Bryant Appling
Pack Of Wolves
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This is my favorite time of year, the beginning of football season. Let’s take a look at the top program in 7A and see how they started the season.
#1 Buford: The Wolves were undefeated in 2025 and won the national championship. They won the 6A state championship against Carrolton, 28-21.
Georgia has reintroduced the 7A classification this season and Buford is starting ranked at the top.
They did lose a lot of talent from that team. Some of the key players that graduated were starting quarterback Dayton Raiola, four-star safety and running back Tyriq “Ty Boogie” Green and leading rusher and three-star RB Dylan McCoy
“The biggest goal is being able to reset from last year with us being national champions,” said DJ Hunter, Buford’s starting quarterback and James Madison commit. “We want to create our own team instead of living off of the success from last year.”
There are some players with limited playing time that are expected to step up this season. Seniors Jameer Cantrell and Silas Nuckles bring some experience in the ground game. Cantrell, an Arkansas commit, had 43 carries for 303 yards and three touchdowns, while he also had 41 tackles as a defensive back in 2025.
Junior WR Braylon Williams is expected to be a top target for Hunter. He had 199 yards and four receiving touchdowns in seven games last year before missing the rest of the season due to injury.
Some additional highly ranked recruits on the roster are: LB Brayden Watson (Michigan), LB Ethan Hauser (Vanderbilt), S Jameer Cantrell (Arkansas), DE Luke Nabors (Offers from Auburn, Florida State, Miami (FL), Penn State and Georgia), DL Krystian Walcott (Boston College) and OL Noah Nixon (Pitt).
“They’re doing a good job of not making it all about what we did last year, because last year is not going to help us right now,” said head coach Bryant Appling. “So, I’m excited for the fact that they’re trying to be their own entity within the realm of beautiful football and start this campaign off the right way.”
They opened the season last week against the #3 team in 6A, Gainesville with a nationally televised game on ESPN. The Red Elephants advanced to the 5A state championship game last season.
Gainesville also added former Grayson head coach, Santavious Bryant. He coached the Rams from 2023-25 and led them to the 6A state championship in 2024. They were the top team in the state for most of 2025 until they lost to Carrolton in the playoffs and finished the season 12-1.
Buford won the game, 39-19. The Wolves pulled away in the second half. Gainesville turned the ball over five times and Buford scored 29 unanswered points.
Gainesville allowed two special teams touchdowns because of bad snaps that its punter could not catch, and both times Buford recovered in the end zone. They also had a third special teams’ turnover when their kick returner, Legend Wilmont fumbled during a punt return.
This was a big win and a great start to the season. Somehow, things got even better for them after that.
The nation’s No. 1 defensive lineman and No.4 overall recruit for the class of 2027, Jalen Brewster announced he’s transferring to Buford over the weekend. The 6’3, 300 lbs. Texas Tech commit is transferring from Cedar Hill (TX).
The only other tough game on the schedule appeared to be the September 18th matchup at #2 Grayson before the season started. The Rams are 0-2 so now that looks like a cakewalk.
I expect Buford to repeat as national champs.
Buford Wolves 2026 Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Buford is one of the most elite football programs in the state of Georgia and possibly the nation. They have won 15 state championships, with only one coming before the year 2001.
They also have multiple state championships in baseball, boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, gymnastics, softball, volleyball, wrestling and girls’ track.
Last season they opened Philip Beard Stadium. It has a seating capacity of 10,000 at a cost of $62 million.
The Wolves finished last season going 15-0 and winning the state championship. They were also the consensus national champions.
They have a lot of talent on the team. Junior Edge Luke Nabors (6’4, 210 lbs.) is a four-star recruit. He has over thirty offers from teams like Georgia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Florida State, Penn State, Texas, Clemson, Oregon, Indiana and Tennessee.
Junior WR Seven Rashad (6’5, 175 lbs.) is a three-star recruit.
Senior LB Ethan Hauser (6’3, 200 lbs.) is a three-star recruit that’s committed to Vanderbilt. They have another three-star LB, Brayden Watson who’s committed to Michigan.
Senior QB DJ Hunter (6’1, 190 lbs.) is taking over as the starter in 2026. He was the backup to Dayton Raiola (Oregon). Hunter is a dual-threat so he should be a new weapon for the offense. He’s a three-star player and he’s committed to James Madison.
Seniors CB Silas Nuckles (6’0, 175 lbs.) and S Jameer Cantrell (5’10, 175 lbs.) are also three-star recruits. Cantrell is committed to Arkansas.
Bryant Appling has been the head coach at Buford since 2019. He has a record of 90-8 and he’s the first coach in GHSA history to win state titles in his first three seasons (2019-21).
