Football Fridays.

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It saves lives as we welcome you to the brand new Phillip Beard Stadium in Buford for a huge 6-A Non-region showdown tonight.

As the fourth ranked Douglas County Tigers have come to town to take on the second ranked Buford Wolves in the third all time meeting between these two state championship contenders.

And good evening, I'm Matt Stewart, joined by former Auburn Tigers All-American NFL first round draft pick and 15 year pro Wayne Gandy and Wayne, our first time ever here in this new brand new $62 million stadium that was the size of your first contract, wasn't it?

I wish if I was born today, maybe.

But what an honor to be in this facility.

It's beautiful.

It's big.

The big house of Georgia out here.

Buford field, indeed.

And John Nelson will join us in just a few minutes with all the particulars and bells and whistles in this brand new stadium.

Let's talk about Buford.

First of all, they're 3-0 on the season, and they've been Buford.

They've won three top ten opponent games, knocked off Benedictine and Roswell, blew them out the last couple of games.

And they've been led on offense, defense and special teams by their Mr. Do everything.

Ty Green who's committed to the Georgia Bulldogs number 6 safety in the country.

But he is so much more to the Wolves than all that.

Yeah.

When you talk about his play on the field, he's so dynamic.

They count on him in all three phases.

He's a shifty running back that can make plays out on the edge.

Defensively, he's a big time center field safety that has a lot of range.

And then in the special teams game, he must be accounted for.

For Douglas County to have any chance of winning tonight.

They call him Ty Boogie and Johnny White says we got to keep the ball away from Ty Boogie.

Now for the defensive side of the ball.

The highest rated player in the game is Bryce Perry-Wright, five star rated the number 2 edge rusher in the country.

He's committed to Texas A&M.

He's tall, he's big.

He's been here.

He's experienced.

He is the king in the North here for Buford.

Defensively, he must be accounted for up front.

He can rush the passer.

He can stop the run.

He gets great penetration.

He must be blocked to have a chance offensively for this Douglas County team.

Okay for Douglas County they're 3-1 on the season.

They were beaten by Langston Hughes last week.

And that's a Langston Hughes team that might end up being the 5-A state champions.

They're certainly a contender for it.

Their offense has been out of sync.

They get good news tonight.

Devin Carter, who's committed to Florida State with Mike Norvell in the building.

He's going to play in his first game tonight.

And he's going to join his partner Aaron Gregory.

The four star number 10 wide receiver in the country who's committed to Texas A&M as well.

They should just call him world.

That's what he does.

He brings that to the field.

Aaron Gregory six for about 190.

He's long.

He's fast.

He has great hands offensively.

He's the guy they go to when they need a play.

And then defensively as a safety, he comes up.

He sets the tempo.

Physically.

He makes all the plays that you need to have success.

What a dual threat he is.

Also on that defensive side of the ball.

You got Jordan Carter.

He's also a four star.

He's rated as high as number 7 edge rusher in the country.

And guess what.

He's also committed to Texas A&M.

They have seven sacks Douglas County he has five of them.

He's one of those guys.

He's a home wrecker.

He can make plays in the backfield.

They count on him to get pressure on the quarterback.

That's going to be key to get the Dayton Raiola.

As the Tigers in the Wolves.

Oh my.

What a matchup we have for you here tonight on week two of the GPB sports Football Fridays in Georgia season.

Now more on this stadium.

Let's send it down to Jon Nelson on the field.

Thank you Matt good evening to you.

Good evening Wayne.

Thanks for accessing us.

However you were doing so large device or small as we are here in front of the 44 by 82, 3,600 square foot double sided scoreboard.

This was paid for by the city's general fund.

Let's go by the numbers and let you be introduced to this new building.

The home of the Buford Wolves.

It's only 10,000 seats, which is actually less than Tom Reading Stadium up the hill, 1,500 premium seats.

Those are the ones that have the fancy green backs.

15 suites.

Matt and Wayne are probably in one of those 10,493 foot square foot event space.

They rounded that up to 10,500 100 TVs or so throughout, according to our friend Tony Wolf and the athletic department and the bell from the 1880s, the first bell that they had to ring everybody in to school, it made its trek down the hill as well.

So it is a complete circle from the old to the new.

Matt, let's light a candle in a very, very shiny and new candle holder for Buford and Douglas County back up to you.

No doubt about it, Nelly.

Everything about this place is new, including your candle holder for tonight's ball game.

So Buford won the opening toss.

Wayne.

And they have deferred.

That means we're going to see Douglas County with the ball in their hands to start this ball game.

And what a surprise for Douglas County here tonight that Devin Carter, who was one of the top receivers in the entire country, along with Aaron Gregory Devin Carter, is going to play in his first game tonight after injuring his hamstring in the preseason..

Trying to catch Buford with a little surprise package with Devin Hester, him and Aaron Gregory as a combo.

What explosiveness that he brings and leadership, the kind of leadership that Coach White is looking for on the field, Devin has a Devin Carter brings that to the field.

They need him to win this game tonight.

I know you slipped up and said Devin Hester I mean you're not.

Far off.

He's as explosive as Devin Hester was in the National Football League.

And of course his dad Dexter, played in the National Football League for nine seasons.

So here we go.

Opening kickoff is brought to you by Heads Up, Georgia.

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And the opening kick is going to sail into the end zone.

And so the Tigers will bring the ball out to the 20 yard line to get this game started.

So Wayne, let's take a look at your impact players.

When the Tigers have the ball.

Mike Johnson has to stay calm.

Deliver the ball down the field.

Try to get up that big play Zamarcus Lindley.

He's got a steady running back.

We've seen him be able to be the player of the game.

Silas Nuckles for this Buford team.

He is a shutdown corner and Jerry Quinn is having a productive year.

The four star who's headed to Clemson.

Mike Johnson is the quarterback transferred in from Dutchtown, and he is committed to Utah.

He's rated as high as the number 20 dual threat quarterback in the country by ESPN.

And Terrell Clark is going to start at the running back position today.

Johnson is going to throw on the very first play, throws incomplete.

Tried to go to Rah’Keith Kelly out there in the slot.

It's going to be second down.

Just trying to get the ball out onto the edge.

Rah’Keith Kelly has been so important to this offense.

Being able to now move back out into the slot.

Now that Devin.

Devin Carter is back on the field, he can play in that slot position.

Just the ball a little behind him right there by Mike Johnson.

Devin Carter is in the game.

He's at the top of your screen at the 20 yard line.

Going to run a jet sweep to Kelly.

And Kelly is going to get swarmed under at the 20 yard line.

Cam Simmons was there and so was Joshua Echols.

So much team speed.

When you talk about these Wolves defense Quinn Simmons, you can watch right here.

Good job keeping containment.

Watch Joshua Echols come out of your screen right there.

That's that speed.

Kameron Simmons more of an end playing over that nose but has that athletic ability and speed.

Third down and ten.

With the hard count there.

Mike Johnson trying to get the defense to declare trying to read the field.

Got to be very careful here against this aggressive defense of Buford.

Wolves have outscored their three opponents by an average of 42-16 Heavy rush Deion Miller nearly had him then.

The ball is jarred loose.

It's a scoop on opportunity and Nuckles is going to take it back inside the five.

Silas Nuckles scooped up the ball and the Wolves have it first and goal inside the five.

Coming with the blitz here being aggressive, you can see Deion Miller right there coming in, almost getting the sack.

And then Bryce Perry right tracing his steps able to knock the ball out.

Johnny on the spot right there.

Silas Nuckles scoop up trying to get to the end zone.

What a big play here.

Huge play by the defense for the Wolves.

And they've got the ball at the three yard line.

First and goal.

And our first chance to see the Wolves on offense led by their quarterback Dayton Raiola.

Dayton Raiola very efficient quarterback last week 15 of 23 for 209 yards and four touchdowns.

But in this kind of situation, you expect Buford to keep the ball on the ground with this big time running game.

They have.

McCoy is the running back and the tailback spot.

He gets the hand off and McCoy is going to be stopped by the middle linebacker.

Richard Dyce.

Richard Dyce what an asset he has been as coming over here.

Richard Dyce six feet two 52 15 playing Reading keeping his shoulders square.

Great tackle.

He brings the energy that this defense feeds off of.

Brings up second down and goal from the four Richard Dyce replacing Mike hasty.

Their tackling machine who is now a freshman linebacker at West Virginia.

Power set for the Wolves handoff goes to Ty Green and he gets stopped right there at the line of scrimmage.

What a pursuit there by the Douglas County, Tigers and Dyce leading the way again.

Nice job reading that play by the linebacker Steven Jones.

Richard Dyce right here.

Watch seven six come up and stick on the running back right there.

Ty Green driving him back.

So far so good.

And you imagine this Douglas County team is ready for this run game in this situation inside the five.

Third down and goal.

Hand off goes to McCoy.

And McCoy gets to the two and stopped right there.

And now it's going to be fourth down again.

Great pursuit by the Douglas County defense.

And that was Zaydrean Jackson the sophomore cornerback number 21.

And it's going to be fourth down and goal decision.

Time for head coach Bryant Appling.

No real decision here for Coach App.

You have to go for it.

Keep that energy as a team.

But look at Douglas County right there.

Look at the white jerseys.

You're talking about 67 defenders right there driving the ball back.

Fourth down and goal from the two.

Handoff goes to green.

And he gets in.

Ty Boogie scores the first touchdown of the night.

Comes in the opening 3 minutes.

And Buford has the lead.

Just so hard to stop in this situation.

And you imagine head coach Bryant Appling early on in this game is going to be aggressive after his defense got him a big turnover right here off of the left side.

Kick out block by the full back and a walk in really there.

The easiest of the four runs.

Ty Green for the touchdown.

Let's see if they go for two right here.

They haven't set up for the single P-a-t yet.

Now they will.

Dayton Raiola is the holder and Andrew Ivanusec is the kicker.

Dawson Wittke is the snapper.

Kick goes back and the kick is on its way.

And it is good.

And Buford with the early 7-0 lead wane.

They got the big play on defense and they cash in with the touchdown on fourth down.

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These guys don't.

Just six.

They understand.

Welcome back to PBS and it is time to present the check from our friends from Cigna.

Donation from Cigna to our friends here at Buford High School.

Our friend Tony Wolf from athletics and Facilities.

Tony, thanks for being a great friend all season long.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

And thank you to GPB for all you guys do for high school football.

$1,500 donations from our friends from Cigna here with some seniors from the Buford Wolves, Dexter Woodfield and Phillip Beard Stadium will send it back upstairs for the rest of the first event.

All right.

Thank you Nelly.

What a great start for Buford right here.

They cash in on the defensive play and have the early seven nothing lead.

And so the Tigers who fell behind 31-9 last week in their eventual 44 31 loss to Langston Hughes, find themselves in another hole early here at Buford.

And on that turnover, what you found was Mike Johnson in a third and long.

And that's what Buford wants to force him to have to beat them in third and long situations, be aggressive, and then capitalize offense.

A walk in there for Ty Green for the touchdown.

Vance it.

So Owens and Kelly deep for Douglas County.

Standing at the two yard line, Ivanisevic's going to send it into the end zone again.

And that goes through the back of the end zone.

What a kick by Ivanusic.

And that'll bring the ball out to the 20 yard line.

As we take a look at the starting lineups there, delivered by Johnny's New York style pizza, your original neighborhood pizzeria Sam-Epelle Brandon Mideau Mideau.

Pardon me.

Dumas and Alford up front.

And the backs.

And the receivers.

Lindley.

Gregory.

Kelly.

Mathis and Reading and Mike Johnson.

The quarterback.

For.

Jenkins.

Douglas County team.

Get this run game going.

I know we talk about explosiveness they have in the receiving corps.

But you got to use this big offensive line.

You're talking about five guys.

Everybody's over 300 pounds.

Johnson fumbles the ball again.

Scrambles and dumps it off.

And they're going to take a big loss on the play as Kelly is driven out of bounds at the 14 yard line.

And a flag comes out after the play.

We'll have some unsportsmanlike penalty coming up.

Tough start here.

Similar to last week for Mike Johnson.

Right now things are not breaking his way.

Fumble the ball.

Just getting it out of his hands, trying not to take the sack.

Rallying to the ball was Buford not sure if it was.

Dead ball foul here on Buford.

After the play.

Personal foul defense 15 yard penalty.

Down counts.

Second down.

So that's a great break for Douglas County that bails him out of the hole that they put themselves in.

With the pass that went out of bounds there to the receiver at the 14 yard line.

And you're right.

Mike Johnson got off to such a rough start at Langston Hughes.

Coach Johnny White actually pulled him from the game and then put him back in in the second half.

And he performed much better.

So he had to get him calmed down.

Want to get him to the sideline, kind of let him settle down.

And then he loved the way that he responded when he went back out there.

But to help Mike Johnson out, as I said, they're going to have to get this run.

They have very capable running backs.

They run a lot of backs in there.

Zamarcus Lindley the three star, durable big back.

They're going to have to get him going.

So second down now and another TfL right there.

As Lindley gets thrown for a loss.

Let's take a look at the Buford defense.

That was actually Steven Jones the carrier right there.

And here's a look at that.

Johnny's pizza New York style pizza starting lineup Quinn Simmons and Perry right up front.

Davis Miller Wagner and Echols on that second line.

And Speed McCoy.

Green and Nuckles in the secondary.

Third down.

Pass dumped off and complete.

Stopped at the 26 yard line.

Big hit there by Jayden Davis.

Great tackle out in space right there.

See ball hit ball.

Little roll out here.

Mike Jones get him away from the pressure.

Good delivery.

Out on the edge Marquis Johnson.

But big hit there by Jaden Davis.

The senior physical a little tweener kind of linebacker kind of safety right there.

What a great play in space.

Rough start for Douglas County offensively here as they're going to go three and out and punt from their 26.

Emmanual Boreas-Perez is their punter.

And he's standing at the 12 yard line.

Snap is clean and he gets it out of there.

That's a good kick.

Going to be fielded at the 36 yard line by Ty Green Green.

Watch out all the way down to the 30 yard line.

Ty Green Matt.

It looked like a video game right there.

This young man, we talked about him in the opener a triple threat here.

The elusiveness, the vision, the speed.

Watch how he changed his speed right there and get through that hole right there.

He is just a touchdown waiting to happen.

And why this Buford Wolves team feels like they have a great chance to get to the beans.

You can't kick the ball to them.

You can't throw the ball in his direction.

You got to tackle him.

When he runs the ball out of the backfield, he is a triple threat.

He might be a legitimate candidate for player of the year in the state of Georgia.

Yeah.

Because he can beat you in every aspect of the game.

First and ten for the Wolves from the 30.

McCoy in there at running back.

And he's going to get the hand off McCoy goes to the left side and he's going to get stopped at the 30 1 yard line.

Good job on defense by Zaydrean Jackson and McClendon.

Let's take a look at the impact players.

When the Wolves have the ball on offense.

The general Dayton Raiola just getting the job done.

Dylan McCoy and explosive great hands out of the backfield.

Running back Richard Dyce we've already saw him at that middle linebacker making plays downhill and Nick Burden long, lanky cornerback can match up with anybody on this Buford team in a man to man situation.

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McCoy again, pretty good run defense by Douglas County here.

Even though Buford has the touchdown, the defense has played well.

They just got put in a bad spot two times in a row.

First down Jordan Carter coming off the edge, making a play right here.

Just playing downhill.

He's linebackers as you can see right there.

Richard Dyce they're not going to just sit back and let this line Preston Clark Nixon and those guys come up to their level.

They're going to meet them at the line of scrimmage.

The right tackle for the Wolves Graham Houston is a four star committed to the Georgia Bulldogs, rated as high as the number 9 interior offensive lineman in the class of 2026.

Ball goes to McCoy and McCoy going to get stopped at the 25.

Going to bring up fourth down again.

Douglas County really doing a good job of tackling in this game.

Nice job right there.

Jamar Owens coming up on a guy like Ty Green right there.

Excuse me.

McCoy in that situation in the open field.

Nice job.

The three star hit at the Indiana Lamar Owens.

Fourth down and lined up to go for it here.

Got good two good kickers on both teams.

Both coaches felt very confident that they had guys that can hit 45 50 yard field goals.

Penalty on the field.

Not sure.

Looks like they're going to maybe pick it up..

So they are going to try a field goal here.

This is going to be a 42 yard field goal attempt for Ivanovic.

Snap is clean.

Hold is clean.

Kick is on its way.

And the kick is no good.

So Ivanovic misses from 42 yards and the Tigers avoid any further damage.

And they'll be back on offense when we get back.

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515 to play in the opening quarter.

Buford with a 7-0 lead as the Douglas County Tigers get ready to go back on offense.

