The only other time St. Frances Academy has played a Georgia squad was in 2018 when the Panthers beat Lee County (Leesburg) 43-14 in ESPN's GEICO State Champions Bowl Series.
St. Frances Academy finished last season at No. 8 in the MaxPreps Top 25 after going 9-1. It was the fifth straight year the Panthers finished ranked in the top 10; only
St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) and
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) have longer active streaks. The Braves extended their streak to seven while the Monarchs have done it six straight years.
The Baltimore power had four wins over teams that finished ranked in
our expanded top 100 last season — No. 21 DeSoto (Texas), No. 25 Kahuku (Hawaii), No. 26 Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.) and No. 51 East St. Louis (Ill.).
Buford is coming off an 11-1 season that included wins over Alabama's 7A state champ, Thompson (Alabaster), along with being the only team to knock off Georgia's AAAAAAA state champ, Mill Creek (Hoschton). The Wolves were the top-ranked team in the Peach State all year until getting upset by Walton (Marietta) in the second round of the AAAAAAA playoffs. They finished ranked just outside of the MaxPreps Top 25 at No. 33.

St. Frances Academy quarterback Michael Van Buren leads the Panthers into a 2023 season opener against Georgia power Buford on Aug. 18. (Photo: Artie Walker)
Both teams return a lot of talent and will most likely be ranked when our preseason rankings come out next summer.
Buford has two five-stars returning next season in
K.J. Bolden and
Eddrick Houston, both of whom were 2022 MaxPreps Junior All-America Team selections. Bolden is the second-rated prospect in the nation on 247Sports in his class while Houston checks in at No. 14 overall. Three-star defensive back
Tyshun White also returns and will be a key contributor for the Wolves in 2023.