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Recruiting 2025: Douglas County at Buford
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Join us tonight for Week 2 of GPB Sports Football Fridays in Georgia as the fourth-ranked Douglas County Tigers play the No. 2 Buford Wolves in a huge Class 6A non-conference showdown at the new Phillip Beard Stadium in Buford.
Perhaps a new $62 million stadium is the only thing that could upstage these two teams that are a who’s who of college football recruiting.
This will be GPB Sports first visit to the stadium that opened four weeks ago. No fewer than 48 players with college scholarship offers will suit up tonight -- 23 players for Buford and 25 for Douglas County.
Both these teams reached the 6A semifinals in 2024 and for both it was considered a disappointment. Such are the expectations for these two programs although their histories are vastly different.
Buford has been the best program in the state for the last 25 years. Thirteen of the Wolves’ 14 state championships and 18 of their 21 all-time championship appearances have come since 2000. But you get the feeling Wolves fans are a little antsy because Buford hasn’t won a title since 2021 and none since the program moved to the GHSA’s highest classification.
Douglas County is new to the state powerhouse scene. The Tigers are 27-5 the last two-plus seasons and won their one and only state championship way back in 1964. Douglas County has reached the state semifinals two years in a row and you can’t blame Tigers fans for feeling like they should have reached the finals again by now. In each of those two semifinal losses (against Woodward Academy 2023 and Grayson 2024) Douglas County was either tied or had the lead going to the fourth quarter.
Here in 2025 the Tigers do not quite seem to be in synch yet. They are 3-1 and coming off a 44-31 loss to rival and 5A No.2 Hughes last week.
Douglas County has still yet to play a game with star WR Devin Carter who will miss his fifth game tonight with a preseason leg injury. The Tigers are breaking in a new QB in Utah commit Michael Johnson who arrived from Dutchtown. And though the Tigers return a boat load of talent, they also lost some key veteran stars in “Mr. Do Everything” James Johnson now at USC and tackling machine Mike Hastie who’s now a freshman at West Virgina. Plus, veteran center Joshua Vaughn transferred ahead of the Tigers’ second game of this season when his mother got a better job in her hometown of Louisville.
These things happen. It’s high school football and the players might look like grown men but they’re still students. Douglas County coach Johnny White, in his tenth year with the program, hopes to get Carter back before the start of region play Oct. 3 vs. East Coweta. Coach White is also hopeful that dynamic WR Marcus Adam Carter will be back by then after he missed the entire 2024 season with what the Coach calls the worst knee injury he’s ever seen. And don’t worry about the Tigers OL. They still have 5 guys over 300 pounds, all five of which are big-time college prospects.
As for Buford. They’re just being Buford. The Wolves are playing a ton of players as they always have, with a first team of college prospects followed by a second team of college prospects followed by sophomores and freshmen waiting for their day and you guessed it … many of them are already college prospects although they don’t get many snaps yet.
The Wolves are 3-0 and have beaten three Top 10 opponents – reigning 5A champion and No. 3-ranked Milton (20-13), at Class 4A No. 8 Benedictine (42-14) and Class 5A No. 10 Roswell (65-21). In his seventh season coach Bryant Appling is 78-8 with three state titles and following the winning script that he learned from his mentors Coaches Dexter Wood and Jess Simpson.
This will be the third all-time meeting with all coming since 2020 with Buford winning 48-0 in the first round of the playoffs that year and then 31-14 last year in Douglasville. If it’s a “rivalry,” it’s born out of the recruiting world in which the players for these two teams live -- visits, camps, seven-on-sevens, shared experiences. Coach White quipped, “it can’t be a rivalry” unless we can beat them. The Tigers have yet to do that. But this one should be fun.
That’s the game preview. Now let’s take a look at the Top Prospects to Watch.
Buford Prospects
#3 Bryce Perry-Wright – 6-2, 255, Senior – Committed to Texas A&M over 41 other offers - 247 Sports 5-Star No. 2 Edge 2026
#1 Ty Green – 6-1, 190, Senior – Committed to Georgia over 52 other offers – ESPN 4-Star rated No. 6 SAF 2026
#75 Graham Houston – 6-4, 310, Senior – Committed to Georgia over 25 other offers – Rivals 4-Star and No. 9 IOL 2026
#16 Dre Quinn – 6-4, 240, Senior – Committed to Clemson over 38 other offers – Rivals Industry Rankings 4-Star Edge
#24 Nascar McCoy – 6-1, 185, Senior – Committed to Ole Miss over 39 other offers – ESPN 4-Star No. 27 Safety 2026
#65 Ben Mubenga – 6-5, 255, Senior – Committed to Arkansas over 21 other offers including Florida State and NC State – Consensus 3-Star OT
#15 Dream Rashad – 6-7, 235, Senior – Committed to Purdue over 11 other offers including Indiana – Consensus 3-Star TE (transfer from Mountain View where he played quarterback)
