Buford defeats Cook
It wasn’t the 52-point onslaughts of the first two rounds, but Buford’s 21-14 victory Friday over visiting Cook was enough to advance the Wolves to next week’s Class AA semifinals.
The Wolves broke open a 7-7 game at halftime with a touchdown in the third quarter and another in the fourth, then kept Cook pinned deep in its territory in the waning minutes to win their 18th consecutive playoff game and 12th in a row at home. The victory was Buford’s third over Cook in as many tries, all in quarterfinals.
“We’ve been playing really well in all phases of the game,” Buford coach Jess Simpson said. “We’ve been clicking on all cylinders.”
Eric Barr’s 6-yard touchdown run put Buford ahead for good, 14-7, with 3:25 left in the third quarter, and Dominique Swope gave the Wolves their biggest advantage, 21-7, on his 8-yard gallop on the first play of the fourth. Cook pulled within the final margin on Trey Register’s 1-yard run with 8:32 left.
Buford’s punt pinned Cook at its 4-yard line with 3:06 to go, and the Hornets threw three incompletions and punted. After getting the ball back near midfield, the Wolves needed only to run out the clock.
It wasn’t like Buford’s 52-22 and 52-14 demolitions of Hart County and Callaway in the first two rounds, but Buford’s sixth-year coach will take the second consecutive quarterfinal elimination of Cook.
“You go in with a script, but in the playoffs, you don’t know what to expect,” Simpson said. “Next thing you know, you’re off script and just scrambling to find a way to win and stay alive another week.
Buford forced the game’s first turnover when C.J. Moore intercepted a pass on Cook’s first possession, but the Wolves couldn’t do anything with it.
The Wolves (12-1) led 7-0 when Alexander Ross completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Kurt Freitag with 3:23 remaining in the first quarter. The Hornets (12-1) appeared to have tied on Shannon Brown’s 8-yard run 6:57 before halftime, but the play was called back by a holding penalty and Cook wound up turning the ball over on downs two plays later.
The Hornets tied when a tackler hit Ross’ arm as he threw, and the wobbly pass was easily intercepted and returned 54 yards by Brown with 2:08 left in the half.
Cook recovered Seon Jones’ fumble at Buford’s 39 with 55 seconds left in the half, but the Hornets couldn’t get close enough for a field-goal attempt and turned the ball over on downs just seconds before intermission. The fourth-down failure was the Hornets’ third of the half in Buford territory.
