HOSCHTON, Ga. — Update: Mill Creek knocked off Buford by a final of 31-24. Buford QB Dylan Raiola drove down the field and got the Wolves into the red zone, but threw an incomplete pass on the final play of the game.
Mill Creek improved to 7-0 and 2-0 in Region 8-7A play, while Buford suffered their first loss of the season where they now stand at 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Region 8-7A.
If you were watching the exciting ending on ESPN2 and were upset when it cut away for some NBA preseason basketball, here is Mill Creek's go-ahead touchdown and the final play of the game by Buford that fell incomplete as the Hawks stormed the field.
Original story: Friday night should be a lot of fun. It's not too often that the two best high school teams in the state square off in a regional tilt, especially one that features two top-20 teams in the nation and a game that's on ESPN2.
A premiere Friday night matchup pits together Buford and Mill Creek in a 7A battle.
Buford has arguably the best player in the entire nation in UGA quarterback commit Dylan Raiola, but Mill Creek's offense has put on an absolute clinic this season by scoring the most points in the region, with 251. It's safe to say Friday night's contest should be a shootout.
Raiola has been fantastic this season. The five-star has thrown for 1,350 yards and has a perfect 14-0 touchdown to interception ratio. He's averaging 225 yards per game through the air and has an exceptional QB rating of 145.7.
Despite having superstar two-way player and Florida State commit KJ Bolden, Raiola has spread the wealth to his receivers. There are five guys with over 100 receiving yards in the season. Bolden has 220 yards and six touchdowns, and three-star junior Jordan Allen -- who has offers from UGA, Clemson and Florida -- leads the team with 18 receptions and 332 yards, according to MaxPreps.
Buford has simply been one of the most dominant teams in GHSA football history, with 13 state championships since 2001. They'll be aiming for another one this year, and that starts with a big region win on Friday night.
On the other side, Mill Creek is coming off of a historic season where they won their first state championship in their young history, a state title game in which they broke the scoring record with 70 points and entered the GHSA record books by scoring the 9th-most points in an entire season, with 712.
After quarterback Hayden Clark graduated in May, Mill Creek has turned to junior Shane Throgmartin who has picked up right where Clark left off (24 TDs, 2 INTs) in 2022. Throgmartin has completed over 76% of his passes (70-92) for 878 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Senior running back Cameron Robinson returns at running back for the Hawks as another explosive weapon after he torched the competition for over 1,800 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground a season ago.
The 5'9", 180-pound back has rushed for 945 yards on 107 carries -- good for nearly nine yards per rush. He'll look to try and top his season-high 229 rushing yards against North Gwinnett in a 49-14 win in Week 1.
But the brightest prospect for the Hawks actually comes on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive end King Joseph Edwards may not only have the best name on the field Friday night, but he may very well be the most talented defensively.
Edwards is a four-star DE with offers from Georgia, Colorado, Alabama, Ole Miss, Florida State, Auburn and 31 other schools. According to 11Alive's insiders at Rivals, the 6-foot-5, 242-pound senior is expected to stay home and choose UGA.
The Wolves of Buford are averaging just over 29 points per game, while the Hawks of Mill Creek are tallying nearly 42 per game. However, Buford did play two nationally-ranked teams from Maryland and North Carolina in their first two games of the season. Against teams from Georgia, they are putting up just over 37 a game.
We'll find out Friday night which team will position themselves in the driver's seat as Mill Creek should be rocking in front of their home crowd. Will Raiola and Buford be able to silence them?
>>Watch highlights of Dylan Raiola below: