Norcross will host Buford for a spring scrimmage this Friday night (May 12) as the two Class 7A powerhouses gear up for their 2023 seasons. This will be the first meeting between the schools since the 1977 season and it comes at different points in their spring seasons. Norcross started its spring ball on May 1 and will have 10-straight practices heading into kickoff. Buford did not start its spring until May 3 and so the scrimmage will come at the midpoint of the spring season that concludes on May 19.
“Towards the beginning of this process, we just felt like we needed to break up the offseason by playing a game,” said Buford head coach Bryant Appling. “It was hard for us to find an opponent early on so when Norcross came around in the conversation, this was the best date for them and we took it. …I am interested in seeing the results of having a game on Day 6 and not the ninth or tenth day like usual.”
Both programs have a few athletes that will be busy this weekend for the track and field state championships, but overall both sidelines will have the bulk of their team competing.
“We will be missing some guys because of other sports but we just want to get the reps on film and improve,” said Appling. “We know what we have coming back with a bunch of guys, but we still have a good amount that we need to find out if they are going to be ready to go come fall and in the regular season.”
Buford was denied a fourth-straight state title last season in a wild second-round loss to Walton and is returning as a heavy favorite to take home this year’s Class 7A state title. Norcross, meanwhile is coming off a successful 8-4 campaign and is returning a ton of talent—especially in the trenches.
“We are really experienced up front with four out of five offensive lineman returning and some of those will be starting for the third-straight year,” said Norcross head coach Keith Maloof.
This will be the last day of Norcross’ spring schedule and it has been incredibly busy with constant visits from college coaches.
“We started on May 1 and so this will be 10-straight days for us. It’s been crazy like it always is. By the end of spring we will have had probably 120-130 college coaches that came by to check out our guys.”
Coach Appling echoed Maloof’s estimates of triple-digit visits from college coaches this spring. The scrimmage is set to showcase both programs and kicks off at 7 p.m. and tickets will be $7 apiece.
“What I’m looking for is just to compete,” said Maloof. “There will not be live special teams, but it is still great for the guys to get to compete against a different color jersey and to get film moving forward. …I am expecting the older guys to go two or three quarters and then the young guys will get a chance in the fourth quarter. This is much more fun for the kids and they get an opportunity to get out of the drudgery of practicing the same way day by day and play in a competitive game setting.”
Norcross is prepared for a sizable crowd to come out and watch the action this Friday at Blue Devil Stadium. You can purchase tickets to the game by clicking here.
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