Buford reacts to new GHSA reclassification policy

Powerhouse Buford expects to be playing in a larger classification when the GHSA's new policy takes hold in the 2016-17 season. On Monday, the GHSA executive committee, among other sweeping changes, approved a stipulation that will cause schools with more than three percent of their student body residing outside the school's county of origin to be moved up one classification. Buford athletic director Dexter Wood expects to be playing in a higher classification next school year. The Wolves currently are in AAAA. Wood said he has no idea what region Buford would be placed. "It's a numbers game," Wood said in an email. "It simply means we will play larger and tougher schools. All we can do is try and get better ourselves in the overall excellence of our athletic program." Wood believes the committee did a good job addressing what they felt were two primary concerns around the state: Leveling the playing field with some type of multiplier and narrowing the enrollment ranges in each classification. The GHSA addressed the second concern by adding an eighth classification, which tentatively will be called the Big 44. Buford has won state football championships in seven of the last eight years and enters this season on a 40-game winning streak.