Buford throttles Calhoun for 2nd straight AA title

Underdog? Buford?

As unbelievable as it may sound, Buford coach Jess Simpson didn’t have a problem using those two words in the same sentence following his team’s 45-21 victory against Calhoun on Friday night at the Georgia Dome.

Although the Wolves have been the most dominant team of the last 10 years and rolled to a 15-0 record and a Class AA state championship, Simpson was quick to point out who wasn’t on the field.

“This is a very different team,” said Simpson, who lost 10 college signees from the 2007 title team, including six Division-I recruits. “This year’s team was more plowhorse than showhorse.”

Either way, it was a thoroughbred.

Behind an offense that was barely slowed for much of the night and a defense that got better as the night progressed, Buford firmly entrenched itself as the team of the 2000s, claiming its fifth state title since 2000 and the school’s sixth in history.

Tailback Cody Getz, who had a big night for the Wolves, echoed the underdog status.

“Everyone played with a chip on their shoulder this year,” Getz said. “There were a lot of doubters about whether or not we could be a championship team again this year. We don’t have a bunch of big names like last year, but we played with heart and worked so hard to get to this.”

Getz, a 5-foot-7, 150-pound running back, was a one-man wrecking crew with 233 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries. He scored on runs of 21, 1, 7 and 31 yards and had seven runs of 10 yards or more.

“My offensive line is the best in the state,” Getz said. “I wasn’t getting hit sometimes until I was 15 yards down the field.”

Things got off on the right foot for Buford on Calhoun’s opening possession, when Ja’Kar Bridges intercepted a pass to give the Wolves the ball at Yellow Jackets 21. Three plays later, Getz took a draw 21 yards for the score.

Calhoun answered two possessions later, taking advantage of a short field and capitalizing when Austin Norrell caught a 27-yard pass from Michael Johnson.

Buford answered to start the second quarter with a bruising 11-play, 74-yard drive that Getz capped with a 1-yard run. Calhoun responded with an 80-yard drive that took 13 plays and ended with Johnson hitting Dustin Christian on a 2-yard scoring pass.

But Buford took all the momentum away before halftime by driving 56 yards, with Getz gaining all but 3 of the yards. At the beginning of the third quarter, Buford took the opening kickoff of the second half and went 80 yards on three plays, with Storm Christian scoring on a 32-yard run.

The two teams traded scores before Buford defensive back Jeff Gazaway brought a penalty-laden third quarter to an end with an interception in the end zone to maintain Buford’s two-touchdown lead.

“They are just physically stronger and bigger than we are,” Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said. “They didn’t make one mistake.”