Poca’s Spencer Jones (6) carries the ball as Buffalo defenders Hunter Rutan (12), Davey Sayne (66) and Marc Riley (55) move in during a high school football game Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at Poca.
Poca’s Spencer Jones (6) carries the ball as Buffalo defenders Hunter Rutan (12), Davey Sayne (66) and Marc Riley (55) move in during a high school football game Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at Poca.
Buffalo begins celebrating its 100th season of high school football on Friday when the Bison open the 2025 campaign at home against Poca.
With opening night will come the induction of Buffalo's 2025 Hall of Fame class, which will be introduced during the pregame, but celebrations of the 100th year will continue throughout the season.
Friday’s game will also be the debut of Bison coach Andy Anderson, a former assistant at George Washington who took the vacant position earlier this year. Anderson inherits a Bison team that went 4-6 in 2024.
When the Bison take the field, they will be trying to snap a five-game losing streak to Poca that dates to 2016. The Dots lead the all-time series 44-11.
“They’ve got a lot of players coming back,†Anderson said of Poca. Anderson added that he’s watched video of the Dots' scrimmages.
Preparing for Poca players such as bruising tight end and linebacker Colton Petry and the combination of speedy receiver Jackson McClanahan and quarterback Kam McBride, all while trying to stop running back Spencer Jones, are the challenges awaiting Anderson and Buffalo on Friday when the game kicks off at 7 p.m.
“Jones stepped in for [graduated running back] Preston Bonnett,†Anderson said. “[Jones] is a different back. We have to worry about what it takes to bring him down.â€
Coach Seth Ramsey’s Dots defeated Buffalo last season in Week 3, 46-8, at O.O. White Stadium. It was Poca’s third straight win at the time, but the Dots added only one more the rest of the way -- at PikeView -- in the ninth game of the season.
Buffalo will be a much different team this time, Ramsey said.
“They throw the thing all over the place,†Ramsey said. “The QB [Hunter Rutan] throws a beautiful ball. Defensively, they get after the ball pretty well. They are more athletic this year.â€
Poca is deeper at the skill positions this year, Ramsey said, an advantage this year’s Dots have over the 2024 version that lost many of its skill players to injuries.
Defensively, Ramsey said Poca’s linebacking corps of Petry, Corey Cook and Colton Dunbar have started multiple years and make the linebacker corps Poca's strongest unit.
“We’re not as big as we have been,†Ramsey said of the Dots' offensive and defensive fronts.
Talent may make up for the lack of size, however. Daniel Burns and Brody Godbey are players who have the coach’s focus, according to Ramsey.
Godbey is a junior and a player who Ramsey said should take “some big steps forward.â€
Those first steps for Buffalo and Poca come on Friday night.
Rick Elmore covers sports. He can be reached at 304-348-5122 or relmore@hdmediallc.com. Follow @ElmoreSports on Twitter/X.
