Chaminade-Madonna secures 7-0 victory over Buford in Florida vs. Georgia defensive battle

Photo Credit: Josh Major (ScoreBook Live)

BUFORD, GEORGIA— Georgia and Florida are arguably two of the best high school football states in the country, but it can be debatable on which state is better than the other. The matchup between the Chaminade-Madonna Prep Lions out of Hollywood, Florida and the Buford Wolves out of Buford, Georgia would give their respective states not only bragging rights for the year, but more of a case that their state may be superior. But both teams came into the game with great defenses, and that quality would come to be the most important thing in Friday night’s game. However, after just one big offensive play for Chaminade, the defense did give Florida the upper hand.

That one big offensive play came in the first quarter. After both teams were unable to produce anything on offense, Chaminade running back, Davion Gause, broke loose for a 62-yard touchdown, giving Chaminade a 7-0 lead.

The Lions defense took over from there, starting the second quarter off with a stop on 4th and 1 after two consecutive first down runs by Buford running back, Victor Venn. But Buford’s defense showed up to play as well, as Eddrick Houston recovered a fumble to give the Wolves’ offense the ball at their own 26-yard line. But the Lions defense picked up the offense forcing a Buford punt.

Buford’s offense came into the second half looking to gain some momentum and get some points on the board. However, the Chaminade defense kept doing what they had all night, limiting the Wolves’ offense, and forcing them to punt as much as possible. But the Buford defense did the exact same. What gave Chaminade the edge was an interception near the end of the third quarter by cornerback, Brian Dilworth.

The Lions made it all the way to the Buford 20-yard line, but they were brought to 4th down and 5 after the Wolves defense continued to contain them. Chaminade attempted a 39-yard field goal, but the attempt was no good. This was the spark Buford needed in order to tie the game, but Chaminade forced another punt.

Just when Buford thought it was over, it wasn’t. Buford defensive end, Japhet Mubenga, recovered a fumble by Chaminade, and gave the Wolves the ball at the Chaminade 35-yard line, giving them one last shot to tie the game. But the Lions’ defense was able to come up with one last stop, and they gave the ball to the offense for them to run out the rest of the clock.

While one big play depicted the result of the game, Chaminade was willing to take that, because they were on the winning side of that. The Lions move to 3-1 on the season, and will face Champagnat Catholic next week on Friday, September 24th at 7 PM ET. Buford suffers their first loss at home since 2018, and their first loss of the season. They fall to 3-1, and will play Central Gwinnett next week on Friday, September 24th at 7:30 PM ET.