Prince Avenue Christian is known for throwing the ball, but opposing defenses may have to prepare for more from the quarterback position moving forward. On Thursday, the Wolverines used a ground and air attack in a 35-28 win at West Forsyth as part of the 33rd annual Hunter-Kell Classic.
Sophomore Ben Musser, who edged senior Jake Bobo for the starting job behind center this offseason, rushed for a game-high 192 yards and a touchdown while completing 11 of his 17 passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns to two interceptions. Musser replaces Aaron Philo, who graduated last year as owner of the most career passing yards of any Georgia high school football player.
Musser’s 63-yard rushing touchdown with 1:57 left in the third pushed the Wolverines lead to 35-20 and put them on a path to victory.
“If the hole opens up, take it and go,” Musser said. “Offensive line did a great job creating holes and blocking downfield. They really got on them tonight and I’m proud of them.”
Musser’s wasn’t the only outstanding performance by a sophomore. Andrew Beard rushed for 187 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, and Hudson Hill returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-9 with 5:08 left in the first half.
The Wolverines (1-0), who entered the season ranked No. 1 in Class A-3A Private, never trailed against West Forsyth (0-1), also nicknamed the Wolverines, of 6A.
“Our whole team has great chemistry,” said Beard, who holds 13 offers including Georgia and Alabama. “Great first win, great momentum.”
Prince Avenue Christian coach Greg Vandagriff said the luxury of having two quarterbacks in Musser and Bobo allows for the offense to utilize Musser’s running abilities.
“We’ve thrown for 4,000 yards the last four seasons and rushed for maybe 1,500 to 1,800,” said Vandagriff, referring to Philo and Brock Vandagriff. “We’ve always had the run part of our game with the quarterback, we just haven’t used it a lot, because we only had one quarterback. We didn’t have a backup. This year, we’ve got a backup with Jake Bobo, so we’ve been more willing to call some of those quarterback runs and let him take a chance. In the past, we couldn’t afford the injury.”
Prince Avenue Christian is coming off of consecutive A Private Division I titles and now competes in 2A. It heads to South Carolina next Saturday to take on Mallard Creek (N.C.) as part of the Turf Kings Southeast Invitational.
West Forsyth was led by Foster Orris’ two touchdowns and 51 yards on 15 carries, and Max Walraven was 17 of 34 passing for 210 yards and a touchdown. The Wolverines, who went 8-3 and reached the 7A playoffs last year, will travel to Marietta next week.
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