WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsRound 4: Calhoun and Buford meet again in AA title game

CALHOUN, Ga. (WRCB) -- Calhoun would probably like to see a different opponent on the opposite sideline in Friday's Class AA state final at the Georgia Dome.

Then again, they're likely also happy to see Buford once again.

For the fourth straight year, the Yellow Jackets (14-0) will face the Wolves (14-0) with a state championship on the line. In each of the previous three, Calhoun's gone home empty-handed.

Buford ran away with a 45-21 rout in 2008, but the past two have been far more dramatic. The Wolves edged out a 13-10 victory in 2009 before needing overtime to claim a 31-24 win last December.

Lamb has declared this year's Buford team to be the best of the four-year stretch, but the Jackets have hardly fallen from the top-tier.

Calhoun is averaging better than 40 points in four playoff games, including a 51-point outburst in last week's state semifinal rout of Appling County. Taylor Lamb has thrown for nearly 4,000 yards in a spread attack unlike any the Wolves have seen this year.

"Look at their offense and they're real impressive," Buford head coach Jess Simpson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "They haven't been slowed down one time and they've not really played a close game. We've got a lot of respect for their program; they've got a great scheme and they really execute. This is our greatest challenge."

Of course, the Buford defense will pose quite a test for the Jackets' as well, having given up just 84 points all season (an average of six points per game). The Wolves have seven Division I commitments on the defensive side, while Calhoun has four lineman making their first title game starts.

"We've played well against them the last two years," Lamb told the AJC. "I feel like we could have won either game. I just hope we have a chance."

In fact, it's likely the last chance Calhoun will have to end its Buford curse. The Wolves will move up to Class AAA next season after the GHSA's reclassification.

Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. ET Friday, and the game can be seen on Georgia Public Television.