Matt Stewart, along with Wayne Gandy and John Nelson and Wayne Tigers, very fortunate to be down.

Only a touchdown right now.

Right now, all the momentum, all the physicality is being shown by Buford.

Douglas County right.

They're able to survive with the missed field goal.

But they got to find some way to stay out of third and long.

Create something on first and second down.

And Mike Johnson is a great athlete.

He's going to have to use those legs tonight.

Try to get some yards.

Handoff goes to Lindley.

First carry of the game for Zamarcus Lindley.

And no running room for him right there.

We've seen a lot of these Buford teams where they have big guys in there at nose tackle.

And that that end position tonight.

You have a lot of guys that can get off of blocks.

And as Coach App does, and this team, they rotate a lot of big physical defensive linemen in there.

Second down and nine Johnson out of the shotgun steps up in the pocket.

Now he's going to run.

And Johnson is going to pick up the first down at the 31.

So from Wayne's mouth to Mike Johnson's ears he picks up the first down with his legs.

You have this kind of team defensive speed.

You're going to have to make some plays right there.

Pocket breaks down.

He's a good athlete.

He's 61, 193 star headed to Utah.

He's going to have to help himself out by knowing when to pull the ball down and make some yards.

Especially when he sees those running lanes pass complete to Lindley.

Running a screen out here on the near side and Lindley chugs out across the 40 yard line and picks up the first down.

Nice blocking.

Dre Reading out on the edge to allow Lindley to scoot to the outside.

Just getting a little flare out.

Get the ball out in space.

Watch 14 right there.

Good block.

Not holding.

Letting Lindley get to the outside.

A guy that really when you look at Zamarcus Lindley Under-recruited, he's a three star, but he's big physical.

He's been our play of the game before.

A guy that just needs a chance at that next level.

14 offers, including Memphis, Boston College, Duke and northwestern.

And he was on the GPB sports 6-A preseason all state team.

Play gets blown dead before they can snap it.

Take a time-out.

Might have been called.

Delay of game offense.

Five yard penalty.

First down.

What I meant to say is I think it's delay of game.

Right there.

Mike Johnson surveying the field, taking a long time to decide.

And the play was in.

So it's up to his mechanics to make the read and go.

He has to drop that idea of having fear against his defense.

He has to pick up his tempo and start making plays.. First and 15 from the 38, Johnson stands in the pocket, delivers down field, deep strike going for Devin Carter and broken up.

And we do have flags down on the field.

We might have a DPI right here.

Brandon Davis right there trying to get back into the play.

You saw the effect already.

Devin Carter on that play.

The big play capability that he has down the field.

The speed.

You can see Mike Johnson's arms on display right there.

Defense 15 yard penalty.

First down.

Well getting Devin Carter back is huge for Mike Johnson Johnny White says that Devin Carter was his security blanket all summer long.

As they were getting ready for the season.

Really having to wait on the ball right there.

As you can see.

And clearly Brendon Davis right there with the pass interference and not a bad penalty if he doesn't get back into that play.

Devin Carter is going to make a touchdown.

Keeper and Mike Johnson did a good job on the read right there and picks up about 5 yards to the 42.

Going to have to make those plays continually all night long.

Pull the ball, make this defensive front.

Respect your athletic ability.

And you're not just going to go sit back in the pocket and let them attack you.

Well, Johnny White said Utah was getting a steal and Mike Johnson.

Second half.

So second down line to gain is the 37.

Johnson a quick toss out of the shotgun incomplete.

And that's going to be close to the first down.

That is going to be a first down to Rah’Keith Kelly.

Nice route there by Kelly playing out of the slot.

Good protection.

Quick throw on time to the outside showing you the hands right there.

Football player is how he's described by his head coach is Rah’Keith Kelly.

Eight offers including Maryland.

They go back to the run here on first down and no running room.

Flag out of Zamarcus Lindley got dropped right there at the line of scrimmage.

I actually have two flags on the play.

The back line judge drew one and the side judge threw another.

Gregg Hoggle is our referee here tonight?

Blocking below the waist offense 15 yards from previous spot.

First down.

They wish it was a pre-snap penalty.

That's a 15 yard.

That's a big chunk penalty right there on Douglas County.

And you would think the side judge throwing that it was in that area where you're thinking maybe a misalignment or somebody started early, but you can see right there going to cut right there out of the slot.

Rocky Kelly on that play really.

No need.

He's on that back side.

No need to make that play and try to cut the defender's legs.

So that pushes them back to the other side of the 50 at the 48.

Still first down.

Now an empty backfield set.

They'll go five wide.

Looking to a quick drop off there at the 45 yard line.

And that's Devin Carter's first catch.

And I know they're really happy to have him back.

He's rated as high by rivals as the number 2 wide receiver in the country.

In the class of 2026.

Very explosive great hands.

You could see just a guy you get the ball to out on the edge.

He's going to make something happen.

And running with that energy like it's his first game back too.

You can see him breaking tackles okay, cutting the ball back into the middle of the field.

Florida State Seminoles getting a great player.

Johnson sprints out of there, being chased by Simmons and throws it out of bounds.

Yeah Florida State getting a great player.

His future head coach Mike Norvell in the building here today to watch him play.

And I'm sure a bunch of other players.

Dale McGee from Georgia State also in the building here today.

And he's they've got their eyes on a number of the players on both sides of the ball.

Reading your report, Matt, you say 48 players.

48 total players with college scholarship offers.

Wow.

25 for Douglas County and 23 for Buford.

It's an amazing number.

Third down, it's a who's who of college football recruiting.

Johnson goes this way with it to Aaron Gregory.

Gregory ended up tripping over his own offensive lineman downfield.

And it's going to be fourth down and long.

Gregory.

Nice job getting the ball out.

You can see Mike Johnson making a concerted effort.

Ken Quinn offensive coordinator trying to get the ball.

Coach white talked about his offense.

He's he's looking for five or six big explosive plays.

He feels like to win this game and he's trying to get it to his top players.

Going to play the field position game here and punt it away from the 42 yard line and try to pin Buford deep.

Maybe get a turnover themselves.

Boris Perez with the punt, it's going to hit inside the five and kick into the end zone.

So not exactly what they were hoping to do.

And so Buford is going to bring the ball out to the 20 yard line.

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Yeah, you're good.

Douglas County Tiger Defense been very stout against the run so far.

I think that is what they have really focused on trying to take away and see if Dayton Raiola can make some plays down the field.

They're doing a good job getting off blocks up front.

, only 4 yards rushing so far for Buford on six attempts.

In fact, only eight total yards of offense for Buford, even though they have the 7-0 lead.

Good job there.

By Jordan Carter.

The defensive end.

What a player he has been for his team right there with the penetration.

Just nowhere to bounce.

That ball to playing good first and second down defense and really going to try to figure out how to get this team, this Buford team to have to throw the ball.

Raiola fakes the toss.

Going to fire in the middle and it is caught for a first down at the 38 yard line.

Let's take a look at the Buford offense brought to you by Johnny's Pizza.

Going across on that offensive line.

Walcott able to Clark Nixon and Houston the backs and the receivers.

McCoy Costin, Muraski Williams and Rashad.

Nice find there.

Dayton Raiola hitting Rashad three star former quarterback 67, 235.

Big target for him to throw the ball to.

What an extraordinary story.

Dream Rashad 6′7″, 235.

He's committed to Purdue as a tight end, but he has only 12 offers.

Once colleges start seeing him at the tight end position, that might change.

He played quarterback the last six years of his life.

And Coach App talked about the best thing he's seen about him is his physicality.

For all those years at quarterback.

To be at tight end, he gets in there and mixes it up.

Ty Green wrapped up second time, third time, fourth time and they finally get him on the ground.

Love the way that these Douglas County linebackers are playing, they're getting downhill once again.

Richard Dyce stepping up the senior with the initial pressure there off of the edge, they're not going to sit back and wait on this big offensive line to attack them.

They are playing downhill linebacker play right now and getting penetration to stop this run game.

Douglas County defense, led by the veteran coach DC Lee Hannah.

They probably were none too happy.

They gave up 40-4 to Langston Hughes last week and a lot of big plays.

Second down.

Raiola sprinting to his left and throwing on the run.

Got a man wide open.

Inside the 15.

And that's going to be a touchdown for Braylon Williams.

I don't know how Braylon Williams got that wide open.

He had to wait for the ball to come down.

He was so far wide open.

This is just a broken play on the back end.

Just losing the defender.

Something they had a problem with last week.

Giving up big plays.

A simple rollout Dayton Raiola airing it out, having to wait on the ball.

He's so open.

Right there is Williams then a big time block right there by dream Rashad as you talked about, man, a guy that they say Purdue.

But we'll wait a couple of weeks and see when you have that kind of hustle that far downfield by your tight end.

Everybody starts seeing tape of him at the tight end position.

The only tape they had on him coming into the season was as a quarterback.

On for the Pat and it is up and good.

14 to nothing Buford.

63 yard touchdown pass from Raiola to Williams to open up a two touchdown lead.

Williams the 510, 165 sophomore.

And you're right, he was so wide open.

Oftentimes in that situation Wayne you'll see the wide receiver flinch.

Clinch up and drop the ball because he's so wide open.

Drop the ball right here.

Just had to wait and watch the block here by train.

Wow Rashad that far downfield.

The big tight end.

But it's just a busted coverage.

Someone lost their man as the play started to develop.

And and I don't think that Braelon Williams even knew he was trying to figure out how am I this open here.

But this young man, young sophomore, he's the next wide receiver star around here in Buford.

They're not extraordinarily deep at the wide receiver position.

We weren't last year, but perhaps a little bit more deeper this year.

The wide receiver spot than they were last year, maybe not as much star power with Jordan Allen going on to Georgia Tech as you take a look at your red ribbons.

365 curriculum scoring drive.

Ball is bouncing around and.

I think we have a flag on the play, so they're going to kick again.

I think they might get a break because they got called for offside.

Kicking team five-yard penalty Rekick.

They were offside on the kick off.

Someone took off too early.

Which looks like it might help them out on this play.

At least County would have got a short field of that ball.

Didn't go 10 yards.

You see the frustration right there on Coach White's face?

His team fought back last week though in this similar situation when they were down big.

And again that scoring drive four plays 80 yards.

Brought to you by DBHDD in the new red ribbon 365 curriculum.

I'm betting this is going to be kicked off.

I would say so after what happened on the previous kick.

Ivanisevic lets it fly.

Let's see if this gets to the end zone.

It will not.

It will be returnable from the four.

Great return by Kelly.

But a flag comes out, probably bringing it back as Kelly reaches the 39.5 yard line.

Three flags kick.

All the officials saw the same situation.

Douglas County team just continues to beat itself.

Block below the waist.

Return team.

Half the distance to the goal.

First down.

Wow.

Wipes out a great return by Rah’Keith Kelly.

They're going to get great field position out of that one, but instead they're going to back it up inside the 20 yard line with 6 seconds to play in the quarter.

Second game in a row.

A slow start.

Just can't get out of the starting gates.

Whether it be the offense finding itself in second and third and long, the miscues, the turnover, and now the special teams putting this offense in a terrible situation to start this drive.

So first and ten they eventually spot the ball at the 12 yard line.

Johnson wants to pass goes deep and it's caught by Aaron Gregory all the way down to the 34 yard line.

On the final play of the first quarter.

Well, that's a way to get yourself out of the hole.

Not sure Nasir McCoy just stopped on the play right there.

He Reid the ball and just stopped on the play and gave up the big pass there to Aaron Gregory.

And that is the end of the quarter.

Big defensive play by the Wolves led to their first touchdown by Ty Green, and then a 63 yard pass to Williams downfield and a 14 nothing lead for Buford.

After one quarter.

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You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

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And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

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As we head to the second quarter here at Phillip Beard Stadium and a 14 to nothing lead for Buford as they scored two touchdowns in that opening quarter against Douglas County.

Big play on defense, big play on offense.

Matt Stewart Wayne Gandy and John Nelson with you.

So Tigers in a hole here for the second game in a row.

Finally got an explosive right there to Aaron Gregory down the field.

Him and Mike Johnson linking up.

They're going to need more of those kind of plays out of their outside receivers.

But they finished that first quarter with a big pass play to Aaron Gregory.

And now Mike Johnson with a big run down to the 20 1 yard line.

Talked about it in that first quarter.

After a little struggle here.

Quarterback keeper all the way right up the middle.

Big thick.

We saw him before the game.

Got thick legs.

He can take those kind of hits, deliver out some punishment himself right there.

And those kind of plays get you into the game.

They get that energy going for your offense.

So a time-out going to be called by Douglas County.

Time-out.

Buford.

We'll step aside as the Tigers need to talk things over.

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Early second quarter Buford 14.

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Douglas County back on offense.

Coming out of the time-out.

They've got it first and ten at the 20 yard line.

They hit a big play to Aaron Gregory on the final play of the first quarter to get him down here, the chance to cut into this 14-0 deficit.

False start there by the left guard.

Ezra Jordan as the defense shifted.

But you saw we've seen the momentum shift for this offense of Douglas County ever since that scramble that Mike Johnson had about mid first quarter.

He's been playing with a little more energy.

And Coach White talked about him.

Once he gets settled down.

Once he takes that.

Hit.

Act on the defense five yard penalty.

First down.

Wow.

They're going to call the shifting of the defensive front drawing the offensive lineman off right there.

Typically that means one of those defensive seven move towards the ball which you can't flinch towards the ball as you shift.

So that makes it first down and five.

Now from the 15 yard line Bryant Appling looking for an explanation.

You pointed out that Ezra Jordan the backup playing there at left guard right now subbing in for the massive sophomore TJ Brandon.

Johnson fires to the end zone and it is caught for the touchdown.

Devin Carter.

Welcome back, Mr. Carter.

Just a go route out on the edge man.

And what a beautiful pass by Mike Johnson showing you some pitcher skills right here.

Just going to lay it up right before the defender can turn around there Malachi Speed just couldn't really never found the ball.

Just hard to defend.

And beautiful pass there by Johnson.

Looks like he might be happy to have Carter back.

Devin Carter is.

Going to make a world.

Of difference.

We talked about the offense being out of sync in the first four games.

Well, Devin Carter will help change that in a hurry.

Boreas-Perez on for the p.a.t and the kick is blocked.

That's a dead ball here in high school football.

So score will remain 14-6 And no good.

But having Devin Carter back has paid dividends immediately for Douglas County here tonight.

Great protection, good pocket and just a beautiful throw.

One of those throws that's really just hard to defend.

There Malachi Speed trying to use the sideline on Devin Carter.

But what a beautiful job of Carter reaching out grabbing the back end of that football for that touchdown.

They lost him in early August.

Suffered a hamstring injury in preseason practice.

They were a little bit fearful at the time before they got the diagnosis.

That he might not play this year.

And when we talked to Johnny White earlier in the week, Johnny said they were hoping to get him back in time for region play, which is not until October 3.

So we were very surprised when we saw Devin Carter dressed out and going through pregame here tonight.

You can't miss a big game like this in a beautiful stadium.

If you even think the competitor in you at hamstring got fixed real quick, there you come here.

You can see this Douglas County team they were looking forward to this game.

Not just the opponent but playing in this environment is something that these kids are relishing.

Johnny White said.

Look, regardless of what happens, I'm going to enjoy playing in this stadium on Friday night.

So Boris Perez has it teed up and ready to kick off, and this will not be returnable as it's going to also go to the back of the end zone.

And so the Wolves will bring the ball out to the 20 yard line Wayne three big plays on that touchdown drive for the Tigers.

Huge play right there.

The Aaron Gregory will get it going right there beating Malachi Speed.

And then this beautiful touchdown right there throwing it between two defenders.

Doesn't get any better than that there by a quarterback and a receiver.

And Douglas County back in the game.

Johnny White's team has never beaten Buford.

They played last year in Douglasville and the Wolves won 31 14.

The only other time they played was in the first round of the 2020 playoffs, and Buford beat them at the old time.

Reading Stadium 48-0 Raiola heavy rush.

Carter missed him.

Raiola throwing and it's going to be caught by Rashad.

No, he did not hold on to it.

Good defense.

There by the Tigers to separate him from the ball.

Great job here.

By Dayton Raiola getting out of this pressure here by Jordan Carter.

Stepping up flicking the ball out here to dream Rashad.

And just a beautiful job Richard Dyce right now is so dominant on this defense.

He's making plays in the backfield right there.

Getting back into the play showing you the coverage skills knocking that ball out of dream Richards hand.

Incredible.

The Mike linebacker downfield on coverage right there and broke up that pass.

Hand off goes to McCoy.

And McCoy is going to get only a couple of yards on the play.