#29 Seven Rashad – 6-5, 185, Sophomore – Committed to Purdue over 12 other offers including Georgia State and Kennesaw State – 3-Star Rivals Industry rankings #27 WR 2028 (Rashad’s younger brother)
#7 Dylan McCoy – 5-11, 205, Senior – Committed to NC State over 20 other offers – Consensus 3-Star RB
#47 Luke Nabors – 6-4, 205, Sophomore – 17 offers including Florida State and Georgia – 3-Star Edge 2028
#6 Jax Pope – 6-1, 185, Senior – Committed to Mississippi State over 25 other offers – Consensus 3-Star SAF 2026
#5 D.J. Hunter – 6-2, 195, Junior – Committed to Kentucky over six other offers – 3-Star rated as high as 247 Sports #29 QB 2027 (transfer from Knoxville)
#10 Dayton Raiola – 6-3, 205, Senior – Committed to Nebraska – Consensus 3-Star QB 2026
#4 Jameer Cantrell – 5-10, 175, Junior – Eight offers including Florida and NC State – 3-Star SAF 2027
#14 Ethan Hauser – 6-4, 215, Junior – 15 offers including Florida – 3-Star rated as high as Rivals #21 ATH 2027 (plays WR/OLB for Wolves)
#56 Krystian Walcott – 6-4, 260, Junior – 10 offers including Florida State, Wake Forest, and Louisville – Rivals 3-Star DL 2027
#8 Joshua Echols – 6-0, 215, Junior – Seven Offers including Ole Miss – ESPN 3-Star LB 2027
#0 Deion Miller – 5-11, 225, Senior LB – Committed to Army over 22 other offers
#96 Cam Simmons – 6-3, 230, Senior Edge – Seven Offers including Wake Forest and Troy
#43 C.J. Sibley – 6-0, 180, Senior – 23 offers including Auburn – Rivals 3-Star LB 2026
#25 Ryan Tharpe – 6-1, 185, Junior LB – Seven Offers including Louisville, Miami (OH), and Pitt
#19 Brayden Watson – 6-2, 190, Junior ATH – Six offers including USC (Plays LB/TE for Wolves)
#35 Matthew Oh – 5-10, 216, Senior LS – Offered by Air Force
Douglas County Tigers
#4 Aaron Gregory – 6-4, 185, Senior – Committed to Texas A&M over 57 other offers including Georgia and Auburn – Consensus 4-Star – Rated as high as Rivals Industry Rankings No. 10 WR
#1 Devin Carter – 6-2, 170, Senior – Committed to Florida State over 38 other offers – Consensus 4-Star rated as high as 247 Sports No. 16 WR (Has yet to play this season because of injury)
#22 Jordan Carter – 6-4, 260, Senior – Committed to Texas A&M over 48 other offers – ESPN 4-Star No. 7 Edge 2026
#5 Adryan Cole – 6-2, 185, Junior – Consensus 4-Star rated as high as Rivals No. 11 SAF 2027 – 42 Offers including Georgia and Auburn
#51 Joshua Sam-Epelle – 6-9, 340, Junior – 247 Sports 4-Star No. 7 OT 2027 – 26 offers including Georgia, Auburn, and South Carolina
#3 Kennedy Green – 6-1, 180, Junior – 34 offers including Nebraska and South Carolina – 247 Sports 4-Star No. 16 SAF 2027
#3 Michael Johnson – 6-1, 190, Senior – Committed to Utah over 14 other offers – Consensus 3-Star rated as high as ESPN No. 20 Dual-Threat QB 2026
#0 Jamar Owens – 6-1, 180, Senior – Committed to Indiana over 48 other offers including USC – Consensus 3-Star SAF 2026
#72 Eddie Alford – 6-4, 310, Senior – Committed to Memphis over eight other offers – 3-Star IOL 2026
#2 Zamarcus Lindley – 5-10, 200, Senior RB – 14 Offers including Memphis and Boston College – 247 Sports 3-Star RB
#12 Nick Burden – 5-11, 175, Senior – Committed to Liberty over 29 other offers
#26 Steven McClendon – 6-3, 230, Sophomore Edge – Four offers including Ole Miss
#50 Terrance “T.J.” Brandon – 6-5, 320, Sophomore IOL – Offered by Georgia State and North Carolina
#16 Faraji Tucker – 6-3, 210, Sophomore TE – Six offers including Ole Miss
#18 Marcus Adam Carter – 6-2, 175, Senior WR – 24 offers including Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Memphis (Has yet to play this season after missing 2024 season with knee injury)
#71 Chase Mideau – 6-4, 205, Senior OL – 16 Offers including Oklahoma State, Georgia State and Tulane
#74 Julius Dumas – 6-4, 330, Senior IOL – 14 Offers including Georgia State, App State and USF
#6 Richard Dyce – 6-0, 215, Senior LB – 13 Offers including Georgia State, Kennesaw State and Toledo
#5 David Clowney – 5-8, 140, Sophomore WR – Eight Offers including Virginia Tech and Duke
#6 Rah’Keith Kelly – 5-9, 170, Senior RB/WR – Eight offers including Maryland
#17 Jeremiah Mathis – 6-1, 170, Freshman WR – Offered by Florida State
#21 Zaydrean Jackson – 5-10, 165, Sophomore CB – Offered by Georgia State
#20 Steven Jones – 5-11, 200, Senior LB – Five offers including Clark Atlanta
44 Soloman Fabian – 6-2, 245, Senior DE – Four offers including Clark Atlanta
#14 Dre Reading – 5-11, 180, Senior WR – Two offers including Clark Atlanta
So, join Wayne Gandy, Jon Nelson, and me for our Emmy Award-winning Football Fridays in Georgia Game of the Week as the Buford Wolves host the Douglas County Tigers.
Remember, there are many ways you can watch Football Fridays in Georgia. Traditional TV (GPB), online at GPB.org, GPB Sports app, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch.
Now if you miss the game live or just want to watch it again, don’t worry, we replay the entire Football Fridays in Georgia Game of the Week at 11:15 p.m. or you can watch it on demand anytime at GPB.org.
And don’t forget to check out this week’s streaming game that features Sequoyah vs. Sprayberry. It can been seen on GPB.org and also on-demand.
Enjoy your Sept. 12, 2025, Football Friday in Georgia.
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