If the Georgia-Florida game ends up in Atlanta in 2026, the matchup will come with a very familiar Georgia high school backdrop.
The Bulldogs are projected to have Gunner Stockton at quarterback, while Florida could turn to Aaron Philo. Both names carry serious weight in the state.
Stockton, the incumbent at UGA and a Rabun County product, owns Georgia’s all-time high school passing touchdowns mark with 177. Philo, who starred at Prince Avenue Christian before transferring to Florida, set the state’s career passing yards record at 13,922 and helped lead the Wolverines to back-to-back state titles.
That would make the annual rivalry game feel a little more like a reunion, especially with the contest falling six days before Prince Avenue is scheduled to finish the regular season at Rabun County. Stockton and Philo have shared the field three times since 2020, but they still have not actually gone head-to-head.
Their first time on the same field came in Week 2 of the 2020 season, when No. 1 Rabun County hosted No.
3 Prince Avenue Christian in a small-school showdown on ESPNU. Stockton was a junior committed to South Carolina, while Philo was a freshman backing up Brock Vandagriff, the 5-star senior who signed with Georgia and later became Kentucky’s starting quarterback.
“It was a heavyweight battle,” then-Rabun County coach Jaybo Shaw said. “You were just getting the absolute best from two of the best at that position coming out of high school at the time, and just to be part of the game. And it was really fun to not even coach but just watch those two competitors compete.”
Stockton delivered the win for the Wildcats, piling up 346 yards of offense and five total touchdowns in a 38-31 victory. His go-ahead 32-yard touchdown pass with 2:19 left sealed it.
“To me, really in high school, he looked more like a linebacker playing that Jim McMahon, kind of old-school run hard and physical,” then-Prince Avenue Christian coach Greg Vandagriff said. “They would get in the empty and run counter trey, and heck, you couldn’t stop him, you know?”
The two quarterbacks were both backups the next time they were on the same field, when Georgia beat Georgia Tech 44-42 in 2024. Stockton started that rivalry game last season, while Philo backed up Haynes King at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Now they may meet again in Atlanta’s biggest venue, a place that has already produced major moments for both. Stockton has won two SEC championships there. Philo finished his high school career there by breaking Georgia’s career passing record and winning his second state championship.
Both quarterbacks had already shown they could handle the spotlight before leaving high school.
Philo’s first real test as Prince Avenue Christian’s starter came in 2021, and it started badly. In a low-scoring game at Calvary Day, Vandagriff said Philo threw the ugliest interception he had ever seen while trying to avoid a sack and getting thrown to the ground.
“He’s literally throwing him around in a circle, and like a hot potato, Aaron throws the ball over his shoulder, and we’re on the sideline going, ‘What is he doing?’” Vandagriff said. “We’re thinking, obviously, he’s trying not to take a sack, but what he ends up doing is throwing it literally to the middle linebacker that’s five yards past the line of scrimmage.”
That pick helped cost Prince Avenue a 21-13 loss in Philo’s first start. But the response came immediately. The next week, against Christian Academy of Knoxville, Philo threw for 557 yards in a 59-18 win, the best statistical game of his career and the fifth-most passing yards ever in a GHSA game.
“Honestly, the rest is just history,” Vandagriff said. “I mean, he goes on from there and just plays with confidence, and goes up there and plays every week and leads us to three state title games, winning two of them.”
Shaw saw a similar edge in Stockton over four years at Rabun County, though not in one single game. What stood out most was how steady he stayed away from Friday nights, even with all the national attention that came with being a blue-chip recruit.
“He got invited to obviously everything in the country as far as getting recruited,” Shaw said. “The Elite 11 out in Oregon, or wherever it’s at, and all these camps and all these showcases to go be seen, and Gunner Stockton never missed a workout, a summer practice.
“I mean, he never missed anything in his four years at Rabun.”
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