Unbeaten and unranked. That’s where Richmond Hill’s football team finds itself going into Friday night’s game at Florida 6A power Buchholz in a 7 p.m. game in Gainesville, Fl.
The Wildcats (4-0) whipped winless Wayne County, 41-9, last Friday behind a balanced offensive attack highlighted by Amire Miller’s 175 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. Richmond Hill jumped out to a 20-6 first quarter lead and never looked back as its defense again turned in a dominating outing.
The Wayne County (0-5) offense was overwhelmed by the aggressive Wildcats who are allowing 5.75 points per game, second best among Class 6A schools in the state. Hillgrove (4-0), another unbeaten and unranked team, is giving up only 3.25 points per outing.
All told there are 74 unbeaten teams remaining in the state, 11 in Class 6A, and 37 of them are unranked including Richmond Hill’s fellow Region 1 member Camden County.
While Coach Matt LeZotte doesn’t put much stock in rankings but rather in results, rankings are a nice discussion point for fans but making it more difficult for both Richmond Hill and Camden is the fact three other Region 1 teams are currently in the Top 10: Lowndes County (5-0) is sitting at No. 5, Valdosta (5-0) is No. 8 and Colquitt County (2-1) is No. 9.
While Miller was turning in the best game of the season by a Wildcats running back, junior quarterback Gunner Mobley turned in another solid performance in his first year as a starter.
Mobley ran for a touchdown and was 6 of 14 passing for 85 yards and a touchdown as he helped trigger a three-touchdown outburst in the third quarter that broke the game wide open and assured a running clock in the fourth quarter.
Maurquis Muhammad carried the ball only two times but he had 45 yards and a touchdown. Eli Grant had two receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown.
The Richmond Hill defense was led by Cory Sims who had three tackles for losses and a pair of sacks. Jaylon Deal had six tackles and DJ Porter, who had 32 yards rushing on three carries and caught one pass for 18 yards, had an interception.
The game at Buchholz represents a big step up in competition for the Wildcats whose four opponents to date have a combined record of 5-13.
The Bobcats are currently ranked No. 5 in Florida in Class 6A and are coming off back-to-back Final Four appearances. A traditional power in the state, Buchholz is 48-10 over the last four seasons.
Buchholz is a revamped team offensively from what it has looked like the last two years. It lost quarterback Trace Johnson who passed for 3,522 yards and 29 touchdowns last year as a junior. He transferred to Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., to play for former Heisman Trophy and NFL quarterback Carson Palmer.
Bobcats coach Mark Whitemore’s sophomore son, Andrew, is now playing quarterback. He has thrown for 332 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Chris Johnson has rushed for 352 yards and three scores.
Senior Justin Williams has caught 12 passes for 136 yards. Williams is considered one of the top prospects in Florida. He caught 85 passes for 1,471 yards and 13 touchdowns last year while running for 1,023 yards.
This will be Richmond Hill’s final non-region game of the season. The Wildcats open region play next week at Tift County (3-1).