Buford spent the first 14 weeks at No. 1 last season in its first year in the highest classification but crashed out in the second round of the playoffs against Walton.
Now, the Wolves have a second chance, starting atop the Class 7A rankings this season with a team that will field three five-star recruits, which is unprecedented in Georgia.
Buford’s big three are Super 11 picks K.J. Bolden and Eddrick Houston along with Arizona transfer Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country.
This will be the 10th time in the past 20 seasons that Buford has started No. 1 in the AJC’s preseason rankings. The Wolves have won 10 state titles in that time, though not always from the pole position and never in the highest class.
Buford opens this season Friday at home against St. Frances of Maryland in a game between teams with several top-10 national rankings.
Carrollton, the 2022 runner-up to Mill Creek, is ranked No. 2 in Class 7A. Carrollton quarterback Ju Ju Lewis is the top-rated sophomore player in the country.
Defending champion Mill Creek is No. 4. The No. 3 Class 7A team is Colquitt County, which has Super 11 players Ny Carr and Landen Thomas.
Defending champions Hughes (6A), Ware County (5A), Benedictine (4A), Prince Avenue (A Division I) and Bowdon (A Division II) will start at No. 1.
In 3A, defending champion Sandy Creek is No. 6. The team the Patriots beat for the title, Cedar Grove, is No. 1, where it has finished four of the past seven seasons.
In 2A, defending champ Thomson starts No. 3. Runner-up Fitzgerald is No. 1.
Class 7A
1. Buford
2. Carrollton
3. Colquitt County
4. Mill Creek
5. Walton
6. Milton
7. Parkview
8. Westlake
9. Grayson
10. Norcross
Class 6A
1. Hughes
2. Gainesville
3. Woodward Academy
4. Houston County
5. Lee County
6. Roswell
7. Rome
8. Thomas County Central
9. Marist
10. Northside (Warner Robins)
Class 5A
1. Ware County
2. Creekside
3. Warner Robins
4. Calhoun
5. Coffee
6. Cartersville
7. Jones County
8. Kell
9. Cass
10. Hiram
Class 4A
1. Benedictine
2. North Oconee
3 Troup
4. Bainbridge
5. Perry
6. Wayne County
7. Cedartown
8. Stockbridge
9. Holy Innocents’
10. LaGrange
Class 3A
1. Cedar Grove
2. Calvary Day
3. Carver-Atlanta
4. Thomasville
5. Stephens County
6. Sandy Creek
7. Oconee County
8. Savannah Christian
9. Monroe Area
10. Carver (Columbus)
Class 2A
1. Fitzgerald
2. Appling County
3. Thomson
4. Callaway
5. Fellowship Christian
6. Pierce County
7. Eagle’s Landing Christian
8. Rockmart
9. Cook
10. Northeast
Class A Division I
1. Prince Avenue Christian
2. Swainsboro
3. Irwin County
4. Rabun County
5. Brooks County
6. Metter
7. Bleckley County
8. Elbert County
9. Lamar County
10. Trion
Class A Division II
1. Bowdon
2. Schley County
3. Clinch County
4. Lincoln County
5. Manchester
6. Early County
7. Johnson County
8. McIntosh County Academy
9. Charlton County
10. Wilcox County
About the Author
