On a field clogged with college prospects, in a game with the highest stakes available at the high school level, Buford High running back Tyriq Green stood alone.
With breathtaking acceleration and speed, the Georgia signee put his stamp on a game that arguably stands alone in the state’s football history in its magnitude and probably has few peers with any high school game anywhere.
With the Class 6A state title on the line Tuesday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Buford completed a perfect 15-0 season with a 28-21 win over Carrollton, which itself sought a perfect season. The Wolves collected state title No. 15.
But more gaudily, in a game between powerhouses that were both rated No. 1 in various national rankings, it essentially doubled as a national championship game.
The Trojans nearly were the Wolves’ equal, but a lasting memory many of them will have is helplessly watching the running back in the green No. 1 jersey streaking to the end zone for the winning touchdown in the game’s final minutes.
“You put the ball in (No. 1)’s hands enough times, he’s going to do something special,” Buford coach Bryant Appling said of Green.
The championship game began unsteadily, as both teams made uncharacteristic mistakes and failed to consistently move the ball. Carrollton led 7-0 at halftime. Buford gained only 52 yards in the first two quarters.
“We were too amped up,” Appling said of the first half. “We were trying to do too much, just missing blocks because we were running too hard.”
But the game closed furiously, with the array of talented athletes on both sides delivering game-breaking plays.
It was a finish worthy of the national championship billing, a fair dividend for those who ventured to downtown Atlanta from west Georgia or the northern reaches of Gwinnett County for a game that ended well past midnight.
The talent on the field was immense. Collectively, there were 44 players with Rivals recruiting profiles, 27 of whom were stamped 3-star prospects or better. Eight are in the state’s top 65 for the 2026 class by measure of 247Sports Composite. Four players signed with Georgia, a rare assemblage of that many future Bulldogs on one field.
Consider this second-quarter play made by Carrollton two-way lineman Zykie Helton, one of the Georgia signees. Lining up at defensive end, he defeated Buford left tackle and Arkansas signee Ben Mubenga off the snap, then fought past left guard Graham Houston, a Georgia signee, to sack quarterback Dayton Raiola, a 3-star prospect (and the younger brother of Dylan Raiola, once a highly rated Georgia commit until he signed with Nebraska, from which he has entered the transfer portal).
The choppy first half gave way to an increasingly tense and thrilling second half. In a span of less than seven minutes on the game clock bridging the third and fourth quarters, Buford took a 14-7 lead, Carrollton tied the score at 14-14, Buford went ahead 21-14 and Carrollton tied it again at 21-all.
Interspersed were numerous highlight plays, such as Green’s 19-yard touchdown run for the 14-7 lead and an effort-filled strip-sack of Raiola by Helton that was returned 23 yards for a Carrollton touchdown that tied the score at 21-21 with 7:01 to play.
“It was really downhill, really physical,” Buford tight end/linebacker and Army commit Deion Miller said of the game.
Tied at 21-21 in the fourth quarter, the game had the drama it deserved. Then, Buford punted and Carrollton punted.
The Wolves gained possession at their 13-yard line with 3:17 to play. On the second play of the drive, Green took a handoff from Raiola, cut back to his right and accelerated through the Carrollton defense. He scored untouched.
“I saw the cutback, I hit it and I took it to the promised land,” Green told game broadcaster GPB.
Green finished with 184 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, all but seven of the yards gained after halftime.
A jaw-dropping play at the game’s critical moment was a most fitting way to decide a championship game between star-studded rosters.
The teams squaring off late Tuesday night for the biggest prize in Georgia high school football might have been the two best in the country.
If you saw it, you likely wouldn’t doubt it.
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