As we take a look at Douglas County on defense.

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Fabian Smith, Flueylln and Carter across the front in that linebacking corps, Jones and Dyce.

And then Cole is the nickelback and then Burden, Gregory, Green and Owens in the secondary.

Maybe the best secondary that Coach White says he's ever had.

When you look at the talent.

Owens Green, Gregory and Burden on that back end, this defensive front Solomon Fabian up there.

He's one of those guys.

Nine tackles, one sack, two TFLs on the season.

He can make some plays too off of that other end.

Third down and eight and Jordan Carter has got Raiola for the sack.

Big Jordan Carter with his 32nd career quarterback sack.

And what a beautiful pass rush.

Texas A and M four star 642 60.

Watch how he just pulls over and slings a little Reggie White right there a little hump to it.

It's just a little hump.

I was in the real hump.

That was kind of like it right there.

But what a great job being Mubenga the left tackle, just getting off balance.

Jordan Carter using his momentum to get that sack.

Punt is going to hit at the 46 and take a Buford bounce a couple of them.

And finally Rah’Keith Kelly jumps on top of the ball at the 34.

And that's where the Tigers go back on offense.

So a big defensive play by Jordan Carter right there.

And you kind of feel right now Wayne there's a flag down on the field.

We'll check that pending the call on that penalty.

You got to feel right now Douglas County slowly grabbing the momentum in this game.

We talked about last week against Langston Hughes down big early.

And the one thing Coach White talked to us about was how happy he was of how his team, even though they lost, how they kept fighting and got in a situation where they made it a game.

And right now they've taken the momentum out of this game.

The crowd is sitting, the cheering has laxed and they're starting to find their rhythm on offense.

As Douglas County.

Got a great crowd here on Friday night, but it's very quiet beneath us right now.

Holding return team, ten yard penalty.

First down.

So that's going to back it up inside the 30 yard line.

And Matt Watts the warehouse across the street.

What what business is that.

What company is that.

Is that goo goo.

What is that across the street.?

Buford University.

Wow, what a beautiful I mean, this is just beautiful right here.

You haven't been here.

You're going to not understand until you get here what they've built up here in the north of Georgia.

It is an extraordinary facility.

This stadium in the entire Buford High School campus.

So Douglas County going back on offense.

Mike Johnson, nine of 11 for 89 yards and a touchdown.

He's settled down a little bit.

Little bit of a shaky start.

Maybe some nerves early in this game in front of this crowd and in this building.

But looks like he's settled down.

Kelly in motion keeper by Johnson instead.

And Johnson going to get driven out of bounds by Deion Miller.

Offensive coordinator Ken Quinn for the Tigers as decided that he's going to dial up a couple of runs for Mike Johnson right here.

Little Reid option here trying to find a hole.

Nowhere to go.

Nice job coming up there.

McCoy.

Then the cleanup off of the edge there by Deion Miller.

Deion Miller replacing AJ Holloway at that inside linebacker position.

Holloway is now a freshman at the University of South Carolina.

TfL on that play.

So second down.

Johnson being chased by Bryce Perry-Wright and heaves it up in the air and out of bounds.

Joshua Sam-Epelle over there trying to hold his own against Bryce Perry-Wright this time just going underneath is right.

What a pass rusher he is.

Just a tough situation.

We do have a flag down here in the backfield.. And as you heard us talk about it in the open you got Bryce Perry-Wright for Buford.

You got Aaron Carter or Jordan Carter and Aaron Gregory for Douglas County.

All three of those big time prospects here in the state of Georgia.

Intentional grounding offense, five yard penalty, loss of down playing, third down.

Committed to Texas A&M we asked Johnny White about that, he said.

Trooper Taylor.

Trooper Taylor is the man.

, the key man in all of that.

He says that he just gives you that belief and he knows him to be a guy, that whatever, he's going to be, a man of his word, he's going to protect the kids and he asks you to give to him.

And both of his players felt that way, and that's why they're headed to Texas A&M.

Mike Elko, the head coach down there.

So the intentional grounding pushes the ball back inside the ten yard line.

It's third down and long Johnson a quick pass out here to Lindley.

Zamarcus Lindley trying to clear the edge.

And he's going to get shot down at the 21 yard line.

It's going to be fourth down.

Punting situation for Douglas County.

That was Jackson Pope who came up and made that tackle.

Young man who's committed to Mississippi State.

Jackson Pope still here?

Well, yeah, there was Jake.

That was.

His cousin.

And now Jax.

Jax is now a senior.

Jax been playing a long time, too.

It's a Pope that has been here and delivering, making a big play right there if you can.

Saw Lindley had a little green in front of him.

A play really?

That Douglas County was just calling to get out of the end zone.

One tackle away from becoming a first down.. Boris Perez on the punt.

He's standing at his seven yard line and he gets it out of there.

Wobbly kick that's coming down at the 45.

It bounced off of Buford player Douglas County on top of it at the 44.

But there's a flag down.

They might have interfered with.

Ty Green on the reception.

Back up.

Ty Green trying to receive that punt might have been interfered with.

That might be the call right here.

You could see a little hesitation there by Ty Green, his late decision by him to go get this ball.

As you can see, he waves for fair catch.

Did they touch?

They really see when he got touched.

Right there he goes for the fair catch and he just slips.

Yeah.

I don't think he got touched.

Aaron Gregory is within his rights to push the return man away from the ball so his team can get the ball.

Kick, catch interference on the kicking team 15 yards from the end of the kick.

First down.

Wow, that looked very nebulous to me.

I mean, it didn't look like he touched him.

You see, Johnny White in disapproval of that call.

It did not look like they touched Ty Green, nor in any way interfered.

They were close to him, but I don't think they interfered with the catch at all.

But that's what the officials have ruled here.

You can see right here late for the fair catch.

Didn't really see any contact right there.

By Aaron Gregory.

If he loses his footing.

Yeah.

I'm sorry, Wayne, if there was any contact, it was when Ty Green was waving for the fair catch.

His arm hit Aaron Gregory.

But anyway, so it's a 15 yard penalty and a great break for Buford as they have the ball at the 40 yard line.

Ty Green trying to bounce it outside.

Wow, what a tackle coming up.

That's Adrian Green.

Zaydrean Jackson pardon me from that cornerback position has had a heck of a game so far.

Great penetration by the D tackle.

Semaj Flueylln White 45 right there.

Just not giving Ty Green anywhere to go with the ball.

Trying to break it.

But as we talked about, there's a lot of stars on this field, a lot of great athletes with great speed trying to get to the edge and the pursuit.

There by Stephen Jones and Jackson right there, coming up to make that play.

That's the third tackle, second TfL for Zaydrean Jackson already in this game.

Right up the middle.

Jameer Cantrell first carry of the night Cantrell down to the 29 yard line.

Big hole there on that left side of Bo two Walcott.

You can just drive a tractor right there.

Nice job making Jamaar Owens miss on the tackle is Cantrell a guy they try to get in the slot.

A lot of times they're putting him in the backfield and as we know, Buford rotates five or six guys at that running back position.

That was his first carry of the night.

First and ten.

Now for the Wolves at the Douglas County 29.

Ty Green on the handoff.

Ty Green goes off tackle.

Ty Green inside the 20 and down to the 16 yard line.

Ty Green strong run has another first down.

And those bursts right there.

Ty Green shows you is what makes him so special.

The patience to let the blocks happen and then the confidence and the speed.

Look how he just burst through that hole right there.

He goes from 0-60 and it's just hard.

But it allows him that speed to be patient and let things develop in front of him.

As Bryant Appling about a comparable to Ty Green, he immediately said K.J.

Bolden, who's now in his sophomore season with the Georgia Bulldogs.

Cantrell dives down inside the 15 to the 12.

Nice job there.

By Adrian Cole coming from that safety position to make that tackle from the backside, the four star junior 62185.

That hybrid safety outside linebacker looks like he's going to leave the game as well.

Right there walking off the field kind of slumping his shoulder.

Adrian Cole walks off the field.

Brings up second down line to gain is the seven ball sitting on the 14.

13 yard line.

Second down.

Nuckles now in there at running back.

Nuckles gets the hand off Silas Nuckles who also is their starting cornerback, dives down to the nine yard line.

I mean, it's nothing for Buford.

To use for running backs in the first half, which is what they have done here tonight.

And they pride that's how they the Buford moving company.

That's how they work.

They play a lot of running backs.

They put a lot of pressure on you with different styles and freshness that they bring into the game.

When they do that and the unselfishness of that room is what makes it work, that those guys, they don't count their snaps.

They just do what they do when they get a chance.

Third down and two.

Green got hit in the hole by Dyce lunges forward for a yard.

Now it's going to be fourth down and a flag comes out.

Douglas County had gotten the stop.

Let's check the penalty call here.

Richard Dyce once again making a play.

His physicality on the run game is what's been key for the success tonight.

Stopping the run.

He gets downhill.

Watch number 6 come to the party.

Look how he comes up under Graham Houston right there.

Rips underneath him and then has the speed to get back out to make the play.

After the play personal foul on the offense 15 yard penalty.

Fourth down.

That's huge.

That takes him out of going for it range.

And now they got to decide if they're going to kick a field goal here.

Looks like Ivanisevic is coming on to try a field goal.

See right here at the end.

You see as he tries to get up you can see the shove right there shoving the defender down.

So this will be a 41 yard field goal from the right.

Hash 41 yard field goal attempt.

Kick is on its way and the kick is good.

41 yard kick for Andrew Ivanisevic.

Makes it 17-6 But everything considered.

That's a win for Douglas County not to give up a touchdown in that situation.

A couple of bad breaks there on that drive for Douglas County defense, but great job of continuing to fight, stopping the run.

No Buford having a little more success running the ball on that drive, but Douglas County seems as we continue to talk about they've settled down here in this second quarter, late first, early second quarter, they have settled down and starting to play Tiger football with Johnny White really felt like his team.

If they could just hang around with Buford, they would have a chance of winning this game late.

Wayne score notwithstanding, the game has been pretty even from a yardage standpoint.

Douglas County has run 20 plays, 119 Buford run 20 plays, 114.

Buford has had more success with the turnover, which gave him the short field for that first touchdown and then the return by Ty Green.

The punt return that set up, easy second touchdown.

Let's see if this kick will be returnable.

It will from the three.

It's Jamaar Owens going to the far side.

Owens finds a seam and tackled at the 26 yard line.

Good ball.

So that's where Douglas County is going to go back on offense.

Mike Johnson and this offense have done a great job when they've had early first downs, success when they've been able to find themselves in second and four, second and five.

And a lot of that has come with him being able to run the ball.

With designed run or quarterback scrambles.

He's learning that on this level against this kind of competition as a quarterback, you're going to have to make a couple of plays against a Buford defense with your feet.

Ten of 12 passing for 102 yards.

He also has 19 yards rushing on six attempts.

So first and ten for the Tigers, sitting on their own 27.

Just over 6 minutes left here in the first half.

Johnson fires and it's caught over there on the edge.

And that's going to be a first down catch for the Tigers.

As the ball goes to Devin Carter.. Beautiful route here by Devin Carter for his quarterback.

Just losing Silas Nuckles up on the edge right there.

Come back to the ball right there.

You could see the defender is five or six yards away from him when he has that breakdown.

Beautiful route.

And that's what makes him so dangerous.

He has the speed but his route running Aaron Gregory their route running is what makes them special.

Three catches, 37 yards for Devin Carter and.

Start offense.

Five yard penalty.

First down.

And Wayne I fully expect that.

We'll see Devin Carter playing in the National Football League one day, just like his daddy did.

Yeah, he seems to have the full skill set and his dad has shown him the little intangibles that separate you a lot of times in high school level.

A lot of it is just I'm a win with my athleticism.

But you can see a guy like that that catches with his hands.

It's not a lot of chest catching and great route running.

Johnson rolling out to his right.

Does a head fake gets away from the rush.

That was Deion Miller and runs out of bounds at the 45 yard line.

Picks up five on the play and then there's a flag laid on the play.

Or actually there's a flag.

Was there a flag late because there's a flag back in the 35 yard line where the blocking would have been.

Eddie Alford his helmet came off, would be hands to the face on the defense.

Big left tackle has to leave the game.

Don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it.

He's committed to Memphis 64, 310.

One of five offensive linemen, Wayne that are over 300 pounds and number 51.

Joshua Sam-Epelle is the biggest of them all.

693 40.

Participation on the offense 15 yards from previous spot.

First down.

That's the thing that's scary about this.

All these guys are bigger than I was as a professional football player.

When I look at it, they have a lot of size.

They're long.

Some of them Sam-Epelle at six, nine, a legit 69.

When we go on the field.

To I had to tell you that he has stopped growing.

Can't get any taller, but.

Well, you see, when he gets down in his stance and his crouch, he's as big as a guy that's standing up.

I mean, look at his height over there at that left tackle position.

He's as big as a guy that's standing up.

Pass is complete over here on the near side as the ball is caught at the 38 yard line.

And that is Aaron Gregory who comes up with the catch.

Mike Johnson once again working the pocket, stepping up, keeping his eyes down the field, knowing that he has talented receivers.

Just got to get the ball out to him and let these young men go to work.

Nellie confirms that from the field, the penalty on Douglas County was because Alford kept playing after he lost his helmet.

That's the illegal participation, not a substitution penalty.

So second down.

Johnson steps up in the pocket.

He's going to be wrapped up and dropped by Echols Joshua Echols.

Big time pressure off the edge right there.

Bryce Perry right in two.

Defender I think they ran into each other when they tried to meet at the quarterback.

You can see right there big collision there between Cameron Simmons and Bryce Perry-Wright as they both went to the sack for the sack.

And Joshua Echols making the play.

When you when you talk about Cam Simmons and Bryce Perry-Wright colliding that's like 218 wheelers hit each other.

Two and looks like one is still down right there.

But a big collision, both coming off the edge.

Just friendly fire right there.

Nobody's fault.

Can I get on my soapbox for just a moment?

I love high school football, but some of the rules really just.

Okay, we're going to see a replay first.

Right here.

Bryce Perry-Wright working to the ball then just a collision right there.

Running helmet to helmet.

And that was Dre Quinn, not Cameron Simmons but Dre Quinn the Clemson commit right there 16 getting up 6-4 240 transfer from Greater Atlanta Christian has really fit in with how this Buford team works.

Getting used to playing at this level.

Looks like they're going to just take him over to the ten.

There he is.

Dre Quinn transfer from Greater Atlanta Christian, playing his senior season here with the Wolves.

It's third down and 22.

Johnson rolling throwing throws it short for Kelly.

It's going to be fourth down.

Now let me get on that soap box real quick.

The rule about you're still playing when the helmet comes off.

Well your helmet comes off.

Typically because an opponent tore it off or knocked it off.

They don't throw the flag on that.

I mean, if you want to, if you want to protect the players, I get it.

But when the helmet comes off, blow the play dead.

Just blow it dead right there.

Yeah.

And I don't know that your helmet coming out off automatic signals signals the brain for you to stop, either based on where you are in the play.

But you're right, Matt.

It seems to be against you for something that an offense that was put against you is held against you.

Kick is going to be taken by Green at the 34 yard line, and he is driven back.

Great punt coverage by the Tigers to limit any kind of return by Ty Green on that kick.

426 to play in the half.

176 Buford they're going back on offense.

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Welcome back to Phillip Beard for 26 to go.

First half and the margin is still 11 coming up.

It's the halftime show.

How do I know that.

Because here's all my notes that we have for the halftime show coming up.

A lot of great stories good story lines as well.

Interesting scores around the state.

We'll take a peek coming up at the half along with our You Save It player spotlight.

Catching up with our friends Governor's Office of Highway Safety all the stuff that makes Football Fridays what it is.

Let's send it back upstairs to Matt and Wayne for the rest of the second quarter.

And we're looking forward to that.

Nelly.

That's 4 minutes and 20 away as Buford gets set to go back on offense and leading by 11 points here at the beard.

So first and ten from the 35.

Handoff goes to McCoy Dylan McCoy one yard gain McCoy committed to NC state.

Big drive here for Buford.

Really put some pressure on Douglas County.

You feel like if they can go down and and put seven and ring seven up on the board this game will be theirs in the second half, kind of getting the run game going.

But this is a big drive here for this Douglas County defense to get off the field and keep them out of the end zone.

Second down and nine.

Cantrell comes around and gets the handoff and Cantrell is going to be dropped by Solomon Fabian.

Big TfL back at the 30 yard line.

Solomon Fabian Fabian 62, 245 gets overlooked because of the play of Jordan Carter.

But look at the penetration.

Look at the speed this young man very underrated defensive end.

We saw him last year.