Buford graduated 21 players from last seasons national championship team. They are expected to reload the talent but I think that will be tougher than expected. They are the #1 team in the 7A preseason poll.
Their schedule is listed below:
8/22: vs. Gainesville
9/4: @ Mallard Creek (North Carolina)
9/11: vs. Miami Central (Miami, FL)
9/18: @ #3 Grayson
9/25: @ Seckinger
10/9: @ Dacula
10/16: vs. Collins Hill
10/23: @ Mill Creek
10/30: vs. Discovery
11/6: vs. Central Gwinnett
They have a few tough non-region games to start the season.
Week 1 is a nationally televised game on ESPN against Gainesville. The Red Elephants advanced to the 5A state championship last season. They have moved up to 6A this season.
Former Grayson head coach Santavious Bryant has taken over the same position in Gainesville. He was 37-5 in three seasons at Grayson and he won a state championship in 2024. They have one of the most talented rosters in the state.
Miami Central in Week 2 will also be a tough game. The Rockets were 10-2 in 2025. South Florida is known for speed and they have very good players.
Week 4 at #3 Grayson will be the toughest test of the regular season. The Rams expected to repeat as state champions last year but lost in the state quarterfinals.
After this game, the rest of the schedule is easy. Seckinger (Buford, GA) is the newest school in Gwinnett County. They opened in August 2022 and they made their first playoff appearance last season.
Region 8-AAAAAAA play begins October 9th at Dacula. Mill Creek is the second-best team in the region but I don’t think they can challenge Buford.
I expect Buford to lose two regular season games. At worst they will be 7-3 if they lose to Gainesville, Miami Central and Grayson. I think they’ll be tough to beat in the playoffs.
Wolves On The Hunt
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Buford High School has been a powerhouse for quite some time.
The Wolves won their first state title in 1978. Then starting in 2001, they won 10 state championships with the last one in 2014. They advanced to the state final 2015 and 2016 and lost close games.
They are trying to get back on track and prove they are the best team in 5A.
John Ford took the top job at Buford in 2017 after coaching Roswell to a 14-1 season and a 23-20 loss to Grayson in the class 7A championship game.
After two seasons, he resigned. He went 21-5 in two years as head coach, taking both teams deep into the state playoffs.
Ford led Buford to last year’s state quarterfinals, where they were upset, 23-20, by Bainbridge. That was the program’s first Elite Eight loss since 2006. That loss ended Buford’s state-record 35-game winning streak in home playoff games.
The Wolves won the Region 8-AAAAA championship and lost in the regular season to Class AAAAAAA semifinalist Archer and to Florida power Deerfield Beach.
They also won the region championship in 2017 and reached the state semifinals with an 11-2 record. That season ended with a rough 45-7 loss to Rome.
Buford promoted defensive coordinator Bryant Appling to head football coach. Appling has been on Buford’s staff the past 15 years through seven state titles and five runner-up finishes. He was an assistant for two seasons at Lithonia before coming to Buford.
The Wolves are ranked No.5 in the state in the 5A preseason poll. They have a lot of talent on the team. Corner back Jalen Huff is the highest ranked recruit on the team. He is the 53rd ranked player in the state and he’s a Georgia Tech commit. Huff is a bigger corner, listed as 6’0.
Center Seth McLaughlin is 6’4, 270 pounds. He’s ranked as the tenth best center in the nation and he committed to Alabama.
Willie ‘T’ Lee is listed as an athlete and he plays wide receiver and cornerback. He is a three-star recruit and an Arizona State commit. Lee is 5’11 so he also has good size for the position.
Running back Elijah Turner is also a three-star recruit.
The season opens August 23rd in the Corky Kell Classic at Coolray Field. They play Milton, the defending 7A state champs. Milton lost a lot of talent from last year’s team so I think this will be a very close game.
The next week is home against Jonesboro and that will be an easy win. Last season Buford beat the Cardinals 58 – 7.
Life Christian Academy from Virginia comes to town after a bye week for Buford. They were 2-6 last season so this will be another easy win.
Newton, another 7A opponent comes to town. Buford beat them 54 – 27 in 2018 and I expect more of the same.
They play a better 7A team September 27th when Archer comes to town. The Tigers beat up on Buford last year, 48 – 24. I think the game should be closer but I expect Archer to win.
They begin region play October 4th and Buford will slaughter these teams. Last season they beat all five region 8 AAAAA opponents and scored 253 points while only giving up 9 points.
I know they’ll make it to the playoffs but can they get over the hump and win another championship? That is the burning question.
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