who has played hoover, STA, and miami central. why wouldnt they play buford? Theyre also headed to play one of the best teams in ohio this year. Another, Colquitt County played south panola last year which was the #1 team in the country, why wouldnt they play buford? And lowndes, they would play them as long as they agreed to come to us twice.Why come to us twice? Money. Noone is going to take money out of their program to play buford.
Trojan94
July 30th, 2011
4:12 pm
you can have your buford team- if you dont know anything about carrollton please keep your stupid comments to yourself! FOR THE LAST TIME CARROLLTON HIGH SCHOOL DONT RECRUIT PLAYERS! If famalies move inside the city limits because of better jobs and they send there kids to CHS thats not the school doing. If you hate the trojans just say it nobody cares
BLACKGOLD
July 30th, 2011
9:43 pm
Fitzgerald purple Hurricane is ready to play some football . GO CANES and go 1AA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Jefferson you on deck baby , you all have a safe trip down and bring your A game , it should be a barn burner.
Reeze
July 31st, 2011
12:05 am
Good points Lowndes96……..That’s what I can’t really understand about Buford , just imagine the gates at a Buford vs Camden , Lowndes , Colquitt or any AAAAA Gwinnette school. They played Carver last year and it was the biggest game that week in the state last year .Even if Buford travels both years , it would be worth their time with the exposure they’d get by coming to the Concrete Palace the MAC or anywhere else than can handle 10k to 15k people , compared to their 2k or 3k… Excellent program Buford has , seems just a waste of some good football.
Willie B
July 31st, 2011
2:05 am
Buford does recruit in all sports. Not just football.
One of the main reasons kids transfer to Buford is that egotistical parents want their kids playing for a winner. As for needing to qualify to get into the school, Buford Elementary and Middle schools did not meet their AYP requirements for this past school year. The high school’s SAT scores were below the county average with having fewer students taking the test. Best affordable sports school money can buy.
Sure is! Education wise not so good.
2A supporter
July 31st, 2011
8:46 am
Hey Peachtree Ridge! Buford would kick your teams butt!!! Peachtree Ridge wants no part of Buford. Check their D-1 prospect list!!! there lineman are as big as NFL teams you goof ball!
2A supporter
July 31st, 2011
8:51 am
Lowndes96…Check the D-1 prospects being recruited by the likes of Alabama, GA., Auburn, ND. Your school doesn’t come close to matching their talent. They go anywhere to play anybody! NO 5A wants to play em. Believe me. I dislike Buford because our school has to play them every year.
Curious
July 31st, 2011
9:09 am
No doubt that Buford is and has created a superb program. I am curious though. How many players in Buford’s starting line-up actually grew up and live in the City of Buford and how many are from outside? A typical county school playing in AA ball has a population of some 17,000 to 21,000. How many people live within a 10 mile radius from the center of Buford?
Pete
July 31st, 2011
9:43 am
2A supporter.. Someone from Peachtree Ridge would probably no more than you about Bufords roster, they play together and against each in the same rec program in Gwinnett county. Of course, not all of Bufords players play rec-ball at Buford, some even played at Peachtree Ridge.
Fred
July 31st, 2011
11:05 am
I kind of think any well coached team with good players can beat any other team once. I think Buford does well in their classification and could do well playing the occasional game against higher classifications. I firmly believe that if they played consistently in the 4A or 5A classifications they would get their heads handed to them. I know some about the 5A classification and it is brutal to play in all season! The thing about the large classifications is their depth. I just don’t see that depth in the smaller classes. I’m not saying Buford doesn’t have great players or some depth, but I just don’t think they could hang with the big programs for the whole season.
Napoleon
July 31st, 2011
11:07 am
Coming from a Westminster and Lovett fan, Buford is every bit as good as this ranking. I have grown up around football, coached football, and to be honest the actual NHS rankings do not give this team justice. I don’t call it recruiting, when you put out such a dominate team, that young players just want to come play for you. Just like college football, the best players want to be on the best teams. Congratulations to Buford. Everyone in AA expects another tough year from you guys.
Flyer
July 31st, 2011
11:20 am
2A supporter–Buford is not the only school with D1 talent and big offensive linemen. In 7 and 8 AAAAA in Gwinnett, each team is loaded with those. For instance, NG has had 4 offensive linemen go D1 in the last 2 years. Their size was between 6-3 and 6-6 and weight between 275 and 320. This years offensive line will have at least 3 that are 6-3 or taller and over 300 lbs. The main point is that NG is not unique in this. Just about every other AAAAA school in Gwinnett is configured the same. When Buford lines up with all of their top talent, they are playing with teams that just don’t measure up.
CW
July 31st, 2011
12:07 pm
POOMAN
July 29th, 2011
8:33 pm
BUFORD continues to improve every year. If you ever get the chance to venture by BUFORD high school, check out the new youth football fields. Talk about state of the art facility! There is not a youth program in the state that compares to BUFORD’s……………….period! # brand new youth football fields and field turf, sitting right behind the visitors stands of the high school field! Money well used by the City of BUFORD! BUILD IT, AND THEY WILL COME!!!! They are coming folks, coming in herds!!!!
WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!!!
They will not come in herds because your school system only lets a certain few in each year to keep those numbers in the lower classification. You can bet your arse that those certain few excel on the football field.
wolfbait67
July 31st, 2011
3:45 pm
Blackgold::::Ubouys ready for another 13 game run before the wheels fall off…I think they play 15 for the championship…anyway, good luck to y’all down in South Ga…stay out of trouble now…hopefully we will see y’all somewhere down the road….means both programs have got it on….
Pea Ridge:just remember, coming off the ridge, the left goes to the Atlantic and the right goes into the Gulf…..but # 2 always flows downhill…but you guys were co co co champions once……just wannabe be Brookwood/Parkview type teams…………in their glory years,Pea Ridge would just be a Pea trap to these two programs
Lowndes96
July 31st, 2011
4:48 pm
Thanks Reeze, theres no reason for them to play a b school out of Fla when they could have a big time matchup right here is Ga.
Lowndes96
July 31st, 2011
4:50 pm
Great post Fred couldn’t agree with you more, playing 15 games in AAAAA is alot different than playing 15 in AA.