North Hall’s Peyton Wilhoite sees Friday’s game against Buford at The Brickyard as one filled with opportunity. The way he views it, there’s no reason the Trojans shouldn’t be ready to pick off Buford (1-0), ranked No. 1 in Class AA.

"If there’s a year to beat Buford, this is the year," Wilhoite said. "We have an almost all-senior team and we just have to come out on Friday and give it all we got.

"We’re fired up to go out there and win this game and not just survive."

Wilhoite, a senior running back and linebacker for the Trojans, speaks of preparing for playing against the Wolves with a past frame of reference. The Trojans (1-0) faced the Wolves last season at Tom Riden Stadium and came out on the losing end, 45-14. But this season’s matchup is different in his eyes with the shock factor of facing the Wolves, a team riding a state-best 31-game winning streak, out the window.

"I think last year everyone doubted ourselves and was intimidated a little bit by playing Buford," North Hall senior lineman Daniel Blitch said. "We feel much more confident this season to play them."

"We think we can send out our 11 boys that can work harder, play harder than their 11 boys," Wilhoite added. "And just the challenge of that is spectacular and has been driving us really hard."

Not only is this game a challenge for North Hall, trying to snap the Wolves’ winning streak that dates back to the 2006 state quarterfinals, but it’s also a showcase of two of the state’s top programs in recent years. North Hall has 51 wins and three state quarterfinal appearances in Class AAA since 2004, while the Wolves have 68 wins and a pair of state titles in that same time period.

"We know (North Hall) coach (Bob) Christmas has another great team up there at North Hall this season, and we know that’s a tough place to win at their stadium," Buford coach Jess Simpson said. "We expect a big crowd on both sides for this game, so we’re excited about it."

Buford opened the season on Aug. 21 with a 51-0 win against Grovetown at Tom Riden Stadium, extending its regular-season winning streak to 48 games. The Wolves have had two weeks to prepare for playing North Hall and iron out the wrinkles of 103 yards worth of first-quarter penalties in the season opener.

"Penalties are always something you address in practice," Simpson added. "We’ve got a young football team so we don’t expect to be perfect, we just hope to do better."

One could also argue that this year’s game means more to North Hall with the lopsided loss last season against Buford still hanging over its head.

"We want to come out and show the state that we’re one of the most physical teams in the state," North Hall senior quarterback Nathan Jones said. "I think this season we’re better off as a team since we have a lot more experience."

Christmas also feels better about the state of his program as they prepare to square off against Buford. He doesn’t expect his team to come out wide-eyed and turn the ball over seven times like in the 2008 game against the Wolves.

"Like I’ve said before, this is just a unique bunch of guys we have this season," Christmas said. "We don’t have the marquee-type players, but they are a strong group that works extremely well together and enjoying working as a group."

Still, Christmas doesn’t want to put too much emphasis on just one game, especially with the subregion slate of games on the horizon. He thinks riding the roller coaster of making one game more important than another doesn’t do the program any good. That and the fact that facing Buford carries no weight over the long haul as far as qualifying for the playoffs is concerned.

"We know Buford is a very talented team, probably as talented as any team at Buford has been," Christmas said.

Playing against a team, like Buford, loaded with top-notch athletes isn’t anything new for North Hall’s seniors. As sophomores in 2007, the Trojans faced highly-ranked Perry and Cairo in the playoffs. Last season, the Trojans came up just short against Dunwoody in the second round of the playoffs.

Blitch, who has verbally committed to Wake Forest, will receive one of the heaviest workloads going head-to-head against Buford offensive lineman Kolton Houston, a verbal commit to the University of Georgia. However, this type of challenge is nothing new to Blitch, who last season went toe-to-toe against then-senior Dallas Lee of Buford, now a freshman lineman at Georgia. Getting ready for the season, Blitch also got to see some of the top lineman talent in the country as part of the All-American combine in San Antonio.

"I like the competition of going against a team like Buford to show what we’re made of," Blitch said. "I’m looking forward to it."