TIGER — Rabun County shook off a tough opening-week loss to Jefferson with a dominating 47-14 win over Pace Academy on Saturday in a game televised by ESPN.
Quarterback and Georgia-commit Gunner Stockton was the catalyst, throwing for 403 yards and 6 touchdowns as the Wildcats (1-1) scored the final 28 points of the game. Stockton also ran for 107 yards and one score as he accounted for 510 of the team's 520 total yards.
Jaden Gibson was the main target with 5 catches for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns.
But the Wildcats offense wasn't the only thing in a groove. The Rabun defense surrendered just 219 total yards and forced two turnovers.
The game began with fireworks as Rabun got a 64-yard TD pass from Stockton to Corey Keller in just four plays. The Knights answered two plays later with a 66-yard touchdown run by Christian Johnson to tie the game at 7 less than three minutes in.
Stockton and Gibson then connected on a pair of TD passes of 38 and 56 yards to take a 19-7 lead. Pace Academy closed to within 19-14 on a 1-yard TD from Johnson with 8:20 left in the first half.
It was all Rabun County from there.
Ethan Clarke caught a 28-yard TD pass from Stockton, and Stockton added 7-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in the half to cap a 9-play, 70-yard drive.
Stockton and the Wildcats offense continued its barrage in the third quarter with TD passes of 37-yards to Lang Windham and 57-yard to Gibson in the third quarter.
And, for the second straight week, the Rabun County defense shut out its opposition in the second half.
