MILTON, Ga. — If there was a game that Ryan Ghea wanted to play in the rain, it was Milton's season-opener against Buford.

It happened Friday, where after a near two-hour weather delay, the two heavyweight programs played the entirety of the second half in the rain. Milton opened its season with a 13-10 win, much to the satisfaction of the Auburn tight end commit.

"It’s been a long day for all of us," Ghea said. "We all got here at 8 a.m., had a team meal, then went to school and obviously this. It’s been great to get this win. We know that all summer we’ve been preparing for this game, we knew what we needed to do. The bump at halftime kinda threw us off a little bit, we knew we had to come out and play our best ball to beat these guys."

Ghea didn't record a reception in the game, as Milton's game plan was to try and bring in the box so that Buford had more on the line. This meant that Ghea's role was to serve more as a blocker this game, a skill that he's worked on improving since his sophomore season. It's also a skill that Auburn tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua is looking for in his players.

"His whole thing is when I get to Auburn, he doesn’t want to have to take a tight end off the field," Ghea said. "With the guys there, they don’t have to do that now. They want me to play kinda like a Brandon Frazier role where he can do both. He had a receiving touchdown last year but was also kicking people in the run game last year, too. [Aigamaua] wants me to get ready, come in early and have a shot to play early, too."

The 6-foot-5 tight end plans to see plenty of Auburn football and attend each home game this season. However, he's got more to do in his eyes.

"I got a lot of recruiting to do," Ghea said. "Hopefully we can get our QB here in the next two weeks."

Ghea keeps in regular contact with quarterback target Deuce Knight, who's currently committed to Notre Dame. The two chat weekly and Ghea is trying to get him to flip to Auburn before the Tigers' season starts.

Other guys that Ghea is working to get on board include Georgia Tech wide receiver commit Sam Turner and undecided offensive lineman Andrew Babalola.

Where does he see the class finishing?

"100% top three," Ghea said. "If we get who we’re supposed to get, we could push for a top class. That’s the goal every year, but top three is a more realistic aiming point."