Senior quarterback Aaron Philo passed for three touchdowns, ran for two more and broke the state record for career passing yards in leading Prince Avenue Christian to a 49-32 victory over Swainsboro in the Class A Division I championship game Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in a rematch of last year’s state final.
Philo, needing 301 yards to break the record of 13,902 set by Trevor Lawrence from 2014 to 2107, was 31-of-40 passing for 320 yards to finish with 13,922 in his career.
He ended the season with 4,596 yards, surpassing 4,500 for the third consecutive year. Only four other players have reached that plateau - Griffin’s Tylan Morton, Marietta’s Harrison Bailey, East Hall’s Austin Parker and Lassiter’s Hutson Mason - and none did it more than once.
“Our coaches put me in a great situation every single week,” said Philo, who is committed to Georgia Tech. “My teammates make plays, so it’s not an individual thing. I feel like it’s a team thing.”
The championship was Prince Avenue Christian’s third in four seasons. The Wolverines won the Class A Division I title last year and the Class A Private championship in 2020. They will compete in the 3A-A private-school playoffs next season.
Prince Avenue scored on its first three possessions with little resistance and scored on four of their final possessions, but the ones in between made things a little uncomfortable for a while. The Wolverines lost a fumble, threw an interception, had a punt blocked and turned the ball over on downs in about a six-minute stretch in which Swainsboro cut a 21-6 deficit to 21-18 before halftime.
Swainsboro’s DeMello Jones, an AJC Super 11 selection committed to Georgia, had the big play that got his team back in the game. With Prince Avenue on the Tigers’ 5-yard and threatening to take a 28-6 lead, Jones intercepted a Philo pass and returned it 96 yards to make it a 21-12 game.
Jones carried a heavy load for the Tigers all night, running for two touchdowns and a two-point conversion and catching four passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Prince Avenue regained its footing in the third quarter, and by the time the Wolverines had built the lead back to 42-32 midway through the fourth quarter, the only real drama remaining was whether Philo would break the record. He did it with a seven-yard pass to Nick Hurley with about three minutes left, according to stats provided by West Georgia Sports Information Specialists. Philo threw a touchdown pass to C.J. Dockery on the next play for the final score of the night.
“Talk about a team that’s resilient,” Philo said. “We had ups and downs, but we never put our heads down. You don’t want to stay too up and you don’t want to get too low. So we stayed even keel, and it worked out for us.”
Prince Avenue Christian outgained Swainsboro 550-214, holding Swainsboro to 114 yards rushing, which is 223 yards below the Tigers’ average.
Connor Causby led the Wolverines’ running game with 136 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, and Philo ran for 85 yards on 13 carries. Hudson Hill and Dockery both topped 100 yards receiving, Hill with 123 yards on 12 carries and Dockery with 100 yards and three touchdowns on eight catches.
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