Today's interviewee is Buford coach Bryant Appling, whose team defeated No. 1-ranked Carrollton 24-21 in the Class AAAAA quarterfinals last week. Appling was promoted to head coach this season after 15 seasons on the Wolves' staff. Buford plays at Jones County on Friday night.
Bryant Appling, Buford head coach
1. What was the difference in the Carrollton game? Where do you feel that Buford had the edge? "Honestly, the only edge I felt we had in the game was that we had the last possession. It was such a tremendous battle of two great teams, neither of which deserved to lose, that I felt like we just had to hold on to the ball for as long as we could and try to score. The only other difference that I think you can tangibly point to is that we were able to win the turnover battle 2-0 - a fumble recovery and an interception. We've seen time and time again in this game that this can be the ultimate deciding factor when two equally matched teams are facing each other."
2. You had a running back, sophomore Victor Venn, who had 41 carries on the season, get the call last week, and he rushed 30 times for 200-plus yards. I don't think the average fan saw that coming. Did you? Was that the game plan, or did he just get hot and you kept feeding him? "I absolutely didn't see that coming. I mean, even though he's listed as our third-string tailback, Victor is still a tremendous player that could start on most high school teams. He's a hard-working, humble young man who has bought in to the 'next man up' mentality that we preach on a daily basis. But, if you'd told me at the beginning of the week that the young man would have totaled over 200 yards rushing, I can't honestly sit here and say I'd believe you. I think the key for our team was that we were not going to change who we are and what we do just because it was a different person in the backfield. There was no altering our game plan to fit the fact that we were missing two great backs [Gabe Ervin and Elijah Turner], and I really think that helped instill confidence in our team, our offensive line and particularly Victor Venn that we had the ultimate faith in their abilities to just be Buford."
3. You faked a punt on the winning drive. What went into the decision to make that call? "As I mentioned before, I just did not want to give up possession of the football at that point in the game. We'd been practicing that particular fake punt during practice that week, so it was definitely not out of the blue. We felt like each time we lined up to punt during the game that the chance to run the fake was there, but I never pulled the trigger. I'll give a shout out to my special teams coach, Drew Dasher, who continued to reassure me that we had the look we wanted. I guess after deciding to go for it on fourth-and-3 from our own 28 earlier in the game, I figured we had already set the tone as coaches that we were going to put trust in our kids to execute in all circumstances. We have one of the best kickers in the state in Hayden Olsen, and I just wanted to do whatever it took that last series to give him a chance to win the game for us." [Olsen kicked a 28-yard field goal on the final play to win it.]
4. As a first-year head coach, what's been the most significant thing that you and your staff have done with this team? What was the biggest challenge? "I'm a first-year head coach, but I've been at Buford for 16 years. The most important thing to me taking over this year was to bring the culture back to what made us so successful the past 20 years. We, as coaches, have challenged our kids since my first day as head coach to buy in to what makes Buford special; putting this program and your teammates above yourself."
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