High School

Dayton Raiola, brother of Dylan, has damp debut as Buford High School starting QB

The younger Raiola shakes off a rough first half to rally Buford back in a competitive second half vs. Milton

Mike Swanson

Dayton Raiola made his debut as starting Buford (Georgia) High School quarterback Friday, Aug. 16, against Milton. | David McGregor, SBLive
Dayton Raiola made his debut as starting Buford (Georgia) High School quarterback Friday, Aug. 16, against Milton. | David McGregor, SBLive /

Dayton Raiola has big shoes to fill in relieving big brother Dylan as the Buford Wolves' starting quarterback in 2024.

With Dylan Raiola now at Nebraska, little brother Dayton Raiola took over as nationally ranked Buford's No. 1 QB in the Georgia high school football season opener Friday against Milton.

The junior quarterback struggled for the most part on a wet night that featured a two-hour lightning delay, but he made a couple of big-time plays as Buford tried to rally in the second half.

Related: Dylan, Dayton Raiola both starting QBs in 2024 — at Nebraska (college) and Buford (high school)

The biggest came early in the second half, when Dayton Raiola looked down for a sure sack but shook loose from the pressure and fired a 26-yard dime to Kyle Carpenter, who made a great grab in double coverage:

After going just 2-for-4 with 15 yards in the first half, Dayton Raiola finished 7-for-12 for 92 yards passing.

The game didn't end until after midnight, with Milton hanging on for a 13-10 victory as the two top teams in Georgia squared off.

Dayton Raiola was expected to split time at quarterback Friday with senior TJ Wilcox, but he played the whole game.

A 6-foot-1 lefty quarterback, Dayton Raiola has offers this year from Appalachian State and Charlotte, plus a 2022 offer from Nebraska.

Dylan Raiola finished his senior season at Buford in 2023 going 160-for-253 passing (63.2 percent), with 2,666 yards and 34 touchdowns against just one interception.

Buford hosts Benedictine next Friday, Aug. 23.

For all of Friday night's scores throughout Georgia, check out our Georgia High School Football Scoreboard.

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports

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Mike Swanson, SBLive Sports
MIKE SWANSON

Mike Swanson is the VP of Content for High School On SI. He's been in journalism since 2003, having worked as a reporter, city editor, copy editor and high school sports editor in California, Connecticut and Oregon.

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