He just makes those kind of plays, goes under the radar.

But he balls out for this defense.

Has four offers one the Clark Atlanta.

But really undervalued.

And one of those guys that we would mark as make a kid an offer.

He's a third year starter after transferring from Creekside Raiola looking downfield protection fires underneath now to Rashad.

And dream Rashad gets dropped at the 35 yard line.

Original line of scrimmage.

And that looks like a three.

And out here for the Buford Wolves.

Steven Jones, the linebacker.

These two linebackers playing well together.

Sam and Mike Jones and Dyce here Raiola showing you some arm strength.

Able to get it out to the big target.

Look at the tackle there by Steven Jones.

The physicality 511200 pound junior.

Banovic is going to kick it.

And he does.

And it hit off of Kelly.

And that ball is loose.

And Buford might be on top of it.

They are a huge mistake in decision there by Rah’Keith Kelly in the return game.

Gifts Buford with great field position.

Jameer Cantrell coming up with the turnover.

The three star right here just showed a fair.

Put your hand up.

Fair.

Catch the ball right there.

You're not in real position.

Get away from it.

Just fair catch.

If you don't find yourself where you got your feet underneath you to feel the ball.

Ball to the side slightly touches him.

Great hustle right there by the coverage team to get that ball back.

That's the second time that Buford has coughed up the ball inside the ten yard line.

At the ten or inside the ten yard line, and this gives Buford a great opportunity to get a quick and easy touchdown right before the half.

Raiola going to pass it.

Wow, Red right away and dropped by Nick Burden on the catch by Muraski.

Their H-back.

Raiola leading to the big hit right there.

Just can't lead your receiver into a defender like that right there.

That'll get you a look tomorrow when you're going into the locker room, just let him to the buzz.

And you feel for this Douglas County defense.

By and large they've been very physical, tackled well.

They've been put in bad spots here by their offense or special teams.

Raiola to the air.

Jump ball.

Incomplete.

Going to get a pie here on Nick Burden.

Trying to go to seven Rashad right there.

That is dreams little brother slightly little.

He's 6′5″, 185 and a sophomore.

A sophomore with great size.

Pass interference defense.

Half the distance to the goal.

Second down.

By the time he's a senior, he'll be a tight end.

And he's already 65 as a sophomore.

But just a one on one matchup out on the edge.

And you can see just all over him right there.

Easy call by the official Nick Burden already got both of his hands on him.

Trying to test Nick Burden with a fade.

You have to have height as Nick Burden is 63 himself out there at corner, headed to Liberty.

Second down.

Ball is sitting on the five.

Raiola again.

Goes to the air, again to the fade, and again a jump ball.

And that is.

Let's see.

No signal from the official Douglas County came away with it.

That was Cameron Hirsch, who was battling for the ball.

And they're going to rule that an incomplete, I think, right.

Jamar Owens Owens ended up walking away with it as if he had intercepted it.

Through another corner route right there.

Not sure.

I think that's.

Just.

The first out of the back of the end zone.

Hurst initially kind of double caught the ball.

It fell on his chest and then the ball.

Yeah, his body is out Owens his body is out of bounds.

By the time he gets control.

You're going to need some serious replay to try to figure that thing out.

And we don't have replay during the regular season.

So third down.

Handoff goes to McCoy and Dylan McCoy with the walk in touchdown to make it 23-6 Great call.

There by this Buford Wolves great block off of there by Mubenga.

The left tackle on Jordan Carter just a little draw.

Play Dylan McCoy situation where Douglas County playing pass and then you run the draw off the edge right there.

But great job over there by the left tackle.

Mubenga on Jordan Carter.

Mubenga is committed to Arkansas.

On for the P.a.t right here.

Trying to make it an 18 point lead right before halftime.

Which they.

Do 24-6 Buford has capitalized on Douglas County mistakes.

First touchdown was a three yard drive after a fumble inside the ten.

Second touchdown came after a long punt return and was a 30 yard touchdown drive.

That one comes after the fumbled punt, and that's a ten yard drive.

And that one comes after we had just talked about Buford getting the ball.

And if they go down right before half and get a touchdown, the defense did its job, made him punt, and they had the turnover and a good quarterback I mean good draw play right there by Dylan McCoy.

That left side over there Mubenga and Clark the center doing a good job.

Just a walk in there for McCoy.

So all totaled quick math.

Not official.

The three touchdown drives for Buford for this 246 lead have totaled 43 yards.

Sometimes when you read the numbers, that's why you can't figure out how the other team ever in the game.

You get those breaks, those short fields, and you capitalize on it.

Douglas County has been their own worst enemy here tonight offensively and on special teams.

Meantime, the Douglas County defense.

Has given up 199.

And the Buford defense has given up 145.

Now, how aggressive will Kevin Quinn, coordinator for Douglas County, be in this situation?

Imagine the way the big play with Carter and Gregory.

They're going to maybe try something down the field.

I think you have to be because Buford is going to get the second half kickoff.

You have to stay aggressive if you have a chance to try to get something on the board here, a situation where you want to keep the ball going deep or throw something quick, let the playmakers make a play..

Pass is complete at the 25 yard line.

Nice run after the catch.

Rah’Keith Kelly trying to redeem himself up to the 40 yard line.

Quick slant out out of the slot there by Kelly.

Nice throw and catch between Johnson and Kelly on that play.

And the flag fell so they blew the play dead.

Now Douglas County does have all three time-outs remaining and they have a good kicker kicker in Emmanual Boreas-Perez coach white said range is 50-52 so they're not afraid to have him try a long one.

Here.

You see the chain issue that's more than a chain issue.

That's a that's a stick issue.

Here we go.

Here we go.

Coach.

Coach white over there.

Directing.

Helping them.

Out, helping them out.

There you go.

Get him right.

Help help help help.

Johnson on the sprint out and the throw downfield.

And it is going to be incomplete.

Initially Johnson looked like he was waiting on Gregory to stop his route and come back to the ball.

And when he did not, he just got outside of containment and decided to flick it up there in that 50 50 ball, trying to trust Gregory to make a play for him.

Right on the edge.

A little miscommunication on the route there between the quarterback and the receiver.

So second down and ten from the 41 67 seconds left in the half.

Johnson dancing around and going to take a sack.

Johnson ends up going down at the 37 yard line.

His helmet came off, so he's going to have to leave the game here for a play.

It's like Ryan Dyce is going to come in.

You can see the pressure coming off the edge.

He's looking to try to make something with his feet.

Good decision to step up in the pocket there.

Cameron Simmons who's out there on the edge there bringing pressure.

Douglas County.

Cam Simmons is the son of Clyde Simmons who played 15 seasons in the National Football League eight with the Eagles, including two All-Pro and Pro Bowl seasons.

A bad man, Clyde Simmons, a guy that you just you're going to call for a little help.

It's okay to chip running back as you go out, get a little something on Clyde.

But what a a guy that could play the run and the pass was his dad, Clyde Simmons.

Cam Simmons forging his own career.

Seven offers, including Wake Forest and Troy.

So second down and long coming up for Douglas County with 50-9 seconds to play here in the half.

As we take a look at the Douglas County resume, one state championship in their history.

That was way back in 1964.

They have had back to back semifinal finishes the last two years, been in the playoffs five straight seasons, eight total region titles, and they've gone 27 and five the last two years 3-1 this year, 11-3 last year, 13 and one in 2023.

And Johnny White, the former Liberty Flame, has been their head coach for the last ten years, played for the legendary Sam Rutigliano, and then was an assistant on his staff.

Johnson or actually, that's Dyce throws short Dyce in there for that one play because Johnson had lost his helmet.

And those are the situations that you were talking about a little earlier.

Matt, where the quarterback or someone has to leave because of their helmet coming off, it hurts you in certain situations right there.

Your third and long, you can't really operate the way you want because your starter has to go out.

Because his helmet came off.

I get the spirit of the rule.

They don't want players taking their helmets off in the middle of the field.

And you know, and showboating or taunting or anything like that.

But when you're tackled and no fault of your own, your helmet comes off.

I don't know why that player gets penalized exactly.

If I take my helmet off, they should just be a penalty.

Other than that, it puts your helmet back on and go.

I mean, he got I mean, he got crushed by three guys.

Three guys that, I mean, a total of like a total of, like 600 pounds or more fell on top of him and his helmet popped off.

And he gets penalized by having to come out of the game.

I don't understand the rule.

In a tough situation for a backup to come in his third and 12, so anything that you thought you might want to do, as you can see, just throwing short, trying to get the ball out of his hand.

There was Ryan Dyce.

So Buford back on offense with 49 seconds to play here in the half.

Let's see if they take a shot.

They have two time-outs remaining.

Raiola on a drag across the middle.

Incomplete.

Trying to go to Ty.

Green right there.

Pass intended for Green.

He's trying to get it to a guy like Green out in space underneath.

See if he can break something.

Or situation right here for Buford is to have a turnover.

They stay in that four wide package looking as though they're going to stay aggressive.

Maybe get the ball down field.

Again, Raiola in the drop clean pocket for him.

Throws and it's going to be caught right here at the 30 yard line.

Nice catch by the sophomore wide receiver Cameron Hurst.

Protection long developing play here.

Hurst finds himself coming underneath crossing route a little better throw.

Give him a chance to be able to catch the ball and run.

Clock is still running and I think Buford is going to run this out.

They can do that.

They do not have to snap the ball.

And there they go.

Their head to the locker room.

All in all, though, Buford has capitalized on Douglas County mistakes, which as a football team, that is an important thing to do.

And they have a 246 lead as they go to their immaculate, pristine locker room.

All.

Time now for our Johnny's Pizza halftime interview.

It's brought to you by Johnny's New York style pizza.

Your original neighborhood pizzeria.

All right, let's check on the slice of this first half from the Buford perspective here with coach App, you took advantage of the mistakes.

Short fields were there for you.

Your defense came up strong.

Yeah.

Proud of those guys.

Proud of the way we we forced some turnovers.

We just.

Got to keep playing I mean we're giving up silly things and things we work on in practice.

We shouldn't be giving up on a Friday night, but we still do it and we still make silly mistakes at the end of the game.

And in the plays.

And I know you're probably going to talk to him about the penalties, and I know that was probably something that was driving the staff a little crazy in the first half, too.

Oh yeah.

Yeah, it's selfishness.

That's really what it is.

I hate to say that, but it's just pull up on a guy, don't drive out of bounds.

We ain't got to do anything extra.

It's just extra stuff that we don't need right now.

Thanks for your time, coach.

Thank you.

That is the early returns from Buford.

They are up 18.

They took advantage of mistakes that Douglas County had and they've got 24 on the board.

After the first 20:04 minutes we come back.

It's the halftime show.

Scores, highlights, stories, features, all of it from PBS Phillip Beard Stadium the Wolves up 18 on the great GPB stick and stay.

We'll be right back.

Sir.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh hey what's up man.

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free, and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

With boots on the ground and suspended mid-air, our line workers are everywhere.

Behind every turn switch are those who put it all on the line to illuminate lives down the line.

Their job is as honorable as it is rigorous.

As we look on with admiring eyes, we want them to know we are grateful.

Georgia's electric membership Cooperative celebrate the life sustaining contributions of our line workers.

Storm or shine.

Thank you for being our lifeline.

Georgia's EMC so much more than electricity.

Welcome back to Phillip Beard Stadium.

It's halftime Buford leading Douglas County by the score of 24-6 Thanks for dropping by here on the halftime show here on Football Fridays in Georgia on the great GPB.

Thanks for accessing us.

However, you are doing so large device or small from all around the planet or maybe just in your living room.

The multi-screen experience.

We'll talk about that coming up in just a second.

We've got a lot of scores to get into, a lot of great story lines around the state, keeping an eye on what's going on in Elberton with Lincoln County and Elbert County.

A great night for both of those communities.

More on that in just a little bit.

Let's go to the scoreboard and let you know what we're keeping an eye on.

Out of the blocks.

Carrollton and Gainesville.

We can update that one at the break.

It was 22, 8237 North Gwinnett leading Brookwood at the half.

Shocker in South Georgia.

We can update Colquitt and Lee County.

Colquitt now leading Lee County by the score of 36-6 at the break.

It was 29-0 at one point, and it is now a 30 point margin.

Right now.

After after 24 minutes, North Oconee and Jefferson updating that one.

That one's 21-0 Second quarter, page two Betty and Milton.

That's a low scoring game.

Second quarter Thompson and Swainsboro.

Swainsboro on the verge of going 5-0 if they can hang on against the Thomson Bulldogs, Raymond County and Bremen, we knew that one was going to be low scoring.

It hasn't disappointed Bowden heard County that one is now at the break.

That one is 14-10 Page three.

Brooks County and Fitzgerald.

That one might be done by the time halftime is over.

Fitzgerald with a lead in that one.

And our web game Sprayberry and Sequoyah two teams unbeaten, both 4-0 Top ten for the first time in a long time playing each other.

You can catch Cody Chaffins on the call at GPB.

That 148 points in the first half 30:05 of them going to Sequoyah.

That is the rundown of the scores.

Once again, we'll keep an eye on it.

You can also keep an eye on the scores.

They'll be on the bottom of your screen as we follow along here in the third and the fourth quarter.

Now it's time to catch up with our friends from Cigna and find out what's going on with a really cool opportunity for students in the state of Georgia.

Teens are dealing with a lot of stress and that can be overwhelming.

Kirk Erickson, Cigna Healthcare general manager for Georgia and Alabama, is here to help parents spot the signs.

Kirk, why is it so important to talk about teens and stress?

Well, Hannah, our teens are really struggling with mental health issues.

That's not unusual right now.

Cigna actually conducted a report on loneliness, and we found that Gen Z is the loneliest generation that there is here in Atlanta, 60% of teens are reporting increasing stress and confusion about things like school.

Think about sports, tryouts, exams, tests.

So they're constantly trying to keep up.

Social media pressure.

All the things 100%.

What are the warning signs that your teen could be struggling?

Well, as a parent, you know what's what's normal for them.

So if you start to see them pulling back or doing things differently, a different friend group, maybe they were outgoing and now they're more reclusive.

Whatever the situation might be, if you see a change in normal behaviors, have the conversation with them.

Just see how they're doing.

Make an open line of communication and make sure that's constantly available to them.

How can we support our teens mental health?

Well, again, it's essential to talk openly and honestly.

And in this day and age, I think what's great is that behavioral care has really been destigmatized.

So there's access to care even from the privacy of your own home.

If you feel like your teen is struggling with something, let's let's talk to a doctor.

Let's get some behavioral support for them, because unfortunately, suicide rates continue to rise amongst teens.

There's no more important topic that we could be talking about.

So this is life saving information.

Absolutely.

Kirk, thank you so much for being here and sharing.

Thank you.

If you would like more information on this topic, please visit.

Com.

Thanks to our friends from Cigna once again with our signature moment that we have every halftime here on Football Fridays in Georgia.

And once again navigating stress very, very important in our everyday lives.

Next up catching up with our friends from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety and our friend Josh Turner.

Once again, a great opportunity for students in the state of Georgia.

Give Josh a listen.

Welcome back everybody.

Time to catch up with our friend Josh Turner, director of the Georgia Driver's Education Commission, here to talk about the Grant scholarship program.

So Josh hit me.

So these scholarships are available to any young Georgian between the ages of 15-17 if they have a permit or driver's license, and they meet certain financial thresholds in their family, they're free to apply.

We'll get them in a great driver's education course where they can get 30 hours of classroom training, 6 hours behind the wheel.

Now, you hit a milestone recently.

That was really cool.

We have just crossed the threshold of awarding 50,000 scholarships to young Georgians across the state of Georgia.

We're very proud of it.

All right.

So information on how folks apply for this really cool thing.

Yeah.

You visit GA Highway safety.org.

Forward slash.

You can go in there and log in, apply for a scholarship.

What Josh said scholarship opportunities.

And that is the latest news from our friends at the GDC and the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

The heads Up Georgia Student Video contest is back.

If you're a Georgia high school student, we need your help to spread the message.

Make a 32nd PSA about the dangers of distracted driving, and you could win a MacBook Pro.

Great advice, as always, from our friend Josh Turner.

And once again, thanks to our friends at the Governor's Office of Highway Safety for being great partners with us here at GPB.

When we come back, we take a tour and catch up with our favorite student athlete of the week.

We find out what big Country is up to down at Westover.

More from PBS and Beaufort.

Coming up here on the Football Fridays in Georgia halftime show.

Buford up 246 at the break on the great GPB.

Cigna Healthcare is a proud partner of Georgia Public Broadcasting and Football Fridays.

Cigna Healthcare mission is to improve the health and vitality of those we serve.

