We tell you everything you need to know about the 2022 Buford football team in this preview. We take a look at roster changes and what fans can expect from the team this season.
2021 Stats
- Overall Record: 14-1
- Points Scored: 518
- Points Against: 110
Key Losses
The Buford Wolves will be good again, but anytime you lose talent like Jake Pope, Isaiah Bond, and Ashton Daniels, you’re going to feel it. Pope, a head-hunting defensive back, is now at Alabama, ready to show he can perform on the primetime stage of college football. Victor Venn is at Colorado, and the Buffalo coaches are ready to see him run the football just as he did at Buford, where he rushed for 3,010 yards and 36 TDs.
Venn’s backfield mate at Buford, CJ Clinkscales, also graduated and is ready to do his thing at Boston College. Fenn was part of the state champion track relay team at Buford that set the state record for the fastest time in the 4×100. Another member of that record-setting track team is now at Alabama after a stellar high school career on the football field. Isaiah Bond, a speedy ATH at Buford, is likely to be used at receiver by the Crimson Tide.
Yet another Buford player who is moving on to play college football is quarterback Ashton Daniels, who has enrolled at Stanford. He threw late-game TD passes in the 2019, 2020, and 2021 state title games to push his Wolves to championships all three years. TE Davis Peek will play collegiately, but not football – he’s off to Mercer to play for the Bears’ lacrosse squad.
Who’s Back
Buford’s biggest strength this season should be its defense, which boasts several top prospects on that side of the line of scrimmage. The Wolves return a couple of junior defensive ends who will give opposing O-linemen all sorts of problems this year. Eddrick Houston and King Joseph Edwards are as good off the edge as anyone you will see in Georgia high school football, although their paths in getting to the QB is somewhat different. Edwards likes to “bull rush” his opposing offensive linemen, using his 235-pound frame and quick burst off the ball to get into the backfield.
Meanwhile, Houston lines up on the opposite end from his teammate, and while he’s about 20 pounds heavier than Edwards, he’s able to utilize his quickness to great effect. It’s likely that these two defensive end phenoms will be drawing double teams at some point this season.
Linebacker Jadon Perlotte is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound sophomore, and but he already plays with the mentality and ability of a senior. He’ll make the perfect compliment to his DE teammates, while forcing opposing offenses to find ways of avoiding him. He needs to gain a little weight – which he will – to help fill out his long frame.
Other key returners are junior WR/S KJ Bolden vand senior OT Paul Mubenga. All of these returners are top recruits, and you are likely to hear much more from these talented players before the season ends. Quarterback Dylan Wittke returns to handle the signal caller duties.
What To Expect
Is there really any legitimate reason to doubt Buford will win a fourth straight state championship game in 2022? Yes, they are moving up to the state’s largest classification this season, and the higher you go, things are supposed to be more difficult. Still, this is Buford. The Wolves has been on the fastest track in the GHSA, advancing up in class as the school has grown along with its surrounding school district.
Remember, Buford was a single-A school in 2001. Here they are now, 20 years later, moving into the state’s largest classification. It’s a meteoric rise, any way you look at it, and Buford simply has not been fazed by any of it. Will this season be any different?
Their new region is 8-AAAAAAA, with Mill Creek and Collins Hill among their new foes. But, none of that matters. Buford has a quarterback who, despite playing only part-time behind Daniels, is so good that he has already committed to the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Wolves also pick up transfer Justice Haynes, who many consider to be the best player in all of Georgia.
Prediction
The rumors of Buford’s struggles with the move to 7A are greatly exaggerated. They will finish with 13 wins and compete for the state title – again.
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