No. 7 Buford snaps No. 13 Milton’s 25-game winning streak in opener

BUFORD, Ga. – It was quite the debut for Phillip Beard Stadium and its tenants, the Buford Wolves. Coming off a 13-10 loss to Milton in last year’s opener, No. 7-nationally ranked Buford avenged the loss with a 20-13 victory over the No. 13 Eagles on Thursday night in front of a national audience on ESPN2.

Rivals was on hand for the Georgia high school football showdown and give you five takeaways from the contest.

1. Turnovers in the third quarter changed the tide of the game

You hear head coaches and offensive coordinators stress the importance of not turning over the football, especially to good teams.

Milton did it twice in a span of a few minutes in the third quarter, which totally changed the complexity of the game and the approach altogether.

The Eagles had been doing a good job of playing ball control, despite some inconsistencies on offense. It’s when the interceptions were thrown, Buford’s defense feasted. The Wolves took full advantage of multiple Derrick Baker picks, with Josh Echols and Silas Nuckles, who returned one back for a touchdown, both being the beneficiaries of the errant throws.

In what looked like it would be a similar contest to last year, finished with Buford looking in full control and a very viable contender to the GHSA AAAAAA title right out of the gates.

2. Tale of two halves for Derrick Baker in Milton debut

The transfer from St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) looked solid in the first half of his debut for the Eagles as he was able to run the show and stay clear of the turnover bug. In the second half, however, turnovers became an issue for the Milton offense. One thing was for certain that his helmet coming off half a dozen times did cause Milton to simply hand the ball off on most of those occasions with freshman Trey Hasan seeing time.

Baker finished the night completing four passes for 61 yards and then added 60 on the ground. Operating a Milton offense that was one of the best in school history and trying to follow Luke Nickel, who is now at Miami, is no easy task for any signal caller. The dual-threat proved he can take the mantle as the next great Milton passer behind center, now comes fine tuning himself in the offense.

3. Phillip Beard Stadium is as impressive as advertised

From the massive wolf statue when you walk up to the stadium to the video board inside of the facility to the college-like press box, it’s all anyone could want from a $62-million stadium and more.

At kickoff, both sides of the stadium were still seeing fans trickle in but by the early portion of the second half, Philip Beard was packed to the brim with spectators. With the heavy expectations of the game being an all-timer, ended with it being a somewhat one-sided affair in the second half.

Nonetheless, if you had any reservations whatsoever about visiting Philip Beard, forget about ‘em and checkout what might be the most impressive stadium in all of the Peach State.

4. Dre Quinn led a ferocious defensive line effort for Buford

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Clemson commitment was a problem for any would-be Milton offensive lineman that was trying to block him on the night.

Hearing Quinn’s name blared throughout the evening over the stadium’s state-of-the-art sound system, the tenacious EDGE made it be known he would not denied getting after Milton’s Baker all evening long.

Whether it was redirecting passes, flushing Baker out of the pocket or setting the edge, making tackles on ball carriers, Quinn was clearly an issue for the Eagles.

5. Dayton Raiola steady heading into senior season

The Nebraska commitment didn’t need to be spectacular on the evening, but was the ready hand in running the Buford offense all evening long.

Whether Raiola was asked to simply hand it off to Tyriq Green or Dylan McCoy in the backfield, the future Cornhusker did so and played turnover-free football.

Raiola kept the offense moving in the right direction throughout the game and made the right reads, outside of one interception just before halftime. The signal caller finished the night throwing for 136 yards and rushing for another 30 on the ground.