Visit cigna.com to learn how you can support your physical and emotional well-being.

Half of the nation's opioid overdoses happen right at home because people don't understand the dangers of taking an oxy or perc with a glass of alcohol for stress or to sleep.

Learn how to protect your family from opioid overdose at Opioid Response Dot info.

The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, presenting Georgia's home energy rebates.

The initiative assists eligible households seeking energy efficient home improvements.

Details are online at energy rebates.

Washington theme music.

Welcome back to Buford High and the Football Fridays in Georgia halftime show.

Once again, Buford up 20-4 six at the break.

We caught up with Coach app.

We'll catch up with coach Johnny White coming up at the tail end of halftime.

Find out what he will be doing and what he told his Tigers getting ready for the second half down by 18.

Now it's time to take a trip down to South Georgia.

Catch up with our use of Student Athlete of the week, and it's a trip to catch up with Kayson Mallard of Westover.

There's a reason they call him Big Country.

He's a four star offensive lineman, but there is more to his story.

You know, he's 67, 320 that can run.

That's agile, that can get around.

So that's the biggest thing that we see.

And the college season as well.

When you put in the work the scholarships will come.

You know the coaches will find you.

It actually pushes me to work even harder than when I'm working.

Always do extra rep or extra set just to try to get that edge on my opponents, because I know nobody works like me.

I think what sets him apart is the motivation to be great.

You know, the motivation to be the best lineman that he can be.

Once I got that mindset that I got to be the best, I got to.

Brown Avery, thanks.

So once again, to our friends at you save it for telling all of these stories around the state of Georgia and being a great partner with us here at GPB.

Now it's time to catch up with our friends at Georgia EMC and the Cooperative Spirit Sportsmanship Award is our tour around the state continues.

This time we catch up with our friends in Milledgeville at GMC prep.

Washington, EMC, and 35 other participating Georgia Electric membership cooperatives.

Congratulate GMC Preparatory School on winning the GHSA Cooperative Sportsmanship Award.

This award honors schools that exhibit exemplary sportsmanship during competitive events.

Only one school in each region in each classification is chosen to receive this annual award.

The GHSA takes into consideration all aspects of sportsmanship, making the award a tribute to the entire community.

Washington EMC is so proud to present the GHSA Cooperative Spirit Sportsmanship Award to Georgia military College Prep School.

This school lives by the code of duty, honor, and country and is so amazing that we also recognize them for their dedication to sportsmanship and everything they do.

Introduced in 2006, this award reinforces the GHSA philosophy that everyone associated with high school activities, from athletes to spectators, should adhere to the fundamental values it represents.

It just reaffirms what we try to instill into our program.

It's not always about the wins and losses, it's how you react to the game.

Your character is going to carry a lot farther than a win or loss in any sport.

Every morning during the formation, we have the motto duty, honor, country and we try to elevate the character of our individuals and it just helps us reiterate that we're doing it right here.

Georgia EMC in the 36 participating Georgia Electric membership cooperatives are proud to sponsor the cooperative Spirit Sportsmanship Award.

Congratulations to the GMC Preparatory School Bulldogs Community.

Let's suffice to say that Chris Howell, Nathan Sims and I had a fantastic time at GMC prep thanks to our friends at Washington EMC and thanks to Georgia's EMC for helping us out with our field trips around the state with the Cooperative Spirit Sportsmanship Award.

Where are we next week?

Well, you're going to have to come back next week.

Halftime and find out when we come back.

It's that favorite time of the half where as Matt Stewart and I like to say, and we point at the screen, we like to find out who you should be making kids offers to.

And we find out what's going on here in the land of AAA excellence, and find out what's going on with Marty Mirzoyan, the principal of Buford High.

Half rolls on from Phillip Beard Buford up 18 on the great GPB stick and stay.

We'll be right back.

Sir.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh hey what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free, and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

DBHDD is launching Red ribbon, 365 a year round alcohol and drug prevention curriculum for Georgia schools and families from kindergarten through high school.

Students learn to make healthy, drug free choices with fun, age appropriate lessons and monthly activities.

The curriculum can be downloaded for free at Red ribbon 365.

Welcome back to Phillip Beard Stadium.

We are at intermission.

Hopefully you are getting your drinks, your popcorn, your snacks, your your lunch meats, your sandwiches and getting ready for the second half here in Buford with the wolves up 24-6 It is that time where we get to tour the state.

Submissions from all of you, submissions from coaches where we to point to the screen and shout it out to the masses.

Make that kid an offer.

We start make that kid an offer this week with a trip to Oconee County.

Carter Jackson 62 2-0 52 way player, linebacker and tight end.

Senior captain, team leader on defense, runs a 4.51 40 off the field, a 4.0 GPA, dual enrollment and AP classes.

In addition to playing varsity soccer, Connor Jackson make that warrior an offer.

Blake Harrington, QB, Calloway graduating in 2026, two year starting dual threat quarterback, seven touchdowns in three games on the season, a little over 850 yards of total offense his junior year.

23 touchdowns thrown for 85 of 160.

Averaged a little over 7 yards a carry and nine scores.

Helped lead the Cavs to their third straight region title.

A dual sport athlete plays baseball and is a standout pitcher.

He's got a 3.0 GPA, make Blake Harrington a Cavalier, offer Manny Scott two way player out of Brookwood, 62, 215.

Wide receiver and linebacker, varsity team captain.

Member of the Leadership council.

Awarded all region honorable mention beta Club National High School of High School Scholars honor roll offers from four Marshall, Georgia State and Rose-Hulman make Manny Scott an offer and last Jace Jordan from Houston County, senior linebacker and athlete for the bears, six foot 215 finishes.

Junior year, 107 tackles and 12 games.

This year's season opener against Brookwood 19 tackles, two sacks, three TfL, a Pbu two receptions and the game winning score in the team's game against Perry came down with his first career pick for the 127 win, make Jace Jordan an offer.

And if you go to GPB.

Org on all of our social media, in addition to those four that we showcased, you get to see Aaron Dixon from Jonesboro.

You get to see Caleb Earl from South Atlanta, two way player, and you also get to catch up with Darius Hinton out of Ridgeland, a two way player.

Make those kids an offers as well.

All right, Marty, come on in.

Marty.

Principle of the AAA excellence that we have here at Buford.

Thanks for hanging out with us.

Thanks for having us.

All right.

Come on in.

Okay.

All right.

When you think about AAA excellence, it's been one of the hallmarks here at Buford.

It's arts, academics and athletics.

What's going on here at Buford?

Folks need to know about these days.

Well, this year, it's first year.

We're actually over 2000.

And of that 2000, which is really impressive.

As you can see, our band out here I'd say about 45% of our student body is in the fine arts.

We've got probably over 300 " the band 200 and the and the dance.

The theater is just great.

And a lot of these kids that are in the fine arts are also are AP kids.

They're playing sports.

It's just it's phenomenal.

We got about 500 AP kids taking about 1,300 AP tests, about 300 dual enrolled students and obviously our football team is not too bad.

They have their moments.

You know, when you mention all of the the arts and the the academics that are attached, you were mentioning a lot of kids that were chasing after fours and fives.

At least they were fours and fives on the AP exam when I was taking it back in the late 1800s.

What's it like to have that high a percentage of the student body chasing after all of those grades and having high GPAs?

What's it like to have them represent Buford at the next level?

You know, I've met so many people who come up to me and say, hey, you know, I ran into one of your graduates, and I was so impressed that I had to ask the student, I mean, ask the child, you know, some questions.

And I realized that they're from Buford.

And so, like, they just stand out when they graduate.

It's, you know, we've got an amazing board of education and a city commission that just intentionally works together to provide everything in a, in a, in an accountability.

That's, I think, second to none, that our students just thrive in it and they just want to pursue greatness.

And you get to see a building like this where it is full on the Buford side, represented well from Douglas County, who had to take a trip.

It is a crown jewel, without question, here in the state of Georgia.

Yeah.

It's impressive.

And if anyone had been here about a couple of years ago when we played Mill Creek at Tom Ryden, it was it was.

It was time.

That was me.

Yeah.

You were there.

I still have PTSD from that night.

And if anyone was here for the first game against Milton, I mean, we barely were able to put everyone in here.

So, you know, we have a great program.

People love to come out to Buford.

And this is something that will live on forever.

And I'm just proud to be here.

I'm proud to be part of all of this.

It's an amazing year, Marty, principal Buford, AAA excellence.

Thanks for hanging out with us, as you always do.

He's going to be my bodyguard for the second half and find out what's going on.

Okay?

When we come back, we'll get you ready for the second 20:04 minutes.

Buford leading 24-6 What is Douglas County trying to do to combat that 18 point deficit?

We'll find out.

Buford Douglas County PBS, GPB.

Second half coming up after this.

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Honestly, I think that polyester shirts fake in your game.

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Back in Buford, where the second ranked Wolves lead the fourth ranked Douglas County Tigers 246 at halftime, Matt Stewart, along with Wayne Gandy and Buford taking advantage of mistakes by Douglas County to build this three touchdown lead.

Causing a couple of issues causing fumbles.

But big play right here, knocking the ball out early in the game.

Bryce Perry-Wright for the turnover for Buford to get it going.

Nuckles had the return and then Ty Green on fourth down.

Took it in from 2 yards out and a 7-0 lead.

Then Raiola going up top to Braylon Williams.

Braylon Williams with the 60 plus yard touchdown.

Put his team up 14-0 Douglas County finally got their offense going on the long pass to Aaron Gregory.

That sets.

Up another touchdown here.

Mike Johnson touchdown there to Devin Carter.

Devin Carter playing in his first game this season.

He's been out with injury.

But then after a fumbled punt gave Buford another short field Dylan McCoy took it in for the score and a 24-6 lead for Buford in time.

Now for our halftime interview.

It's brought to you by Johnny's New York style pizza.

Johnny's original neighborhood pizzeria.

Here's John Nelson.

And Johnny White.

So it's brought to us by Johnny's Johnny here, Johnny here.

And you look at the mistakes.

I know that you talked to them about that at the half.

What specifically were you trying to tell them?

Because the defense had clamped down pretty much on Buford here in the first half.

What did you try to tell them?

To try to turn this thing around?

First of all, God is good.

But I'm also saying is that we just got to stop the explosive.

I think we're playing some really good defense.

I think they're playing for each other and playing together.

We just got to make plays when we have a chance to make them.

I wish we would have got that pick at the end of that, second quarter, but we'll have another chance soon.

Thanks for your time, Johnny.

Thank you.

Johnny White, head coach at Douglas County.

Matt.

He knows he's got some work to do and he's got to keep that Buford line from getting to his quarterback to give him time to breathe here in the second half.

And wane some updated halftime stats.

The Douglas County defense held Buford to just 121 yards in that first half.

On 28 plays, that's a 4.32 yards per play average.

Neither offensive line are doing their jobs right now.

Both teams, known for their rush ability.

As you can see, Buford 33 yards.

Douglas County 9 yards.

The penalties have really, really, you could tell irked the coaches.

Eight crucial penalties for Douglas County, five for Buford.

And I think the biggest thing is the turnovers.

Buford has gone out.

They capitalized when they've had the short field and punched touchdowns on the board.

Yeah look at that.

A combined one for 12 on third down conversions between these two teams in the first 24 minutes.

And a lot of that is just the function of the defense forcing third and long situations by stopping the run.

Neither team able to solidify.

And we thought with the offensive line, we got a lot of guys going to the next level to play college ball, but right now they're losing the battle of the line of scrimmage.

Statistically, the quarterback comparison Mike Johnson 13 of 17 for 153 and a touchdown.

He really settled down but he has been sacked three times.

Not his fault.

Raiola six of nine passing for 88 yards one touchdown.

He's also been sacked once.

Michael Johnson the thing about him started off slow, but you saw him after he got a couple of scrambles.

He's starting to extend plays, get outside the pocket, which has allowed a couple of explosive plays down the field for Douglas County.

And with Dayton Raiola, he's a play action kind of quarterback.

Everything is really off the play action right now.

They don't have that because they can't establish the run up front.

And it's just been tough sledding for him.

And Wayne.

As Johnny White told Jon Nelson just a few moments ago, he thought their defense has played well, but now their backs are really against the wall because they just gave up a late touchdown, not their fault.

Fumbled punt at the ten yard line, short field, easy score for Buford, and now they're kicking the ball to Buford and Buford.

If they put together a drive right.

Here goes up.

You know over 20 points if they can score on this opening drive.

They're definitely going to have to turn some of these explosives into touchdowns.

They're making some in-between the 30s, making some big plays, some big chunk plays.

But they got to get some things going into the end zone.

So your second half kickoff is brought to you by Heads Up Georgia.

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Cantrell and Ty Green.

Green, Cantrell and Nuckles are standing deep for Buford for the return, and Boris Perez has it teed up and ready to go from the 40.

Two.

And this kick is going to be nonreturnable.

And so Buford is going to start at the 20 yard line.

Houston Nixon Clark two.

With a Walcott Mubenga who's ever in there?

This offensive line?

I'm quite sure got a stern talking to at halftime by Coach App.

Offensive coordinator Ken Quinn.

Excuse me.

Bryant Appling.

Excuse me, head coach, to get going.

This team is just losing the battle.

And we're talking about.

Yes.

Jordan Carter is over there on defense.

But how are you going to stop Richard Dyce from penetrating?

Get a hat on him and keep him out of the backfield.

And Jordan Carter did pick up his 32nd career quarterback sack in that first half.

Handoff goes to Ty Green, spins out of one tackle and he's able to get 3 yards on the play up to the 23.

Once again an initial hit there by Richard Dyce.

The middle linebacker making a huge impact.

Getting downhill.

He's meeting these backs at the line of scrimmage, getting a hat on him, forcing Ty Green try to find another hole and just rallying to the ball to stop the run.

Seven carries, 12 yards for Ty Green so far in this game.

So Douglas County is taking care of that aspect of the game plan.

Carey up to the 26 yard line.

We got a new ball carrier right there.

That's the fifth different running back that they have used here tonight.

Ryan Stokes.

Right here.

Nowhere to run.

Playing tough defense.

Getting off blocks right there Jordan Carter making that play on Stokes.

Wayne.

When we make a depth chart we typically don't have room for a fifth running back.

Yeah.

Third down.

The senior Stokes getting a little action in there.

Bryant Appling is a firm believer in giving guys opportunities.

Pass on the screen, pass.

And that's going to be short of the first down.

A good a good job by Douglas County rallying to the ball.

And it's going to be fourth down.

We'll have a flag on the play trying to get the ball out on the edge to Ty Green.

Good job of rallying to the ball.

Just no cutback lane available for Green to get into.

It looks like the penalty is going to be on Buford.

They were over there talking to Johnny White.

Holding offense.

That penalty is declined.

Fourth down.

So fourth down and they're going to force a three and out.

So a good start for Douglas County defensively.

And they're going to get the ball back here very quickly.

Good job forcing third and long third and medium on to Dayton Raiola Buford deciding to go a little quick screen outside holding on that back side by the offensive line negating the play.

Is going to kick it and get it out of there.

He's going to bounce in front of Kelly and this time the Douglas County players sprint away from the ball to keep it from bouncing off of them, and they're going to take over at the 30 1 yard line.

Not bad field position for the Tigers for their opening possession of this third quarter.

And ask for a better start.

Coach White get a three and out.

When you're down 18 points on the road now, where can you go offensively to get some plays and get in the end zone?

We've seen a couple of plays.

We've seen Johnson scramble make some plays.

We've seen him get the ball to Carter and Gregory, but we've got to get the ball, play with a little more pace and cut out the penalties.

Gregory three catches, 70 yards, Devin Carter three catches, 37 yards.

Top two receivers for the Tigers in that first half, and Lindley gets the hand off and he gets swarmed under after a short gain.

Bryce Perry-Wright was there to blow up the play.

Nice job of getting off the block right there.

Bryce Perry-Wright can play in space.

Big body, long.

Looks like maybe he's going to be one of those guys that lumbers.

And then he shows you how athletic he really is to get this ball and run down the right here.

As you see, get off the block.

And then the speed the closing speed on the big body there of Perry-Wright.

Second down.

Johnson quick pass goes on the slant.

Devin Carter has it at the 40 1 yard line, a little bit short of the first down.

Fourth catch of the night for Devin Carter.

Committed to his dad's alma mater, Florida State.

He flipped from Auburn.

He was committed to Auburn.

Wayne.

Yeah.

Last year.

His dad went to Florida State.

You got to cut.

Him a break.

Showing Mike Norvell what he has coming to Tallahassee here in a couple of months.

He's in the house tonight.

The head coach of Florida State.

Third down and short about a yard to go.

