It is time to play ball.
The Richmond Hill Wildcats will head up I-95 North to cross over the Georgia border when they take on the Beaufort Eagles in South Carolina for the season opener.
The Wildcats are coming off a 9-3 record, finishing second in Region II and making a second-round appearance in the GHSA 6A playoffs.
For the Eagles, they play in the SCHSL’s 4A classification, returning to the 2021 season off a Region 7 championship and a 5-2 record.
As the Wildcats have wrapped up their offseason after scrimmaging Veterans in Kathleen, the entire team is excited to get back on the field.
Still off the high off the Veterans scrimmage, Head Coach Matt LeZotte knows that his Wildcats will give opponents problems on the field if they clear up mistakes that they made in the 21-10 victory with a lot of new faces suited up.
“We did pretty good on Friday but made a lot of mistakes,” he said. “They saw how clean we could have been if we were a bit more fundamentally sound. I was glad that we played against an opponent like Veterans in a scrimmage because when those lights come on on Friday nights, it is just a little bit different on a Thursday night. We were able to get that glamour out of the way. Now we are settled in, and I expect a strong performance from our team.”
Ty Goldrick, who will be a first-time starting quarterback for the Wildcats feels that he prepared well for this season and that they are in a ‘prove themselves’ situation because of the youth of the football team.
“We are ready to go play a great team and ready to ball,” Goldrick said. “We want to show what we as a junior class have in store for the community. I want to execute better than we did in the scrimmage. We strive for physicality. We are a great passing and running team but a very young team so people might not believe in us yet. We are about to go against a powerhouse team with kids who got a couple of offers. We can compete with anybody, and we are ready to make a deep run in the playoffs this year.”
The Junior quarterback posted 68 passing yards on 7-9 completions in two games a season ago, backing up Tyler Coleman as a sophomore.
Defensive tackle and fellow junior Dontae Goodner is focused on the defense sticking to what they have learned while also setting the tone and playing for the Wildcat seniors.
“We really have to lock in and use our fundamentals,” the junior defensive lineman said. “Our d-line have to get low and viciously use our hands. It is our seniors last first game. We really want to bring home this win and show the state where we stand as a program.”
The Wildcats will clash on Friday for border bragging rights with both teams being near the top of their respected states and classifications.
“We are playing against one of the hottest teams in all of South Carolina and we consider ourselves pretty hot in the state of Georgia,” LeZotte said. “It is going to be a great inter-state rivalry. I want our guys to be challenged and execute with their feet to the fire. I am looking for it to be a lot of energy in the stands. I hope our fans understand that this something that we can potentially build with the border clash that we are presented with.”
Week 1 football will kick off for the teams on Friday August 20 at 7:30 at Beaufort.