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Schools

Decatur Blasted By Buford 59-13

Bulldogs manhandled by one of the state's best teams.

In writing about those agitated moments prior to Pickett’s Charge at the battle of Gettysburg, William Faulkner penned those famous words, “For every Southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it’s still not yet two o’clock on that July afternoon in 1863. . .and it’s all in the balance, it hasn’t happened yet, it hasn’t even begun yet, it not only hasn’t begun yet but there is still time for it not to begin. ... "

There was such a moment for Decatur’s football team Friday night at Buford, and then came the opening kickoff.

Terryon Robinson’s normally reliable hands dropped the kick and Buford recovered on the Bulldogs eight.

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That time Buford settle for a 24-yard field goal from its astonishing junior kicker David Petroni. But that was a relatively meek prelude to the home team’s 59-13 victory, Decatur’s worse loss since a 62-0 shellacking by Greater Atlanta Christian on Nov. 3, 2006.

The first half was an extremely painful 24 minutes of football. For Decatur looking up that high bank of Buford home stands must’ve been like Pickett’s men looking up at Cemetery Ridge. The Bulldogs made one nervous nelly-type mistake after another where they couldn’t catch the ball, touch the ball, or tackle someone who had the ball. Consider that Buford ran up a 52-0 halftime lead while running only 18 plays from scrimmage, which almost seems impossible.  

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On its second possession Buford was stopped on three plays and had to punt on fourth and eight. But then Decatur was whistled for having 12 men on the field and Buford went for it on fourth and three. Tailback Andre Johnson ripped through the left side for seven yards and a first down, and the Wolves scored four plays later on a 13-yard romp by fullback Rick Legrant.

Later a poor punt gave Buford the ball on Decatur’s 38 and it took the Wolves only three plays to punch it in. Later in the first quarter, a screen pass from Decatur quarterback Vito Antinozzi behind the line was never touched until scooped up by C. J. Moore and returned roughly 45 yards for a touchdown.

On Decatur’s next possession a blocked punt was recovered by Buford’s Cameron Gazaway who chugged 15 yards for another touchdown. Two minutes into the second quarter and Decatur trailed 31-0.

The second quarter featured two long Buford punt returns, one for 63 yards that set up a touchdown, and another, after the returner had fumbled the ball twice before recovering and racing 60 yards for a touchdown.

Buford never had a sustained drive the entire half, and in fact never needed one. Every score came directly from a Decatur offensive blunder or kicking team breakdown, or came after Buford, for one reason or another, was awarded choice field position. Every first-half possession for Buford, save two, began in Decatur territory.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Decatur head coach Price Jones. “We made one mistake after another and never gave our defense a chance. I can’t ever remember being part of a team that gave up 59 points.”

There are extenuating circumstances here. Decatur draws its entire football team from 4.1 square miles, while Buford draws from four states, maybe more. Climb Lookout Mountain and see Ruby Falls and also most of Buford’s recruiting domain.

One high school poll this week had the Wolves ranked tenth in the nation. Buford came into this one having outscored opponents an average of 43-3, with Decatur’s 13 points Friday by far the most given up in a single game.

Those two scores were by far Decatur’s most uplifting moments of the evening, a 35 yard-touchdown pass from Antinozzi to Perez Cowan with 1:09 left in the third, and a 79-yard, beautifully-thrown fade from Antinozzi to Robinson with 2:13 left in the game.

But that was it, and before a packed homecoming crowd at Buford Stadium it was not nearly enough as the Bulldogs fell to 2-4. Meantime, Buford is undefeated in seven games.

“You can say what you want about Buford,” Jones said, “but they have great kids and great coaches. You look around this stadium with all that green in the stands, that’s the way high school football is supposed to be.”

It doesn’t get a whole lot easier for the Bulldogs who play at Greater Atlanta Christian next week. GAC, 5-0 and ranked third in the state, was off Friday night.

The best news of the night is that there were no major injuries. Freshman tailback Tommy Renfroe, who’s been plagued with injuries all year, had a hip pointer Friday but should be ready for GAC next week. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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