The 5-star QB who uses his Twitter account about as often as he suffers defeats or interceptions used it again on Thursday. Gunner Stockton likely dusted off the cobwebs from his social media platform and delivered some very hopeful news for two SEC East rivals.
Stockton tweeted he was down to two schools: Georgia and South Carolina.
The 5-star QB at Rabun County in Northeast Georgia ranks as the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat QB and the No. 32 overall prospect for 2022 on the 247Sports Composite ratings.
This should be seen as an example of a young man who knows where his priorities are right now. That’s the coming football season. With his eyes set on a region title and a state title, he had to do this first.
It is an example of not wanting to lead any other programs on. The relationships and feelings that he has in Athens and Columbia are the ones that have set themselves apart.
Georgia has recruited him heavily for the last two years. Kirby Smart has made his a priority. New offensive coordinator Todd Monken made that trek to beautiful Rabun County one of his first trips after he took that post.
He has strong ties to former Georgia tight end Charlie Woerner. Woerner also played for Rabun County and took Stockton along on one of his recruiting trips to UGA when he was a senior prep prospect back in 2015.
Stockton was the sixth-grade ballboy on the Rabun County varsity team that year. Woerner wrote him a note before he left for college. He wished Stockton well on his future in the game but advised him to stay true to his faith and his small-town values.
Yet some of the same things can be said about South Carolina. First-year offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has know Gunner and his family for years. His father, the well-respected George Bobo, helped train Gunner when he was younger. He identified young Stockton at an early age as a football prodigy.
He’s going to need more time to figure out his decision between those two, but he knows he will go play college ball for one of those two proud programs.
Stockton’s character comes out here a little bit further with this decision. He knew it was down to those two and didn’t feel it was necessary to lead any other schools on.
Gunner Stockton: The other things to know here
Stockton and his Rabun County team were scheduled to face Prince Avenue Christian at the beginning of this year. That was set for the second game of the 2020 schedule at Rabun County.
It is safe to say that it will be the most eagerly-anticipated matchup of elite QBs in the South. Stockton is the top dual-threat for the 2022 class. It goes without saying everyone reading this post is full aware that Prince Avenue is home to 5-star senior QB Brock Vandagriff.
Vandagriff rates as the nation’s No. 2 dual-threat QB and as the nation’s No. 12 overall prospect for the 2021 cycle on the 247Sports Composite ratings.
That matchup is simply going to be fantastic. Check out his stats through his first two seasons of high school football.
Gunner Stockton passing
| Games | Com. | Att. | Yards | Pct. | YPG | TD/INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 429 | 625 | 6390 | 68.6 | 245.8 | 77/12 |
Gunner Stockton rushing
| Games | Att. | Yds | Avg. | TD | Lg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 276 | 1835 | 6.6 | 36 | 59 |
What else is there to know about Stockton. Check out the DawgNation stat file:
- The signature Stockton story on DawgNation is a warehouse full of stories and information about the prospect who aims to “unleash hell” when he steps on a football field
- Check those stats again. That’s 113 scores through 26 high school games. The average Stockton game has meant 4.34 touchdowns, including nights where it looked like Rabun County coach Jaybo Shaw decreed he was not to run the ball.
- The 6-foot-1, 214-pounder was launching balls farther than two future starters at Power 5 programs when he was in the eighth grade. That story traces back to the camp when North Carolina gave him his first offer.
- Appalachian State and Larry Fedora at North Carolina basically offered him at the same time. It was right about the time Stockton ripped one 66 yards at that UNC camp that day.
- Stockton has verified in-game clips from this past season where the ball traveled 60 yards in the air. When he was clocked electronically in the 40 by one SEC school on grass last summer, the readout was 4.72 seconds. He’s that fast without any sort of speed training.
- The young Rabun County star had back-to-back Fridays in which he ran he threw for six scores one week, then ran for five touchdowns on his next game under the lights.He had at least two straight weeks this past fall where he accounted for seven touchdowns in a game.
- His father, was one of the greatest safeties in Georgia Southern history. Eagle fans still remember his No. 14 fondly. He was named to their athletic hall of fame in 2008. Rob Stockton started his last 48 games as an Eagle and finished with 322 career tackles.
- His mother Sherrie Stockton left her name high up among the all-time leaders at Erskine College as a scholarship basketball player. She is now a guidance counselor at Rabun County.
- Gunner’s older sister, Georgia, is scholarship sophomore basketball player at Presbyterian College. She was an all-state player at Rabun County. She averaged 21.1 points per game, shot 40 percent from behind the arc and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
Those Friday nights where he rolls for 120 yards on the ground and throws for 250 more are pretty much the standard with Rabun County games now.
His father, Rob, also serves as the defensive coordinator on the Rabun County team. He described the cattle farmer in the family to a tee in a previously-published DawgNation feature on Stockton.
“I think a goal for our family has been for both of our kids to love the Lord,” he said. “I know that will seem like a cliche’ so much now but we pray that they truly love the Lord but not have to tell people about it. Do you know what I mean by that? Where they will just look at you and can tell that you love the Lord. By your actions and then just your spirt. Not their words.”
“They will know you by that when you are in the classroom or on the field. They just sense that something special about you. Not because of you. But a greater deal there. Who you follow in life. ”
But that does not mean a meek mind or spirit.
“With all that said, I have begged of him to be that when he is outside the white lines,” his father continued. “The kindest. The gentlest. The best friend. Opening doors for women and ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘no ma’am’ and that’s him. Thankfully. But when you step across those white lines, then that is time to unleash hell. Be that person.”
Stockton has rained down those 113 touchdowns worth of hell, too.
“People that can flip that switch like that are out there today,” his father said. “I am thankful he is a person who can flip that switch. He is highly highly competitive, but when he steps off that field he is also so gentle and kind and even a little bit shy.”