Week 9 Update: State Passing Leaders

Our last installment of this series came during week 4 of the regular season. Needless to say, especially since we are entering into week 9 of the season, plenty has changed when it comes to statistics across the state of Georgia. Since we last reported on the state’s leaders in passing, only 1 player from our previous list has managed to remain on the list to this point of the season. This player happens to be Aaron Philo, who previously led the state in passing during our Week 4 article. This time around, he happens to be in 2nd place by only 61 yards, and has fallen just short to the highly reputable prospect, [player_tooltip player_id="33862" first="Gunner" last="Stockton"]. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33862" first="Gunner" last="Stockton"]-</strong> Rabun County (2,661 yards) After 8 weeks of games, not only has Stockton claimed his rightful place on this list, but he has found himself to be the state’s leader in passing by a small margin. He has managed to do all of this while helping his team to a 7-1 record,  with a 1-0 record in his region. Impressively, as he has done so, he has already thrown for 2,661 yards, and 36 TD passes. To go along with this, he has only thrown 1 interception, and he averages over 330 yards a game. <strong>Aaron Philo-</strong> Prince Avenue Christian (2,600 yards) As we previously discussed, even though Philo is not the state’s leader in passing anymore, he has still had plenty of success in his own right, as he has also helped lead his team to a 7-1 record. Out of each of these wins, 3 of them happen to be within his team’s region, which helps them to be poised for a potential playoff run in the long haul. In addition to this, Philo has also thrown for 31 TD passes, to only 7 interceptions to this point of the season. Along with this, he has also passed for over 325 yards a game. <strong>Lonnie Ratliff-</strong> Duluth (2,115 yards) Ratliff, who was not part of our last installment, has managed to make this list for his first time as he has totaled 2,115 yards to this point of the season. Not only is this impressive in itself, but what is even more crazy is the fact that the gap between his 3rd place ranking in yardage in the state of Georgia is just shy of 500 yards to the 2nd place passing leader in the state. Nevertheless, Ratliff’s success in the air has led Duluth to a 4-3 record, with 2 of these wins coming against regional opponents. Each of his performances in these games has caused Ratliff to have thrown for 22 TD passes, and only 5 interceptions this year with an average of 302 yards a game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33915" first="Tyler" last="Hughes"]-</strong> Marietta (2,110 yards) Just like Ratliff, Marietta QB, [player_tooltip player_id="33915" first="Tyler" last="Hughes"] has helped his team to a 4-3 record at this point of the season. Unfortunately for Hughes, Marietta has fallen to a 1-1 record so far against regional competition, which will certainly make for an interesting rest of the season for them. While his statistics are flashy, it should also be noted that he has only thrown for 4 interceptions after 7 games, and that his offense only scored less than 40 points 3 times this season. In addition to this, his team’s losses have come to good teams that include the likes of Colquitt, Brookwood, and North Paulding. With this being said, Hughes has managed to do well with what he has, and is only 5 yards from 3rd place in passing in the entire state. Nevertheless, he has thrown for 27 TD's this year, and finds himself averaging about 300 yards passing per game. Only time will tell if he is able to climb these rankings even more.