They got Lindley in the backfield lined up next to Johnson.

They're going to run Johnson and Johnson's going to get it.

Good job by Johnson showing some physicality at that quarterback position to get the first down.

Nice job of squaring up his shoulder and just putting his head down right here.

Quarterback run all the way right there.

Getting underneath that tackle of Perry-Wright and then just willing to take the hit and sacrifice his body to pick up what looks like the first down.

We do have.

A Michael Johnson.

On the keeper.

Made a stop.

KJ Sibley made that stop for the Wolves.

He picked up the first down, but Johnson's shaken up on the play.

Kind of saw him padding towards his ribs.

Maybe just got the air knocked out of him there.

As you could see the Buford team coming in to get a hit on him.

I tell you, when you run against this Buford team and you're a quarterback and you're a quarterback, that's 190 pounds, you better make the right decision because these guys are going to hit you hard.

So he's coming out of the game, at least for this play.

You can see on this play right here.

He initially gets in the grass.

He's kind of held up.

Can't get to the ground.

Guys are just hitting him and punching on him right there.

Let's see if he can get back in this game.

He's going to give them their best chance of winning here.

With his ability to throw the ball deep down the field.

First and ten.

Looks like.

They've got Cam Anderson the freshman in there at quarterback.

Anderson going to hand off to Lindley.

He stops and goes a different direction.

Takes a big shot from Deion Miller but keeps his legs churning and gets it across the 50 and close to a first down.

Good strong, tough run by Zamarcus Lindley after taking a big shot from Deion Miller, he picks up the first down.

Good balance, able to absorb that initial hit and spin off of it as he cuts back into the middle, takes the hit, spins off and then just gets a little escort there by his offensive line.

As you can see, Eddie Alford in the game just pulling him forward right there.

Terrance Brandon the left guard young sophomore, six five, 320.

Coach white talked about him being the future of this offensive line.

Johnson back in there at quarterback fires it complete to Aaron Gregory at the 40 1 yard line.

Yeah Terrance Brandon ended up in the starting lineup.

He began the season as a number two.

He ended up moving into the starting lineup when they lost their three year starter, Joshua Vaughan, at center.

After the first game.

Their victory over North Gwinnett and the Corky Classic.

Before the second game in Jonesboro.

He comes in on a Thursday and says, my mom got a big time job in Louisville.

We're moving.

That happens in high school football and Johnson down to the 40 yard line.

So a guy that's been there in the middle for them for three years is suddenly gone.

They move Chase Mideau to the center position, which he played as a freshman.

And so they had to juggle the offensive line a little bit.

After the first game of the season.

Coach White very confident that he had enough talent in his enough depth to be able to rotate a lot of guys in that offensive line.

Now, third and four, you're in that kind of four down territory.

If you're Douglas County showing blitzes, Buford on the defensive side.

Third down, Johnson fires this way.

Incomplete.

Was trying to get the ball to Gregory.

Now it's going to be fourth down.

What do you do.

Do you go for it here.

You punt.

Aaron Gregory right here.

Coach White going to start throwing my dice against the wall.

I got to try to make some plays.

Running out of time.

Offense has a little momentum.

Your two receivers on the outside and your quarterback 4 yards with that combination, you got to try.

In the first half.

In this situation, they punted it, but we're down to 19 minutes left on the regulation clock.

So they're going for it.

Fourth down.

Heavy rush.

They pick it up Johnson now he's in trouble.

Sacked back at the 48 yard line Joshua Echols gets the quarterback sack and the ball goes over on downs.

Joshua big time play by the Buford defense Douglas County comes up empty on fourth down.

Wolves on offense.

When we get back.

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Slash.

Go.

Matt Stewart and Wayne Gandy with you John Nelson down on the field.

Buford in command right here 246.

Especially after they got that big quarterback sack on fourth down.

Big great job by Jameer Cantrell falling back into that slant.

Mike Johnson wanted to go to that slant out of the slot.

Cantrell fell back into it.

He had to pull the ball down.

Josh Echols gets the sack.

And here now you got to get the run game.

We keep talking about the run game.

This is the greatest time in the game.

Up 24-26 to get it going.

They give the ball to Stokes.

He gets it across midfield down to the 47th.

Stokes with the vision bouncing to the outside, squaring the shoulders right there.

Great job getting underneath that tackle of Nick Burden.

Pick up another two or 3 yards.. And now Ty Green comes in as we were saying earlier, Bryant Appling going back to his days, his mentors, Dexter Wood, you see his name on the field.

He's the ad Jess Simpson.

They were firm believers in playing a lot of kids.

Second down toss goes to green here on the short side.

And he's got the not the first down.

He got to the 34.

He's a yard short 44.

He's a yard short.

And the one thing that happens when you rotate a lot of guys, especially at running.

Back.

It gives them a little advantage because now the defense can't settle on a style.

Everybody has a style.

You're watching film and now you're like, you said you were on a fifth sixth back.

We haven't really watched a lot of Brian Stokes.

I don't know where he's going to take the ball.

It makes you slow down your process of reading, and you can't be as aggressive.

Third down and one.

McCoy breaks through a tackle, has the first down and more, gets tripped up by Jackson.

But that's a first down carry for Dylan.

McCoy.

Jackson nice job over there on that right side.

Clark Nixon and Houston.

Good lane hitting the hole trying to bounce it to the outside.

Just enough by Jackson to get McCoy down.. First and ten ball sitting at the 37 yard line.

Hand off goes to Stokes again.

Stokes trying to get outside.

Got a good block to get away from.

Fabian and gets down to the 35 yard line.

Good penetration there by Solomon Fabian.

To the 35.

Almost had a horse collar right there on Stokes as you saw him reach out and grab the back of the jersey.

Smart enough to let go before he pulled the runner down.

You see, Coach App is going to ride on Stokes a little more here in the second half.

Just running backs in and out.

Fifth, different running back.

And now Nuckles is back in there.

He's five different running backs here tonight.

Nuckles gets the handoff.

Nuckles tries to scoot to the outside and does.

Inside the 20 Nuckles inside the ten and Nuckles knocked out of bounds.

Finally by Cole inside the five yard line.

Out of bounds at the three.

Good blocking up front.

Nuckles able to navigate his way to the outside.

Good blocking by the offensive line and the tight ends.

Right there.

And what a luxury.

He just put Nuckles in the game.

Let him run the ball and then you get 30 40 yards.

They spot the ball at the two and Raiola tried to run it in and did not get there.

Got stopped at the one.

Yeah it's amazing.

With this Buford team you have a first team of college prospects.

They sub in a second team of college prospects, and then they bring in some sophomores and freshmen who are also college prospects.

That don't play like freshmen and sophomores.

And they just keep that pressure on you.

And the unselfishness of this team is always on display when you're able to do that, that guys don't sulk when they get out of the game and go to the sideline and somebody else gets the glory.

Handoff goes McCoy and scores his second touchdown of the night 30-6 Talked about getting the run game going in this second half on that first drive it was three and out.

This time just methodically driving the ball down the field right there off that left side.

Just watching the bodies down squaring the shoulders up with the big body of Dylan McCoy just jumping and diving into the end zone.

So Buford now firmly in command here, leading by more than three touchdowns with 3.5 minutes to play here in the third quarter.

Ivanusec puts it up and in.

31-6 Buford with a 20-5 point lead here at the beard.

Getting late in the third quarter.

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No need to be afraid of bugs.

Douglas County has got some bugs in their offense.

Get a little momentum.

They moved the ball as we talked about.

They get between the 30s.

They are great once they get to about the 30 35 yard line.

The offense just starts stalling on them and only six points in this game against a team like Buford, you have to imagine you was going to have to at least put 28 30 points on to win this game.

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As you saw, seven plays, number 7 capped it off with the touchdown run 53 yards.

Now Douglas County will go back on offense and try to make something happen here.

They'll take over at the 20 yard line.

Remember last week they were down 319 to Langston Hughes and came back and got within 38 31 before eventually falling 44-31 They'll need another effort like that here tonight, and they'll have to try to do it against this Buford defense.

A little better defense here.

That's really creating the defense is creating second and third and long.

And then the pass rushing ability, the blitz ability, the speed of the Buford defense.

Just not allowing a lot of plays to be made.

And you look at the score and you're thinking domination.

But really that has not been the case statistically.

Rah’Keith Kelly shot out of a cannon out across the 40 yard line, and Kelly finally run out of bounds.

That's Mike Johnson.

He kept it.

I thought he handed it off to Kelly on the jet sweep.

Instead.

Mike Johnson showing off his skill set right there.

Big hole in the middle of this defense and making it into a foot race right there.

Challenging Ty Green in a foot race.

We talked about his ability to make plays with his legs.

Coach raves about his athleticism right there, showing you the package physically is Mike Johnson.

That was a tremendous read by him to keep the ball.

Ball goes to Clark and Clark's going to get stopped there for a TfL.

Cam Simmons getting that tackle behind the line of scrimmage.

And he has been the Kryptonite as we talked about to get the ball right there.

Some kind of way they can get 20 30 yards.

Get to the 30 and then the offense just can't seem to get into that red zone area right here.

Mike Johnson has to continue to use his legs, possibly to make plays.

Second down and long Johnson being flushed out of the pocket, throwing on the run downfield and out of bounds.

Aaron Gregory was the intended target, but he was double covered.

And brings up third down.

It's pressure once again brought by Bryce Perry-Wright having to scramble and find a way out of the pocket.

What a good job to save the play.

Just throw the ball out of bounds.

Third.

Third down and 12.

They got to get to the 22 for the first down.

And of course likely with the scenario and the score in four down territory right here.

They won't be trying a field goal.

Johnson up top and Gregory had it in his hands and it got broken up.

NASCAR McCoy the safety was back there to make sure he didn't catch it along with Ty Green.

McCoy Green triple coverage on the back end.

Davis right here.

Just hoping that his playmaker and nearly Aaron Gregory coming up with this catch in triple coverage, knocking the ball out late.

There is McCoy.

So fourth down they're going for it.

As you would anticipate.

A double move.

Heavy rush is coming.

They're chasing Johnson.

Oh my goodness.

He takes a huge hit and a flag comes out as cam Simmons leveled him and knocked his helmet off at the 40 1 yard line.

Oh.

Now things are getting testy.

The coaches are out there trying to make sure it doesn't escalate beyond what it's at right now.

You can see the pressure there.

Brady Wagner coming on a late dog beating the block of the running back, forcing Mike Johnson to the sideline, making it a foot race to the edge.

Mike Johnson just trying to get the ball out of his hands.

And a big hit right there.

You can see the frustration.

You can.

See by Johnny White's reaction.

It looks like this call is going against Douglas County.

His face doesn't say that he's rushing the passer.

Looks like or looks like.

It's going to be an interesting call coach app all the way on the Douglas County sideline.

Well, we still haven't gotten a call from Greg Hogle in this officiating crew, but you can see Johnny White rolling his eyes, is not happy with whatever they've told him.

Mike Johnson still being attended to at the 40 yard line right there.

You can also see the Buford staff there as well, huddled around him.

It didn't look like to me that the hit there was anything illegal about the hit.

Now, was there something illegal about what eventually forced the helmet to come off?

That would, I would guess, would have to be a face mask to yank the helmet off.

Good to see Mike Johnson.

I don't.

See that on his feet walking off.

Let's go.

All right.

We got three fouls on the play.

We got personal foul roughing the passer on the defense.

That penalty will be enforced 15 yards.

Results first down.

Then we have after the play personal foul on the defense.

Dead ball.

Personal foul on the offense.

Those penalties offset playing first down.

Okay I like to see the replay to kind of sort through this.

I don't know how it could be roughing the passer.

He had the ball.

Right there.

You can see Wagner forcing him out.

Oh he got rid of it okay.

Yeah.

Got rid of the ball out of the pocket Cameron Simmons was barreling down on him.

I mean, that's a hard call.

I mean, he's running and throwing and the defenders got there at the same time.

But.

So Douglas County gets the benefit of the penalty and they get a new first down there at the 19 yard line.

And Cam Anderson back in there at quarterback.

Quick pass goes out there on the edge to Rah’Keith Kelly.

Another helmet comes off there either hitting it really hard or they need to get new chin straps.

John.

Yeah, down here on the Douglas sideline they the physios were making sure that they could stop a nosebleed when it came to the the post hit for Michael Johnson and then obviously Johnny White hot at his offensive line in no uncertain terms.

Did he tell them with an elevated voice to protect my quarterback going forward.

Thanks, John.

Second down ball at the 17 yard line.

Cam Anderson, freshman quarterback in trouble, scrambling in traffic and got rid of it.

And complete catch was made at the 13 yard line.

And that was the freshman Jeremiah Mathis.

Another helmet looks like has come off.

Pressure.

Nice job here by Cameron Anderson.

Coach white talks about his talent, his skill set and what he thinks the future might be for him.

Good job of escaping the pressure, delivering the ball.

And Mike Johnson is now back in the game.

Yeah they believe Cam Anderson he's the next guy.

Third down keeper Mike Johnson going to run to the sticks and get close to it.

Depends upon the spot.

Looks like they're spotting him out for a first down at the nine yard line.

Good job right here.

Reading the edge.

The end is down right there Bryce Perry right going into the left tackle.

Sam-Epelle he sees a clean corner and goes and picks up the first down.

I think one thing we've learned here tonight, Wayne, is that Mike Johnson is pretty tough kid.

Tough kid who is competitive and wants to play.

Once he settled down, you can see why he is leading this Douglas County charge.

First and goal to go from the nine 140 to play in the quarter.

Johnson up top and jump ball back at the end zone.

Mathis made the catch, but he's out of the back of the end zone.

Jeremiah Mathis is the 61, 170 freshman who's going to be the next big time prospect coming out of that ninth grade class for Douglas County and the brother of former Tiger star James Johnson, who's now at USC.

Long discussion in the back of the end zone.

Not sure whether this is a offense or defensive pass interference.

Ty Green felt like he got shoved.

He's a long conversation here.

Trying to lay it up out there for.

Mathis incomplete pass.

We got pass interference on the defense half the distance to the goal.

First down.

That's right here at the end.

Yeah.

Great concentration by Mathis to come down with it.

Just couldn't stick the landing.

But the penalty on Ty Green and Buford gives the Tigers first and goal at the five.

Just inside the five yard line.

First down and goal.

Tigers trying to score here late in the third quarter.

Keeper Johnson.

Johnson trying to get around the defenders and steps out of bounds at the five.

He had no option but to try to take on Bryce Perry.

Right.

He decided otherwise.

Nice job.

To play another.

Day getting out of this tackle on the edge pulling, feeling like rice.

Bryce Perry-Wright is down again.

Good job of escaping Nuckles and McCoy right there.

If not for the hustle of Bryce Perry-Wright, that would have been an easy score there for Mike Johnson.

Second down and goal from the five.

Douglas County desperately needs to get a touchdown right here to have any chance of coming back in the fourth quarter.

Johnson, scrambling in trouble, gets rid of it.

Incomplete again.

Great pressure coming here by Joshua Echols.

The outside linebacker.

Calling up the pressure once again forcing him out of the pocket.

Right there trying to throw the ball away.

Very close to being another intentional grounding play right there by Mike Johnson.

No clear receiving area but.

Give him that.

Gregory was close enough as he threw the ball.

Third down and goal.

Echols, who brought the pressure, has seven offers, including Ole Miss.

He's a three star linebacker in the class of 2027.

Johnson, quick pass jump ball Aaron Gregory might be pass interference right there.

Gregory looking for a flag.

And I agree with him.

Don't know how there wasn't one.

There's a lot of contact at that ball in the air.

Matched up with Brandon Davis here.

Just a 50 50 ball going to let Aaron Gregory you can see right there the.

Left hand down.

Just pulling him down right there.

No chance of getting up for the ball.

There is a flag now.

Me clearly was grabbing him pulling him down.

Defense half the distance to the goal.

Third down.

So the Tigers inching their way towards the goal line by virtue of multiple pass interference calls.

Doing everything they can to get in the end zone.

Getting a couple of penalties.

Mike Johnson right here.

Very dangerous as he's shown to be able to pull this ball and run it.

Defensively.

I'd have Mike Johnson keep it right here and see if he can't find the end zone.

Instead, Lindley gets the handoff, busts through a tackle and scores the touchdown.

Zamarcus Lindley gets into the end zone for Douglas County and it's 31-12 Hard fought touchdown drive right by Douglas County.

Buford fighting him all the way down right here off the left side.

Good job.

By Brandon and Sam-Epelle.

And just fighting Brady Wagner get in the end zone.

There is Lindley.

So the Tigers will be going for two right here.

Cam Anderson.

Anderson in the game for this play.

