BUFORD — For three quarters of play Friday night it looked as if Buford was in for a comfortable win over Jeff Davis of Montgomery, Ala.
But the visitors had not come this far to go out with a whimper and proved it, storming back from a 31-7 fourth-quarter deficit to make things interesting, as the Wolves held on for a 38-30 win in Buford -- though the final score came with 29 seconds remaining.
"We jumped out early. Other than one drive we didn't finish in the first half, that was about as good as we could have hoped for. And we've improved. These kids have played a game, been off, played a game, been off, and played a game, so we haven't had a lot of routine. And there's no doubt we've gotten better, but there's also no doubt we've gotta learn how to play four quarters," Buford coach Jess Simpson said. "We didn't do a very good job, made some bad decisions as coaches in the second half. Obviously we've gotta play a little better than what we did in the second half, but the good news is that when we had to get it done, the kids got it done."
The Wolves (2-1) got it done on the ground for the first three quarters, as Anthony Grant (twice) and TD Roof each scored rushing touchdowns. Their scores, combined with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Mic Roof to Jamaal Singleton and a 23-yard field goal from Bernardo Burgos, saw Buford sprint ahead 31-7 with 11:08 left to play.
Jeff Davis was not finished, however, ripping off back-to-back scores before TD Roof added an 18-yard touchdown run with 2:24 remaining to ensure Buford's supremacy -- Jeff Davis did score again, but only inside the final minute.
"I think we've played really hard every week. The effort's really been there. I think tonight what we learned, we played a very big physical football team, and I think our physical part of it has really improved. And that was probably the thing we challenged them the most with and the thing we were most excited about seeing," Simpson said. "Obviously the third quarter we really didn't do very well on defense and had two turnovers on offense. So it was a team effort for the good; at times it was team effort for the bad. But it's high school football, and those kids hung in there, and I think this'll be something we can build on."
Buford finished with 436 total yards -- 268 of that on the ground. Grant led the way with 108 yards on 19 carriesm while TD Roof rushed for 81 on six attempts. Mic Roof also completed 9 of 16 passes for 168 yards.
Buford will play host to the International School of Broward, Fla., next week.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/9/446950/buford-holds-off-visitors-from-alabama-38-30