WAYCROSS - Apparently, Buford likes long road trips.
The Wolves (11-1 Region 8-5A No. 2 seed) traveled almost five hours to showcase its dominant rushing attack and a stingy defense in a 34-6 win over higher-seeded Ware County (8-4 Region 2-5A No. 1 seed) in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs at Memorial Stadium Friday night.
The Wolves will travel to Carrollton in the Class 5A quarterfinals on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
"We haven't been past Macon in a long time," Buford coach Bryant Appling said. "Our kids handled it really, really well. They prepared well all week long. The kids were hungry to play a team way down the road, and they took care of business tonight."
Buford churned out 270 yards on the ground, scored on its three possessions in the first half and blocked a punt and returned it for a score to go up 24-0 at the half.
"We've been harping on them about not waiting, starting fast and make sure you dictate the pace of the game," Appling said. "That's all we preached all week long, and they preached it back to us tonight."
Gabe Ervin Jr finished the night with 154 yards on 19 carries and a first-half score.
And the Buford defense played stellar, holding Ware to just 123 yards.
"It's very important at somebody's house, if you want to get a big crowd out the game quickly, you find a way to stop them on defense and put some scores in the end zone," Appling said. "We went after a punt and got a touchdown there and just kept running the ball. We really dictated the pace of the game running the ball all night long."
