AAA: Buford 10, St. Pius 3
The Buford defense lived up to its billing as the best in the state, putting the clamps on the the prolific St. Pius running game and coming away with a 10-3 victory in the Class AAA championship game.
The win gave Buford (12-3) its fourth state championship in five years and its first since moving up in classification. It was the school’s ninth state title and the eighth in 12 years.
“That’s the legacy these seniors have left you,” Buford coach Jess Simpson told his team after the game. “That’s what you juniors and sophomore have to live up to.”
Buford limited St. Pius to 104 yards rushing, 198 yards below its average, and only 184 total yards. St. Pius had only three runs that exceeded 10 yards. The St. Pius defense was equally rugged and allowed Buford only 178 total yards, 189 below its average.
The difference in the game came down to one play early in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-1 at the 39, Buford quarterback Taylor Mitchell pitched the ball to Dontravious Wilson, who headed to the right. Wilson got lost in a crowd and, with Jordan Perlotte acting as the lead blocker, emerged from the pack for a 39-yard touchdown run with 9:10 remaining.
“We couldn’t hit the one play we needed and they did,” said St. Pius coach Paul Standard. “That was the difference in the ball game.”
Wilson, who has committed to Western Kentucky, wound up with 59 yards on 12 carries. St. Pius was led in rushing by Ryan Braswell, who carried 17 times for 88 yards; his only big burst was a 41-yard run.
No. 7-ranked St. Pius (12-3) set the tone for the game on its first possession. The Golden Lions were able to effectively run their option offense, with quarterback Jack Spear taking the lead, and drove to the Wolves 24 yard line in 13 plays. But on fourth-and-1, Braswell was hit head-on by Korrie Rogers for no gain to end the threat.
Neither team did much until No. 3-ranked Buford got the ball with 1:33 left in the half and raced downfield to set up a 43-yard field goal from Matthew Bonadies.
St. Pius tied the score on its first possession of the second half. The Golden Lions used 10 plays to get to the 30, where Thomas O’Leary kicked a 47-yard field goal, his longest of the season, to make it 3-3 with 4:38 remaining.
Pius had two possessions in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t move it against Buford. The first one resulted in a punt and the final ended with a couple of sacks.
“Our defense played with reckless abandon,” Standard said. “Everything Buford got they earned. I think their size was probably the difference at the end.”
It was an emotional game for Buford, which dedicated the season to former assistant coach Ryan Daniel, who died suddenly in January while playing a pickup basketball game. There were photos of Daniel taped up in the locker room, with a message extolling the Wolves to “Play for something bigger than yourself.” The Buford jerseys even had the “RD” printed in gold letters in Daniel’s honor.
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118 comments Add your comment
Thomas J. Mullarkey
December 15th, 2012
6:39 pm
mom3
You should be ashamed of yourself for that comment.
It is sad when you stoop to comments diet at the kids.
Confessionals are open… I hope you will find your way there?
Catholic Schools RULE All AROUND in AAA
December 15th, 2012
7:35 pm
To Snoopy, bigdadhillbillybob, and all the “delusional” Buford Fans on this blog –
Get a grip. This was a toss up game going in and that is how it ended up. Play the game again and SPX and Buford split 50/50. Fact – Buford as an overall athletic program is non-entity, a non-player, and in hillbilly language, a “loser.” Go check the finish of your Buford School the past 10 years in AA for the Directors Cup. Guess what you’ll see? Not even ONE Top 10 finish yet alone “nada a Director’s Championship.” Fact 2 – you have no Junior Program in any sport that is of any quality and hence that is why you have to recruit players in high school to compete in any sport. Fact 3 – Same story for you in AAA for the Director’s Cup. You are a NON PLAYER!!! Go check the current standings for AAA and look who is in first – Blessed Trinity !!! Guess who will be 1,2, 3 come May? BT, SPX, and then Woodward. Guess who will NOT even be in the Top 10 ? BUFORD !!! Fact 4 – Don’t even talk about academics. 10% of the Buford students couldn’t even be in the lowest track at BT, SPX, or Woodward. That is why when the Ivy Leagues, the Academies, and the real academic schools come around Atlanta to recruit, their first go to are the private schools – BUFORD still doesn’t get the respect because your athletes overall can’t hang academically – you’re nothing more than a public school trying to pose as a private because of your size. And now that you’re up in AAA it is just a matter of time til you become like Marietta – outmatched and outrecruited.
Go Catholic Boys!!!
THEX
December 15th, 2012
8:23 pm
Snoopy-you are a real ass. I assume you don’t represent the Buford contingent. Anyone with a bit of intelligence knows yesterday’s game was very well played by both teams, very exciting-just a great defensive battle. Buford has won all these championships-why don’t you act like you’ve been there before.
Catholic Schools RULE All AROUND in AAA - BT is #1
December 15th, 2012
8:40 pm
SPX33 – great comment, hit the nail right on the head – however, you need to make a correction on the Director’s Cup Comment. Go check the standings. Blessed Trinity has a nice lead on you and everyone else for that matter and will be strong in Winter and unstoppable in the Spring Sports Seasons. Your dominance in AAA in the Director’s Cup is over, now that the best Catholic School in the State of GA has arrived in AAA. For the Catholic record, The Holy Trinity trumps a Saint
. But it is nice having you guys as Catholic Brothers now in AAA. It will make us both better and guarantee that a Catholic School will own the Director’s Cup forever. Also, with McFarlin at BT now, we can start tag teaming Football State Championships starting next year and shut down the Buford gig. It is about time it come to an end, it is only a matter of a season or two and they’ll go the way of Marietta 
.
littlecat
December 15th, 2012
10:03 pm
@catholic schools…. last night we were playing football…. when you want to talk about girls volleyball i am sure there is an active forum…. peace…to all religions… hopefully that catholic team will win in 6a tonight… oh , sorry… cool out … lc
littlecat
December 15th, 2012
10:32 pm
@catholicschoolsruleallaroundbtis#1…. i propose a bet on any bt or spx combo winning the 3a championship other than buford in 2 years from now (when we go the way of marietta)….. $10,000. (or more) . my email is liitlecat_littlecat1962@yahoo.com… we can put in escrow anywhere you like ;an atlanta bank , or my trailer up in buford or my place in nyc… let me know… peace… lc.
