Join us tonight for Week Five of GPB Sports Football Fridays in Georgia as the second-ranked Buford Wolves take on the ninth-ranked Collins Hill Eagles in an important Region 8-6A showdown at Fahring Field in Suwanee.

Eagles Coach Drew Swick called it a region championship game and while he meant no disrespect to Mill Creek who’s also undefeated in region play and who is team plays next week, his point is well taken. That point is this, you can’t win the region without going through Buford.

Buford coach Bryant Appling (Photo - David McGregor)

Consider for yourself. The Wolves have won region titles 20 of the last 24 seasons and have gone 146-5 in region games during that time, and two of the five losses were games Buford was forced to forfeit and won on the field by a combined 124-0. Then again region titles are typically just a step in the ladder to something bigger for the Wolves. Buford has won 14 state championships with seven state runner-up finishes and played in the State Finals 18 times in the last 25 seasons.

Collins Hill is newer to the big stage but got there in a big way in 2020 and 2021 in large part because the Eagles had one of the best players in state history playing for them. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Heisman Trophy winner and 2025 NFL No. 2 Draft Pick Travis Hunter now of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Eagles have a modest four region titles in the program’s 32-year history with two of them coming in those aforementioned Travis Hunter glory years.

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Swick was the defensive coordinator for those teams and is now the head coach. His Eagles are 4-2 this season and 2-0 in the region. They have rebounded from an 0-2 season start with losses to defending state champ Grayson and then Woodward Academy. Collins Hill has won their last four games by a combined 161-11 and have given up just 24 points in their last five games since getting blown out by the Rams 51-3 in the season opener. Even with the blowout loss, the Eagles have the ninth best scoring defense in 6A at 12.5 points per game.

Buford Coach Bryant Appling just picked-up his 80th career win with the Wolves 71-7 region-opening win over Discovery two Friday nights ago and is now 80-8 in his seven seasons as the Wolves head coach for a .909 winning percentage. He became the first head coach in state history to win state championships in his first three seasons 2019-21.

Swick

Collins Hill coach Drew Swick

Credit: AJC

But things have been tougher for Buford playing in the state’s highest classification and the Wolves haven’t won a state title since moving up in 2022. They certainly appear to have a team this season that could put that to rest. Buford is 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the region. Four of their five wins have come against Top 10 teams Milton, Benedictine, Roswell, and Douglas County. The Wolves have the second highest scoring offense in 6A at 46.4 points per game.

Despite the fact these two schools are just 10 miles apart in Gwinnett County this is just the fourth all-time meeting. They never met until the Wolves moved up in classification and that came the year after Travis Hunter led the Eagles to the 2021 State Championship. When I suggested that a Buford vs. Hunter-led Collins Hill team sure would have been a fun watch, Coach Appling just chuckled and said, “no thanks.”

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As it is Buford leads the all-time series 3-0 and have outscored the Eagles 100-10 in the short series. But even that is a little misleading. In last year’s match-up on GPB Sports Football Fridays in Georgia at Tom Riden Stadium, Collins Hill led 7-6 as late as midway through the third quarter before Buford put things together and put the pedal down for a 34-7 win.

So tonight won’t decide the Region 8-6A Championship but it sure will feel like a region championship game, even if it isn’t.

That’s the game preview. Now here’s the Top Prospects to Watch.

Buford Prospects

Bryce Perry-Wright, Buford

Bryce Perry-Wright, Buford

Credit: 247 Sports

#3 Bryce Perry-Wright – 6-2, 255, Senior – Committed to Texas A&M over 41 other offers – Rated as high as 5-Star and No. 2 Edge 2026

#1 Ty Green – 6-1, 190, Senior – Committed to Georgia over 52 other offers – ESPN Rated as high as No. 6 SAF 2026

#75 Graham Houston – 6-4, 310, Senior – Committed to Georgia over 25 other offers including Florida – Rated as high as 4-Star and No. 12 IOL 2026

#16 Dre Quinn – 6-4, 240, Senior – Decommitted from Clemson September 25th – Has 38 other offers including Texas – Rated as high as 4-Star Edge

#24 Nascar McCoy – 6-1, 185, Senior – Committed to Ole Miss over 39 other offers – Rated as high as 4-Star and No. 27 Safety 2026

#15 Dream Rashad – 6-7, 235, Senior – Committed to Purdue over 11 other offers including Indiana – Consensus 3-Star TE

#65 Ben Mubenga – 6-5, 255, Senior – Just decommitted from Arkansas Wednesday but still has 20+ other offers including Florida State, NC State and Georgia Tech – Consensus 3-Star OT

