High School Game Review: Prince Avenue vs Rabun County

High school football is in full swing and with ESPN airing the game Friday night we were able to get a look at two top quarterback prospects. While there were not many top prospects on the field overall, both quarterbacks are excellent prospects. Here are our thoughts on the two quarterbacks in the Prince Avenue vs Rabun County game Friday night.

Gunner Stockton

We will start with Stockton whose team pulled out the 38 – 31 win. Stockton is a South Carolina commit in the 2022 class and showed a lot of potential, especially considering he has two years of high school ball to go before enrolling in college. He has adequate height for the position coupled with a strong build, especially for a junior in high school. Stockton made plays with his arm and his legs in this game, showing that he is a true dual threat quarterback prospect.

In the passing game, Stockton has a strong arm and threw the football with velocity and accuracy underneath. He also did a good job of pushing the ball downfield and had a couple of beautiful throws downfield for touchdowns. In the first quarter, Stockton, threw a beautiful deep post that had the velocity and touch to get the ball downfield and drop into the hands of the receiver over the outstretched arm of the defender. Then with 2:19 left in the game he threw a 32 yard touchdown pass into the endzone on a go route to pull his team ahead for the win. Again, the throw had good power, but enough touch to allow the receiver to make the play. Stockton was very accurate underneath and got rid of the ball quickly, for the most part.

There were times where Stockton had good protection but bailed out of the pocket too soon, running into trouble rather than waiting for a receiver to come free. With experience he should become more comfortable staying in the pocket when the protection allows him to. Stockton was accurate most of the game, but the few throws he missed were plays where he rushed his footwork when he did not need to. This only happened a couple of times but resulted in errant passes each time. He did throw one interception, but this was on a play where the defense read the screen pass and tipped the ball then intercepted it. Most of the time, Stockton was accurate and decisive, he had to battle through a few dropped passes but kept his composure and kept making good throws throughout the game.

As a runner, Stockton showed good power and speed. He is not very sudden or elusive as a runner but is very effective. He had three rushing touchdowns in the game and showcased what makes him effective on all three. His first score came on a quarterback draw play, Stockton was patient and allowed the play to develop, then hit the seam, he has good speed once he gets in gear and out ran the defense for a long touchdown run. On his second score he ran up the middle and powered his way through defenders for the short touchdown run. On his third rushing touchdown, Stockton combined the power and speed on a zone read play, where he kept the ball, broke a tackle and then ran away from defenders to score the touchdown. Stockton is a patient and powerful runner, with good speed to make big plays. These skills were on full display Friday night, and instrumental in Rabun County securing the win.

Brock Vandagriff

Brock Vandagriff led a spirited comeback in the second half but Prince Avenue was unable to pull out the win Friday night. Vandagriff is a Georgia commit in the 2021 class. He has average height at the position with a strong build. Though Vandagriff is known for his arm talent, he is an effective runner and serves as the teams punter; he was able to make plays with his passing, running and kicking Friday night.

Vandagriff was exceptional on underneath and intermediate throws during the game. The stats will not reflect how accurate he was because several passes were on the money but dropped by the receivers. This accuracy was evident on throws from the pocket and while on the move. Vandagriff had three touchdown passes for the game on a variety of throws. His first touchdown was an accurate touch pass on a deep post for Prince Avenue’s first score of the game. His second touchdown, was a short post route where he threw the ball with velocity for a 13 yard touchdown. His last touchdown came on a play where he half rolled to the left, reset his feet and hit a wide open receiver on a backside post for an easy score. Vandagriff was savvy and showed a good command of his offense throughout the game, though he did make a few mistakes in this game.

Vandagriff did throw three interceptions in the game. The first was a poor decision deep in his own territory with time running down in the first half, which led to a Rabun Country field goal to end the half. The second was on the first drive of the second half, this one came on a play where he was under pressure and attempted to force the ball into coverage. His third interception was on the final drive of the game for Prince Andrew on a third and nine play where he forced the ball into coverage. Vandagriff does not have a lot of top talent on the roster and as a result appears to try to make a play that is not there at times. In college, this will not be as much of an issue and should allow him to play within the offense.

Vandagriff also showed his running ability throughout the game. He is a mobile quarterback who is a threat to avoid pressure and pick up yardage in the running game. Vandagriff had several runs to pick up first downs in the game, he showed some quickness and agility and was able to find space to pick up the necessary yardage. He is able to get away from pressure, but has the ability to keep his eyes downfield while on the move and find receivers who come free late. Vandagriff may not be an elite runner, but he is effective and showed good mobility on Friday night.

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