Observer
December 16th, 2012
12:28 am
I would hazard to guess the blogger using “Catholic Schools Rule” in their name has no affiliation with any Catholic school whatsoever. Just a loser trying to stir up some trash between two good teams. Would be surprised if they knew the first thing about Catholicism.
wolfbait67
December 16th, 2012
8:14 am
Not a Buford Fan: reckon he did not know that LOSERS do not play on Sunday, they get to go back to Calhoun and talk about last year….maybe for the next fifty years since they win one every fifty years….one in six isn’t bad if you are a Calhoun fan. they say Jefferson just gave them fellowers up I-75 a lesson in how football is played up I-85 way…ie: Buford, Norcross, Gainesville, and Jefferson….congrats to all the schools
Rizzo
December 16th, 2012
8:24 am
Catholic Schools Rule:
You have a tremendous amount of hate, especially coming from someone who is affiliated with a religious school.
If you’re going to have a long tirade that’s off the top of your head, dont insert the word FACT, because you’ve lost all credibility that way.
I disagree with you on almost everything. Directors Cup standings, I don’t know, but I’ll give you that. We’re working on improving the smaller sports, but it takes time.
Please understand Buford is a public school. With that comes a large contingent of lower income students, kids who don’t speak English fluently, etc. In comparing public to private schools, you’re comparing apples to oranges. Don’t you see that?
You’re way off on academics. We’re pretty much at the top for public schools. We can’t turn someone away because of grades if they live in the district like private schools can. That’s why you can’t compare the two.
The only comparison we should be making in this forum is the Championship game. I think both the teams were incredibly talented and equal in almost all aspects. We had one key play that went our way, which made the difference. We’re looking forward to seeing SPX in the playoffs next year.
Congratulations to both teams!
Don't be biased
December 16th, 2012
8:52 am
@mom3 — exactly the kind of biased statement I’d expect from a Pius fan.
Cherries on top
December 16th, 2012
8:59 am
Buford continues its dominant streak, while St. Pius continues to seek a modern football championship. St. Pius fans come on to this public blog and question the integrity of their opposition and the intelligence of the opposing players. Thanks for showing your class yet again, like you have all season in attacking everyone you play. 24-10.
Buford Fan
December 16th, 2012
9:20 am
I don’t have a dog in the fight. I have no relationship with any St. Pius player or Buford playerfor that matter. I don’t know where all the hating is coming from? I was there Friday night. That was the best ball game I’ve seen in years. The guys on the field didn’t seem to show near the hostility towards each other many of you are expressing on this thread.
Nothing would please me more than to play St. Pius again in a playoff game again. They pushed Buford to their limits, limits a team like Buford needed to be realized to challenge their character to see if they had what it took to win a State Championship. I was as much in awe of their team as I am of Buford’s team. Stand up bunch of guys on both sides of the ball. I wish I could say the same for all the spectators typing nonsense on this thread.
Too bad someone had to lose. Hope to play Pius again and congratulations to our Wolves!
Golden Tiger
December 16th, 2012
10:02 am
It’s true, D1 scouts inundated the SPX sidelines to watch all those “recruited” 185 pounders play against Buford. They crowded the bench area to the extent that Coach Paul Standard had to burn a valuable timeout and request that they all move over to the water coolers for Powerade and canapés so he had enough room to work the sideline. After the game the D1 folks moved up to the Stadium Club for martinis and to draw straws for the first shot to offer that 165-pound SPX kid who hits like an Irish jackhammer.
Please. Get a life people.
Great, hard-nosed defensive game. Congrats to SPX on a great season. Congrats to Buford on another Championship.
atl
December 16th, 2012
12:07 pm
Now we all know that Buford recruit, because the head coach told us during halftime of the Championship game Friday.He(Buford Head Coach) said it was the first time for alot of his kids being in GA Dome. Buford have played in the GA Dome six years in a row four semi- and two state championship games. So i guess this team were all FRESHMAN……….HA HA
Roger
December 16th, 2012
12:51 pm
Simpson said it was a first time for a lot of the kids playing in the dome, not being in the dome. There is a big difference from being in the dome, than playing. Got it? Good. You are dismissed.
atl
December 16th, 2012
2:28 pm
Buford beat Lovett 53-13 in semi in 2010 when these senior were in the 10th grade and they didnt play at all. WOW
littlecat
December 16th, 2012
9:40 pm
@goldentiger…what a great football game… the defense was great on both sides… i think you could count the missed tackles on one hand..2 great teams….probably will meet again next year…. if you need a martini at half time i will pour one up for you in the wolf lounge where we entertain all of the parents who’s kids we recruit
i know boys on both teams.. great to see all of them work so hard and do so well… peace.. lc.
Golden Tiger
December 17th, 2012
3:13 pm
If someone else is behind the bar – I will take it shaken, stirred, or simply poured. Hopefully we will see you in the wolf lounge next season. Best of luck.