Ty Green, Buford

Ty Green, Buford

Credit: 247 Sports

#29 Seven Rashad – 6-5, 185, Sophomore – Committed to Purdue over 12 other offers including Georgia State and Kennesaw State – Rated as high as 3-Star and #27 WR 2028

#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 – Rated as high as 3-Star and No. 19 Edge 2028

#14 Ethan Hauser – 6-4, 215, Junior – 15 offers including Florida and Georgia Tech – 3-Star rated as high as #18 ATH 2027 (plays WR/OLB for Wolves)

#5 D.J. Hunter – 6-2, 195, Junior – Committed to Kentucky over 6 other offers – 3-Star rated as high as No. 29 QB 2027

#10 Dayton Raiola – 6-3, 205, Senior – Committed to Nebraska – Consensus 3-Star QB 2026

#6 Jax Pope – 6-1, 185, Senior – Committed to Mississippi State over 25 other offers – Consensus 3-Star SAF 2026

#4 Jameer Cantrell – 5-10, 175, Junior – 17 offers including Florida and NC State – 3-Star SAF 2027

#43 C.J. Sibley – 6-0, 180, Senior – 23 offers including Auburn – 3-Star LB 2026

#56 Krystian Walcott – 6-4, 260, Junior – 10 offers including Florida State, Wake Forest, and Louisville – 3-Star DL 2027

#8 Joshua Echols – 6-0, 215, Junior – 12 Offers including Ole Miss – 3-Star LB 2027

Graham Houston, Buford

Graham Houston, Buford

Credit: 247 Sports

#70 Noah Nixon – 6-3, 285, Junior – 12 offers including Georgia Tech - 3-Star IOL 2027

#0 Deion Miller – 5-11, 225, Senior LB – Committed to Army over 22 other offers

#28 Cam Hurst – 6-2, 180, Sophomore WR – 12 offers including Texas A&M, Nebraska, Florida State and Auburn

#96 Cam Simmons – 6-3, 230, Senior Edge – Seven Offers including Wake Forest and Troy

#19 Brayden Watson – 6-2, 190, Junior ATH – Six offers including USC (Plays LB/TE for Wolves)

#25 Ryan Tharpe – 6-1, 185, Junior LB – Seven Offers including Louisville, Miami (OH), and Pitt

#9 Silas Knuckles – 5-10, 175, Junior CB – Offers include Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, and Georgia State

#11 Jaden Davis – 5-10, 180, Senior DB – Offers include Stony Brook, Gardner-Webb, and Tuskegee

#48 Jackson Patterson – 6-2, 185, Freshman FS/WR – Offers including Texas A&M, Florida State and Miami

#23 Brendan Davis – 5-11, 185, Sophomore CB – Offered by Kentucky

#35 Matthew Oh – 5-10, 216, Senior LS – Offered by Air Force

 

Collins Hill Prospects

Deuce Geralds, Collins Hill

Deuce Geralds, Collins Hill

Credit: 247 Sports

#2 Deuce Geralds – 6-3, 274, Senior – Committed to LSU over 54 other offers – Consensus 4-Star rated as high as No. 2 DT 2026

#5 Katrell Webb – 6-3, 245, Senior – Committed to Purdue over 39 other offers – Consensus 3-Star Edge

#6 Atticus Joseph – 6-1, 190, Senior – Committed to Stanford over 10 other offers

#23 Joel Bradford – 5-10, 175, Junior RB – 11 Offers including Auburn and Georgia

#0 Stephen Barjolo – 5-10, 180, Senior Athlete (Plays safety for Eagles) – Four offers including Wofford, Samford, and Miami-Ohio

#8 Makyree Cross – 6-2, 170, Junior QB – Four offers including Miami-Ohio and Auburn

#15 Kevin Hughes – 5-10, 180, Sophomore WR – Four offers including Georgia State and Missouri

#55 Trey Moore – 6-5, 296, Junior DL – 11 offers including South Carolina

#32 Jame’l Davis – 6-0, 160, Freshman DB – Offered by Georgia State

#1 Gavin Schumann – 5-10, 180, Senior WR – Offered by Point, Sewanee, and Hampden-Sydney

#16 Trey Lawrence – 6-0, 175, Senior RB – Offered by Berry

So join Wayne Gandy, Jon Nelson and me for our Emmy Award-winning Football Fridays in Georgia Game of the Week as the Collins Hill Eagles host the Buford Wolves.

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.

And don’t forget you can also catch our Web Game of the Week – Cass vs. Cartersville – which will be shown live on GPB.org.

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. 

Enjoy your Oct. 3, 2025, Football Friday in Georgia.