BOGART — The quarterbacks at Prince Avenue Christian School have drawn attention since 2005, when a player with a household name, Jon Richt, became the school’s first-ever varsity quarterback.
In recent years, as current Kentucky starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff and Aaron Philo, who set state high school records in passing yards before heading to Georgia Tech, led the Wolverines to state championships, the spotlight got brighter.
Prince Avenue Christian has become a quarterback factory, and Richt, the son of former Georgia football coach Mark Richt, is back as the school’s offensive coordinator, helping to keep the production going.
When the Wolverines host Providence Christian for their first playoff game Friday (in the second round), they’ll have two quarterbacks on the field who enrolled at the private school with their sights on playing quarterback.
“When Philo played the first state championship game (in 2022), I realized he had 4,500 yards (passing) in one year,” said sophomore Ben Musser, who transferred from Jefferson High School late last season. “It just kind of struck me, I wanted to be in a program like this.”
Musser shares time with senior Jake Bobo, who broke paths with his siblings to enroll at Prince Avenue Christian at the start of his junior year. They go to North Oconee High School, where Bobo played running back and linebacker before transferring.
“My dad’s always like, ‘I want you to have fun,’” said Bobo, the son of UGA offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. “I feel like (Prince Avenue Christian is) where I’d have the most fun.”
Both quarterbacks were graded going into the season, and Musser eventually won the job.
He played well in his first game against West Forsyth before losing in Weeks 2 and 3.
The Wolverines started rotating in Bobo in Week 5 against Westside to take some pressure off Musser. Since then, they have averaged over 40 points a game by combining the talent, coach Greg Vandagriff said.
“It’s basically one of those things where we’ve got two athletic kids,” Richt said. “Both of them deserve to play.”
The goal for the Wolverines’ offense is to end every drive in a kick, Richt said. This puts a lot of responsibility on the quarterback to maintain control and protect the ball.
Bobo is leading the team in passing with over 1,000 yards, and Musser isn’t far behind with 903. Combine that with Andrew Beard, the team’s running back, who is averaging 145 rushing yards per game, and it’s become their recipe for an explosive offense.
On Friday, they will test the Providence Christian defense, which has allowed an average of 37 points and more than 100 receiving yards per game this season.
The high-performance offense isn’t anything new to the Wolverines. Brock Vandagriff had over 10,000 passing yards in his career and 107 passing touchdowns. Philo was even more prolific with 13,922 passing yards and 159 passing touchdowns.
Vandagriff won Gatorade Player of the Year before committing to the University of Georgia as a five-star recruit. He transferred to Kentucky at the end of the 2023 season. Philo tied the state record for single-season touchdowns during his senior season.
“Philo and Brock are both really good quarterbacks playing SEC and ACC,” Bobo said. “It’s a big deal. Hopefully I get to, too.”
Bobo hopes to play in college, but currently he has no official offers. Like Musser, Vandagriff and Philo got the Wolverines’ starting job their sophomore years and developed into Division I quarterbacks.
“He’s got all the potential in the world,” Richt said of Musser. “He’s a great athlete.”
Bobo and Musser hope to be next on the list of high-quality products refined at the Prince Avenue Christian quarterback factory.
Noah Buice is a student in the University of Georgia’s undergraduate Sports Media Certificate program.
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