BUFORD — From an outsider’s perspective, it would have been easy to dismiss 2009 as a “rebuilding” year for the Buford defense.

After all, just four starters were returning from the last year’s Class AA state championship team, and several sophomores were going to be asked to contribute a lot.

However, there is no denying that the defensive unit is a major reason the No. 3 state-ranked Wolves (12-1) are still in the hunt for their third consecutive state title as they travel to second-ranked Fitzgerald today.

“This group started with maybe more question marks than any front seven we’ve ever had, and definitely with the secondary more question marks,” Buford coach Jess Simpson said. “You can easily say that in this past decade, this is the youngest, most inexperienced defense we’ve put out there.”

However, it may also turn out to be one of the best.

Last week’s 26-0 victory over Cook in the state quarterfinals was the Wolves’ eighth shutout of the season, which broke the school record of seven set by the 2007 state title team.

They’ve given up only 78 points in 13 games — an average of just 6 points per game — which is skewed somewhat by a 28-point first half by Lovett and a 22-point outing by Jefferson in the playoffs.

Those results have come from Simpson and his defensive coaches mixing and matching new players into vacancies — including building an entirely new secondary — and watching them grow.

Of course, it helped that all four of the returning starters from last year resided in the front seven, including senior linebackers Jessel Curry and Andrew Swope, who share the team lead with 98 tackles each, and linemen A.J. Cunningham and Kolton Houston.

While Curry and Cunningham came into this season as known commodities, it is the improvement from the likes of Swope and Houston, plus others like senior linemen Mitchell De-Walt, Du’Von Millsap and Jerome Davis that has really made this a deep squad.

Swope has made the biggest jump by more than tripling his tackle numbers from a year ago, while Houston, De-Walt and Davis have more than doubled theirs.

“It always starts with the D-line,” Simpson said. “Those guys have really done a good job. ... Those guys give all those fast guys behind them a chance to really be playmakers.”

Throw in the development of youngsters like sophomore linebackers Dillon Lee, Nathan Staub and Andr’e Johnson, and it has allowed new starters like juniors Eric Barr and Jamal English and sophomores Paris Head and Ryan Dillard to make plays in the secondary, which has posted 23 interceptions and 27 more pass break-ups.

Many of the newcomers may be experiencing their first season as starters, but it hasn’t taken long for them to come together as a cohesive unit.

And Swope says there are reasons for that.

“Ever since eighth grade, (many of the individual players) have been together as a defensive group,” said the 6-foot, 201-pound senior, who also has four sacks, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries to go along with his tackles. “(And) the coaches, they put us in the best position to make plays. We run and play hard because of them.”

De-Walt agrees the team’s chemistry and coaching have made it easier for the Buford defense to dominate.

However, he adds that another key element has been to keep things simple.

“We don’t go out there thinking we’re trying to shut out the (other) team,” said the 6-0, 252-pound senior, who has 74 tackles and 41⁄2 sacks on the season. “It’s just each of us trying to win our gap or our responsibility for each play — each 11 of us.

“Instead of one big picture, we each have little things we need to take care of. And that, in turn, will take care of the whole thing.”