Interesting.

So the freshman quarterback back in there for the two point conversion.

Anderson fires in the middle incomplete.

Trying to get the ball to Reading two point conversion attempt fails and the score remains 31-12 Good coverage there.

Falling back into the play on the back end.

There is Buford nowhere to really to go with the ball for Anderson.

Interesting call to take Johnson out to run that play.

Unless there was some kind of physical issue going on there, I don't know.

I mean, it was it's definitely interesting to take your senior quarterback out and insert a freshman quarterback for the two point conversion.

A lot of.

Work to get on the board, but great job of staying at it, chopping the wood.

Mike Johnson and crew.

Scoring drive brought to you by DBHDD and the new Red ribbon 365 curriculum ten plays, 80 yards, 216 off the clock.

It seemed like it was a lot longer than that because we kept having penalty after penalty after.

Penalty walk it down.

But the actual time off the clock was only 2 minutes and 16 seconds.

So Douglas County now down 19.

With a little over 13 minutes left in the game.

They'll take another incredible comeback like they had last week in their eventual loss to Langston Hughes.

Just to get back in this game.

Squib kick is going to go out of bounds at the 17, which means Buford will likely take the option of getting the ball at the 35.

Very careful.

Here was Ty Green right there on that squib kick.

Like he just knew the ball was going to go out.

You got to get over.

There to get over to the.

Ball.

Infraction on the kicking team.

The ball be placed at 30:05 yard line.

First down.

He just kind of walked over to the ball and it finally trickled out of bounds.

But cover team can get to that ball and recover it.

Because you can look at that ball as the receiver and you see the trajectory is going out of bounds.

But how many times have we seen it is an oblong football?

Sometimes it takes a wild bounce.

And the 35 yard line is the Wolves off.

But nonetheless.

Buford no worse for the wear there.

And so it's first and ten from the 35 yard line.

High snap Raiola brings it in and gives it to McCoy, and McCoy crosses the 40 up to the 42.

Usually the high snap of extra play and a negative play for the offense.

This time, I think it kind of gave.

The.

Offensive line.

Through the defense off and made him relax, let the line get into their blocks.

Nice.

Positive.

First down run for Buford.

Second down and two.

Ball is at the 42.5.

Cantrell gets the ball bobbled it held on to it.

Gets the first down.

Crosses the 50 and Jameer Cantrell down across the 45.

And a couple of big chunk plays in the running game here for Buford.

As we are now under 30s to go in the quarter.

Great individual effort there by Jameer Cantrell.

The three star junior able to get the ball, get back up inside and make something out of nothing right there.

That play initially started as a three yard loss.

His individual talent able to get a big run.

And that is going to be the final play of the third quarter.

Heading to the fourth at the Beard.

Buford on top 31 12 as we head to the final 12 minutes here in Gwinnett County.

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We're headed to the fourth quarter here at Buford and Phillip Beard Stadium.

Just the third game they've played in this building, and Buford with a 31-12 lead on Douglas County.

Buford trying to get to four zero on the season.

This is the fourth consecutive top ten opponent they've played to start the season.

Beat.

Milton, went on the road, beat Benedictine, beat Roswell here last week and now got Douglas, County Down 19.

As we head to the final 12 minutes.

Buford team is always willing to play the best around the country.

I've had three tough opponents come in or and play them, but have laid waste to Hall forward and hopefully Douglas County can get back into this one here in this fourth quarter.

Hard run there.

By Ty Green.

Ty Green.

If you look at this game statistically, though lopsided on the scoreboard, but statistically.

Lamar Douglas County actually has run six more plays.

And prior to that run right there now has 35 more yards.

, 41 yard line.

And we talked about the turnovers and the penalties.

And just Buford when given the short field.

When given the big break, whether it's good return game or turnover, they punch it in.

And sometimes that's how the scoreboard goes for you.

You got to capitalize and play offense to defense, to special teams.

Raiola Lowe throw and it's caught by Rashad dream Rashad I wonder if their fans were big fans of Akeem Olajuwon.

Dream Rashad and Seven Rashad.

The young sophomore, but.

Dream Rashad moving over from quarterback, accepting that he had basically, in a way, grown out of a position.

So let me get out.

Usually quarterbacks do end up at tight end when they get that or defensive end.

You see a lot of guys that play defensive end used to be former quarterbacks.

Third down and one ball sitting on the 35.

Toss goes to Stokes and Stokes bounces off a tackle.

Picks up the first down at the 31.

I really like how Stokes hits that line of scrimmage.

He gets those shoulders square.

Good balance.

Falling forward.

Enough for a first down.

Buford.

Steven Jones.

First and ten for the Wolves.

Ball at the 32.

Early fourth quarter.

Defensive front.

Excellent job.

About 2.5 quarters stopping the run right now it's Buford.

Offensive line is starting to lay on them.

Ty Green coming here to the short side.

And Dyce meets him there at the 32.

Might have lost a yard on the play, or maybe just got back to the line of scrimmage.

That Douglas County team has done a really good job.

Rah’Keith Kelly on their rushing defense.

Only 119 yards rushing for Buford tonight.

Fabian Flueylln Carter up front.

Jordan Smith.

Good job of penetration in the linebackers.

Jones Richard Dyce very impressive middle linebacker and Cole playing downhill.

That has been the key to penetration of the defensive front and the linebackers being aggressive to the hole.

Handoff goes Green Dyce is again there for the tackle.

You kind of get the feeling right here with Green.

They're just going to keep hammering with Green until he pops.

15, 11 205 NC state a downhill, physical running back.

Good hands.

Haven't seen him catch the ball much out of the backfield.

That's McCoy.

I mean excuse.

Me.

Ty Green the UGA just laying on him.

McCoy in there now.

Interchangeable parts.

By the way, Richard Dyce is their leading tackler tonight.

Leading tackler in the game.

He's got nine total tackles.

Third down.

Ball goes out on the edge to Rashad.

He gets dropped for a loss.

Jamar Owens Indiana commit there at cornerback.

Projected as a safety at the next level.

Comes up there and gets the big tackle.

It's fourth down.

They're slinging it out there to the big tight end and a big hit there by Jamar Owens.

And the one thing with this secondary, they kind of just bump the coverage.

They don't they don't follow guys.

They feel like all four guys can be matched up in a one on one situation.

And Jamar Owens right there coming up with a big hit.

Buford keeps the offense on the field on fourth down and ten.

Now a time-out is going to be called by Buford.

And we'll step aside with him.

821 to play.

Offense.

Buford on top 31 12.

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So there was actually no time-out call there, just a five yard delay of game penalty.

So Buford has now decided on fourth and 15 to punt it away.

Fair catch is called for ball bounces.

Did he catch it?

Yeah, he did catch it at the 12 yard line.

And that was Devin Carter back there at that time.

Let's check in with Nellie.

Let's take a tour around the state.

Let you know some of the games have gone final down in South Georgia.

Some of the big wins on the board.

Houston County put 57 on Tipp tonight.

Colquitt County had that big lead at the half.

They hung on in Leesburg 43 36 over Lee County.

DeLand over Appling County in South Georgia.

Burke County Doubles Northside Warner Robins A rough start for Boone Williams and Middle Georgia Perry over veterans.

Brooks down three nil to Fitzgerald.

They come back to win 21-3 Back upstairs.

Big win for Brooks there Nellie.

They've been off to a rough start.

So first and ten ball at the 12 yard line as Douglas County goes back on offense.

Time of the essence here with 8-15 to play.

And a lot of ground to make up.

The freshman came Anderson stays in there at quarterback and fires a laser to Rah’Keith Kelly up to the 16 yard line.

So interesting.

Mike Johnson might be hurt.

Or maybe they've just decided with the big deficit to let the freshman take some snaps here.

And I think that's the key.

They're going to let Cam Anderson get a couple of snaps with the first unit in live action.

Young man they really think can lead this team early on maybe possibly next year.

Lindley right up the middle off to the races.

Lindley foot and Lindley going to finally be caught at the 23 yard line.

Zamarcus Lindley with a huge run to get him out of a hole and get him into scoring position.

Great blocking up front by the offensive line.

Have lost a lot of battles tonight, but on this one right here, getting Zamarcus Lindley out in the open field.

Big hole to the foot race.

And we talked about this young man.

Very talented.

Good size at 5:10 200 pounds physical.

And he just keeps chipping at you right there with the big run.

Anderson going for the end zone.

Jump ball.

And Gregory can't come down with it.

Double coverage.

They have done a really good job of making sure that Aaron Gregory is bracketed all night.

Brendon Davis just fighting tooth and nail with the talented Aaron Gregory able to punch the ball out there late and we could.

See.

Looks like Mike Johnson on the sideline getting ice.

Tough kid.

I've been impressed with his tenacity here tonight.

He's taken a lot of big hits.

He's run the ball well.

Second down and ten.

Anderson's going to sling it out there to the far side to Kelly.

Kelly inside the 20 inside the 15 and Kelly inside the ten.

Rah’Keith Kelly.

Nice strong run after the catch.

Nice job just swinging the ball out to the talented.

Kelly out of the backfield and then the explosion right there.

Just running hard, getting the yards, forcing Deion Miller to have to push him out of bounds.

Kelly stays in there running back and breaks out of a tackle and Kelly out of bounds at the one.

What a tough run for Rah’Keith Kelly the 59, 170 pounder.

Not a big guy at all.

A football player is Kelly eight offers one of those guys is big yards after the catch runs behind his shoulder pads.

We got a flag out to.

That penalty is declined.

Playing second down.

Yeah, Buford had a man on the field trying to get him off and couldn't get the defender off in time.

So when the ball was snapped, they had an extra man out there.

That was the penalty.

But declined.

It's first and goal to go at the one for Buford or for Douglas County.

Cam Anderson has sparked him a little bit here with Mike Johnson out with his injury and Kelly gets wrapped up in the backfield.

Wow.

Great penetration by the Buford defense right there.

Great job knifing underneath to make that play.

Number 5 cannon Nelson with the tackle.

Lost 2 yards on the play.

So it was apparently it was second down and not first down like the yard marker had said.

So now it's third down and goal.

Sweep blown up.

Great pursuit by Deion Miller from the backside.

Running the play down.

Doing a good job making sure Cam Anderson doesn't pull this ball.

And then just exploding to make the tackle right there is Miller.

That was David Clowney the wide receiver coming on the sweep.

And now it's going to be fourth down and goal.

They've gone backwards since Kelly got to the one on his run.

And now it's going to be fourth down and goal from the five.

Time-out called by Buford.

Time-out.

Buford.

Check this out.

So a big fourth down and goal coming up for Douglas County.

Buford wants to think about.

It.

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Welcome back to PBS on GPB Phillip Beard Stadium under 5.5 to go.

Kind of give you an update on Michael Johnson.

Guys.

He had an ice pack on his throwing hand on his thumb and ice pack after treatment on his non-throwing hand when they were chasing after a cut, sitting up against the brick wall at the 30 yard line.

And I think it's the first time I've ever seen anybody try to do a butterfly bandage on his nose.

North, south, because he was bleeding from the bridge of his nose and on the inside of his nose, and they were treating that like a boxer.

You want to talk about someone who has been through it all tonight?

Michael Johnson, an absolute stud for Douglas County.

I agree, Nellie, and we talked about it.

He is one tough kid.

He really is.

He's impressed us with that tonight.

He's taken a lot of licks.

Anderson the freshman in there going to the end zone and he's going to be caught in the back of the end zone.

Touchdown Douglas County Cam Anderson dropping the ball in the basket for Aaron Gregory.

Great route.

Great play design and great throw by Cam Anderson here.

All the components here.

Good protection up front.

Good pickup by the back.

Way to lead Aaron Gregory there to the back of the end zone to the pylon.

Good job of concentrating and getting his feet in his Aaron Gregory.

Yeah good job by Gregory to do the stutter step to make sure he got his toes down.

It's 31 18.

They'll be going for two again.

Lindley lines up next to Anderson.

Bullet in the back of the end zone.

There's the two point conversion ball going to Devin Carter and Douglas County is not done yet.

It's 31 20.

Cam Anderson with the strike right there throwing a little heat.

He's got some mustard.

Doesn't he.

He has something on it right there stepping up sidearm action hitting Devin Carter in the back and pulling his team within 11 here with 5-20 left in the game.

So you're going to onside kick here.

Aren't you.

You're going to onside kick and keep throwing blows and forced this Buford team to make some plays get their run game going.

Put the pressure back on them.

Here's a look at your scoring drive eight plays 88 yards just under 3 minutes.

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So Buford anticipating the onside kick is going to bring everybody up.

Douglas County playing with some energy.

It's the same fight they showed last week where their coach was.

So proud that the whole 60 minutes they fought in the game, like Trey Reading is going to kick this ball off.

Yeah.

So Reading instead of Boreas-Perez is going to kick this.

So maybe he's kind of their onside specialist if you will, or better at it than Boris Perez.

We'll see what happens here.

I'm going to squib it right there in the middle.

That's easily covered by Buford.

And they get it back on the return to the 50 yard line by Costin.

And so that didn't work out very well.

Buford takes over at the 50.

Just couldn't get a bounce to the ball.

He took any onside kick to try to get the ball to bounce.

And by your time, your coverage team time to get underneath it.

Ball just never came off the turf.

So Buford going back on offense and now not getting the onside kick.

Douglas County has got to come up with some kind of a turnover.

Stripped the ball if they indeed try to run it, which I'm guessing Buford is going to elect to do here, I'd be surprised if they put the ball in the air.

Muraski the HVAC in motion.

Hand off.

Goes to McCoy and Dylan McCoy gets ridden to the ground there at the 47 yard line.

Jordan Carter.

This defensive front of Douglas County has done a good job of penetrating.

Tonight they got to come up with a three and out here, get the ball back for their team.

As much time, especially with the freshman quarterback in there.

Give him as much time.

This is a crucial set of downs and one where you need a three and out.

Yeah Michael Johnson was not looking like he was going to be reentering the game anytime soon.

So Buford milking the clock.

Play clock is down to five.

McCoy again, and Jordan Carter throws him out of bounds.

And they're going to throw a flag on that.

Might have horse collared.

It.

Dylan McCoy.

I don't think they Jordan Carter knows that they've called a penalty on him celebrating right there.

Good penetration.

22 working on the knee.

Okay.

Let's see if there's Horsecollar.

Yeah, that's a horse collar.

Personal foul, horse collar, tackle defense, 15 yard penalty.

First down.

Now the high school rule is different from the pro rule.

The pro rule.

You got to grab inside the padding.

But in high school any tackle from behind even pulling down the jersey is a horse collar.

Tough break right there a great play by an amazing football player.

Jordan Carter.

To the 33 where it will be first down.

Buford.

So first and ten for Buford there at the 32 after it looked like 33.

Looked like Douglas County had gotten a couple of big stops there and might be able to get the ball back pretty quickly, but not now.

After giving up that 15 yard penalty, a fresh set of downs for the Wolves.

That's just a tough penalty on Jordan Carter because as the defender, it feels right.

High snap Raiola brings it in.

Cantrell gets blown up.

And I talked earlier about the high snap benefiting the offense this time.

At that.

Time it it really messed up the timing of the play by time Raiola rallies this ball down.

Big penetration in there by Flueylln and McClendon.

The young defensive end that they feel can be the next Jordan Carter.

Yep yep Z McClendon making that tackle.

He's a 642 30 sophomore.

And down close to 3 minutes.

By the time Buford snaps it, they don't have to snap it until it goes below three on the clock.

Cantrell gets the handoff hold for Cantrell to run through and he's down to the 28 yard line.

And now a time-out is going to be called by Douglas County.

Stopping the clock at the 250 mark.

Time-out Douglas County.

And so time winding down and running out on Douglas County.

Buford's got the ball.

We'll step aside come back for the final 250 in just a moment.

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And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

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Welcome back to the beard.

Time left on the clock 2 minutes and 50s Douglas County desperately trying to get a turnover to cut the margin from 11 with it being 31 20.

Let's take a quick tour into West Georgia.

Carrollton doubles up Gainesville tonight by the score of 43 21.

One of the big games in the smaller classifications, Heard County survives a late rush by Bowdon wins that one in Franklin tonight by the score of 29 28.

Rabun County, still undefeated under Rance Gillespie, caught up with him on the Football Fridays in Georgia podcast.

Winners over Bremen 143.

Back upstairs to Matt for the final 250.

The 28 yard line.

Now burned here by Douglas County.

Good job once again.

Douglas County with penetration forcing Green Hart to bounce this ball to the outside a little further than I think he wanted to, and rallying to the ball.

Fourth down.

You have to imagine they're going to keep this ball on the ground and try to convert this first down.

If you're Buford.

So that is the last time out.

Or maybe they have one remaining.

I think there's a dot up there by their name, meaning they have one remaining, but this is the I mean, I'm not going to say this is the game, but this is their last chance.

If they get a stop, they still have a chance.

If they don't get a stop, game over.

Let's see.

They're going to try to get this first down or they're going to see an ivanusic out.

Try to tack on three more points, push it up to 14 point lead.

Yeah I would think that I think they I think they will go.

For it.

Yeah I would, I would keep my offense out there and run the ball, try to convert and seal the game.

So Buford 2 minutes and 44 seconds away from improving to 4-0 in the season Douglas County.

They played a incredibly difficult schedule.

Would fall to 3-2 They played North Gwinnett.

They played Jonesboro Newton, Hughes and Buford.

And this would be their second loss in a row after starting 3-0 It looks like we're going to get Ivanusic out.

A little bit surprised by this.

Very surprised by this call out.

Extend this lead to two touchdowns.

And this is going to be a right at 40:04 yard attempt by Ivanusic.

And a time-out called by Raiola.

Time out Buford.

Were they trying to pull him offsides.

Typically I would say.

What you.

Do on a field goal.

But yeah I would say it was some gamesmanship.

But typically you don't ice your own kicker.

Maybe he was trying to get him to jump off, get a free five.

But.

Here's a look at the Douglas County schedule.

They still have one more Non-region game to go.

They'll have two weeks off after this game and not play again for two Friday nights until September 26 against Columbia.

And then their region opener will be at home against East Coweta, then Westlake, Chapel Hill and Carrollton in their five team region.

You have to feel that a little bit.

Why they pulled Johnson out and went with Anderson looking at the rest of the season, Coach White talked about, he felt like everything they still wanted was ahead of them.

He was looking forward to this game, but he also knew that his team preached to his team that where they want to go is still ahead of him.

With region play.

Well in regard to the playoff structure in 6-A, this game has absolutely zero bearing on that.

Kick on its way and Ivanisevic puts it through from 44 to make it 34-20 Jenkins Wittke the.

Good execution.

You can see the excitement right there and.

Just get it over the bar, put three points on the board for your team.

And what we were talking about right there with the game meaning absolutely nothing in regard to the playoffs.

That's why I would like to see the GHSA in four or five.

And 6-A gone to what they've done in the lower classifications, starting with three and down.

They've gone to the power rankings and give these games a little meaning.

I mean, right now it's basically from a standing standpoint, it's an exhibition.

The only games that count towards your playoffs are your region games.

You definitely want as a competitor to walk into a game and feel like there's something about the game.

It's almost like you're talking as though it's just a preseason game.

It doesn't really count towards anything in the future.

You come in here and you knock off a big team like Buford, and it wouldn't have any weight on on what you have going on for the rest of the season.

The flip side of that is you lose the game and it doesn't hurt you.

So.

I'm sure you get coaches on both sides of that fence like to argue that.

Kick will not be returned.

And so Douglas County will bring it out to the 20 yard line for what will likely be their final offensive possession of the night.

Here's a look at the Buford schedule as they will improve to 4-0 their region schedule kicks off next Friday night against discovery, then continues with Collins, Hill Dacula Central Gwinnett, Mountain View and then Mill Creek.

There on Halloween to wrap up their region schedule.

Of course, Buford has won 33 region titles, four of the last five.

Ten of the last 12, 12 of the last 15, 20 of the last 24.

You get the picture.

They've dominated whatever region they've been in.

They have been the dominant force.

25 years and running just complete dominance.

Where everybody knows that they possibly have to go through Buford to get to the championship.

Anderson stays in their quarterback and throws for Gregory, who takes out one of the O.P.S.

Guys standing on the sideline.

He's hopefully okay.

You can.

See why.

By the way, second down and ten.

See what Coach White is high on Anderson only 511.

But has an arm.

You can you can see as a freshman that arm developing.

That's a long out route to be able to get that ball out there to Gregory.

Yeah he's got some he's got some speed.

He's got some mustard on that pass of his complete.

Wow.

Rah’Keith Kelly showing off the wheels.

Gets it across to the 40 yard line.

Nice coming out of that slot underneath route.

Little pump fake.

Nice soft ball right there for Rah’Keith Kelly.

And then he puts on the jet.

Shows you the wheels.

What a dynamic player he's Kelly.

Fun player to watch.

Sometimes gets lost in the shuffle a little bit with all the megastars they have.

From a recruiting standpoint, but he'll be playing at the next level somewhere.

Zamarcus Lindley on the run stopped the 38.

That was Bryce Perry-Wright on the tackle.

You'd like to see a little more tempo of this Douglas County offense.

Try something in the end zone.

Give yourself a chance to get an onside kick.

You never know how that ball will bounce.

Get more aggressive going north and south.

Anderson heaves it for the end zone and it's going to be caught inside the five.

And that's a touchdown for Devin Carter and Douglasville.

And that's what Devin Carter brings back to your offense.

He brings back that dimension of guy.

You can't cover.

Sometimes talent just wins.

And right here great job eluding the rush is Cameron Anderson right there rushing his face by Stack.

And then just airing it out and trusting two receivers in the same area.

But any situation you want to bet on Devin Carter right there.

Silas Nuckles fighting Carter.

Just a better athlete on that play.

Devin Carter is some kind of special player right here.

They're lining up and going for two.

Not really.

Don't really know why they're doing that.

They don't have to.

Pass complete inside the five.

And the two point conversion fails.

So they remain down by eight.

Would love.

You to me.

Like you would take the single point right there.

Obviously the odds are long, but you take the single point, get to seven so that if you get the ball back and you score again, you need only a p.a.t and not another two point conversion.

Attempt.

Great job of staying aggressive.

Young quarterback making a play, just airing it out right there.

Even better job going at the high point is Carter to bring in the touchdown.

Welcome back Mr. Carter.

And you're right Matt about the VAT.

And some of that could be just like you alluded to that there's nothing on the game.

So I can play you know Moore to win in this situation get a little edge that if I get the ball back I can maybe score and win by one point just and take it.

You feel like if it if it was something on the game.

Of course.

You could still do that.

If you kick.

The single point, you can still go for the two and the win.

I mean, I know we're getting the cart way ahead of the horse right.

Here, but.

In dealing with hypotheticals and possibilities anyway.

Let's see if Dre Reading can get a little bounce on this onside kick this time around.

Another onside kick attempt right here for Douglas County.

Another remarkable comeback here.

Second week in a row.

They put themselves in too deep a hole.

That ball is squibbed and covered by Buford.

And that should do it.

Douglas County has one time-out remaining, so after they burn that time-out, which I'm guessing will come after Buford's first offensive play, the Wolves can essentially kneel this game out.

That young man just flashed on your screen.

Mike Johnson and the possibility with Devin Carter back, Aaron Gregory the explosiveness of Rah’Keith Kelly.

Still a lot of weapons.

He's going to learn.

This is his first year working with this group.

A lot of talent to work with as this season progresses.

Well, they got Devin Carter back tonight and you can tell just by watching this game how big that's going to be for them going forward.

They're also going to get Marcus Adam Carter back here in the next couple of weeks.

And he suffered a horrific knee injury in the summer of 2024.

Did not play at all last.

Time out.

Douglas County and Marcus Adam Carter is a young man who's got 24 offers, dynamic wide receiver and they should get him back in time for region play on October 3.

And so now you've added Devin Carter and Marcus Adam Carter to your wide receiver corps to go along with Zamarcus Lindley at running back Rah’Keith Kelly.

You've seen how dynamic he is, and you look and you see, well, Douglas County is three and two tonight, but things don't look so bad for the future with the guys that are getting back.

Yeah.

John.

Let's run through some more final scores.

Let's kind of take you through Cobb County.

Let's you know what we've got Marietta 52 21 A final cam Duke gets his first win as Marietta's head coach with the win tonight.

Heritage with a win tonight in the lower classifications.

Paulding County over South Cobb by nine.

That one's 28 19.

McEachern continues their winning ways 347 over Campbell.

North Paulding over Cherokee by 16, putting 59 on the board tonight.

Back up to you.

Yeah, we'll see North Paulding next week on next week's GPB sports Football Fridays in Georgia.

Looking forward to that.

They're now four and one on the season.

North Cobb beating Walton tonight.

So the Warriors playing at North Paulding next Friday night GPB Sports Football Fridays in Georgia first visit ever to North Paulding.

Looking forward to that.

So second down here.

No more time-outs for Douglas County.

Ty Green nearly broke a tackle.

He's waiting.

He's been waiting all night to break a tackle.

Nearly had one right there.

Didn't he.

Stephen.

He's linebackers tonight.

Not on my watch.

Just enough to clip that foot and get him on the ground.

But you can see the hunger in this run.

He's looking for an explosive.

Yeah he's getting ready to go.

Just enough right there by Jones.

Get him before he gets started.

So third down and three.

They can't kneel it out.

Not just yet.

They need to get this first down and then they can get into the victory formation.

Jameer Cantrell will get close to the first down.

He's going to be short though.

They're going to spot him a yard short.

And now it's going to be fourth down and 46 seconds remaining.

So Buford has to run another significant play here.

They can't just kneel down.

If they end up winning or even getting even in a loss to one thing, Coach White will be able to really feel proud with his team.

Coach Hannah, the D coordinator is their ability to stop the run.

Yeah, they.

They.

Held Buford to 233 total yards here tonight.

A time-out called.

Time-out Buford.

I mean if the game if yards counted Douglas County wins this game.

And of course yards don't count.

They count towards you getting into the end zone which is ultimately how you win the game.

Obviously Buford 140 yards rushing.

Douglas County 136.

Douglas County 273.

Passing Buford just 93 so 409 total for Douglas County, 233 for Buford.

John.

Let's take you to Gwinnett County, give you some final scores here in this neck of the woods.

Central Gwinnett shuts out Chapel Hill.

Graham Anand hit a 36 yard game winning field goal with 10 seconds to go.

GHC knocks off Lumpkin County 37 35.

Woodward Academy looks like they were winners over Shiloh, 17 14 Parkview big winners tonight.

Putting 61 on the board.

Adam Clark getting another big win and one more for the road.

North Gwinnett over Brookwood by the final of 37 14.

Back up to you.

Bulldogs getting a big win I think that makes them four and one on the season.

Actually makes them 3-1 on the season.

But Nelly something extraordinary happened tonight for North Gwinnett.

Their first three games had all been decided by 21 seven finals.

Never heard of that in my life.

They lost to Douglas County 217 and then they won their next two games against Colquitt and then last week.

So that's officially GHSA scoring game.

Matt I think so.

So they they won a game and it wasn't 21 seven tonight.

Fourth down.

Got it.

And there's the first down.

And Ty Green nearly busted another one.

And that's going to do it.

They can kneel it out from here.

If he could just get those knees you can see the frustration.

He wanted.

One wanted him one tonight.

Not going to get the long touchdown.

And that's going to do it.

That's the final play as Buford defeats Douglas County 34 26.

The final the Wolves ranked second in the state now four and oh on the season, and Douglas County ranked number 4.

Playing a tough schedule, drops to 3-2 This a game where Buford won the battle of execution in the crucial moments.

When we saw early on to to take the big lead, Douglas County continued to fight as their coach, coach White said they would, and something that he's proud about.

These young men but as we saw as the game progressed, Mike Johnson started off a little shaky, settled down and then showed us a certain toughness that you always want to see in your quarterback.

And they started building a little momentum.

The rest defense of Douglas County superb tonight.

Being able to really stuff the Buford line for about three quarters.

So pretty good game.

And both of these teams still have bins Mercedes-Benz on their mind and have capable squads.

Welcome back, Mr. Carter.

Devin Carter.

Yeah Douglas County is going to be okay.

Yes, they're going to be okay.

They're going to be okay.

All right.

Nelly is standing by with our Johnny's New York style pizza.

Your original neighborhood pizzeria post game interview with Coach Bryant Appling.

Thank you very much, Matt.

Hard fought.

There was a lot of love with you and the coaching staff of Douglas County.

Walking your way down the line, how would you describe tonight?

Hard fought.

I mean, that's the best way to put it.

I mean, they they fought their tail off to get back in the game.

And we just we keep shooting ourselves in the foot at times, you know.

But we're still inexperienced in certain spots.

And they caught up to us tonight and we're glad.

You know the clock clock hit zeros before they could get the ball again.

But I'm proud of my guys.

It's been a tough run, and they've done a great job.

You know, new guys playing, old guys playing.

Just guys banged up and everything.

I'm proud of them.

I think they did a heck of a job tonight.

Just finishing this thing off.

And you've been mentioning to to us all week long that it's eight or nine guys that could run the ball, eight or nine guys that could be a part of the offensive line, same number of folks that could be a part of the defensive line.

And to have games like this in your non-region schedule, it gives everybody those reps so they're ready when their name is called, say, week 11, 12, 13, 14.

Correct.

We're still trying to figure out a bunch of things and a bunch of positions.

So rotating a bunch of guys obviously we'll get to that point, you know, sometime in the next couple of weeks where we feel like these are the ones, these are the twos, and we'll go from there.

We don't name them.

We make them compete all the time.

But in the end, we still got a bunch of questions and a lot of spaces, you know?

So we got to get that figured out.

And we will be watching.

And as you try and figure out those answers.

Thanks for your time, Matt.

Yes, sir.

I appreciate it always.

All right.

Hot tag.

Let's go ahead and bring in our Georgia Cotton Commission player of the game, the Georgia Cotton Commission.

The natural choice for Georgia.

And I tried to get as close to green as possible, cam.

So we went kind of with like the khaki hat.

So the khaki hat goes to you.

And also I need to get the logo out.

So here we go.

Once again, the Georgia Cotton Commission player of the game.

So the towel is yours too.

And I'm sure that once again just make sure that you take care of it.

No one else gets this but you.

Yes, sir.

What was it like out there tonight knowing that you were going to be fighting for this one?

I mean, this was one where you're really going to be fighting to the bitter end, and it ended up that way.

They're a great team.

So it's all about practice for us.

Everything we did in practice, we did as a team.

We worked together as a team.

We did everything on this field as a team.

So it's really just a team effort.

It wasn't just me or anybody else by themselves.

No doubt about it.

And we were talking to coach about where it could be on that front line of yours on the defensive line.

Could be eight or nine dudes that are out there.

What's it like knowing that the responsibility is shared and you guys are challenging each other as much as you are here this season?

I would say it's like a great play for us.

Everybody's pushing each other on a D-line.

We're all trying to get plays, pushing each other to the next level.

To.

What have you learned about yourselves as a team in this first couple of games here in the Non-region schedule?

They've been tough contests.

What have you learned?

We still have a lot to work for, but we're on a good right?

Schedule.

And the way we keep working as a team, we definitely get there by the.

End.

Georgia Cotton Commission player of the game.

Natural choice for Georgia.

And our natural choice.

Part of that big defensive line cam, as always thanks.

Good to see you.

Thank you.

Let me shake the hand once again.

Make sure that the logo right there, logo right here.

Cotton.

Cotton.

We got the cotton.

Let's send it upstairs Matt.

Part of a stout defensive line tonight.

Not giving up a whole lot of yards to Douglas County.

Yeah, no doubt about it.

Cam Simmons was impressive this evening.

Be sure to join us next Friday night as the North Cobb Warriors will face the North Paulding Wolfpack in Dallas, Georgia.

That is our GPB sports.

Football Fridays in Georgia game of the week, our Webb game, our stream game, the Benedictine Cadets come up from Savannah with the number 1 prospect in the country.

The Damien Guyton, on that defensive line, to take on the Westminster Wildcats.

And that will be next Friday night on GPB and the GPB app.

Fun one here tonight as Douglas County improves to four.

And oh, with an eight point victory, Buford improves to 4-0 with an eight point victory over Douglas County.

Now, if you missed portions of tonight's game or just want to see it again, you can catch a full replay later this evening or in the coming week at GPB Sports on Demand.

And now for Wayne Gandy Jon Nelson, our VP of sports, Kevin, game producer Glenn Diamond, our director Vince early, I'm Matt Stewart.

Good night from Buford where the Wolves beat Douglas County 34 26.

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You know he's 67, 320 that can run.

That's agile, that can get around.

So that's the biggest thing that we see.

And the college season will.

When you put in the work the scholarships will come.

You know, the coaches will find you.

It actually pushes me to work even harder than what I'm working.

Always do an extra rep or extra set just to try to get that edge on my opponents, because I know nobody works like me.

I think what sets them apart is the motivation to be great.

You know, the motivation to be the best lineman that he can be.

Once I got that mindset that I got to be the best, I got to.