Richmond Hill unfortunately learned the hard way that it’s not quite ready to run with the big dogs as the Wildcats went on the road and got blitzed by Valdosta, 41-0, in a key Region 1-6A game Friday night.
Valdosta put 20 points on the board in the first quarter and never looked back in gaining a measure of revenge for a 35-14 loss it suffered at the hands of the Wildcats last year.
While the defeat was Richmond Hill’s first in region play it did not impact the Wildcats’ (6-2, 2-1) now being guaranteed a berth in this year’s state playoffs. With games remaining against Lowndes County and Colquitt County, the worst-case scenario has the Wildcats finishing 2-3 in region play.
With Camden County and Tift County also losing Friday night to unbeaten Lowndes (35-14) and to Colquitt (39-20), respectively for the third region loss for both Richmond Hill is assured of finishing no worse than fourth as it owns the tiebreaker having beaten both Camden and Tift.
Richmond Hill will be off this week to nurse its wounds and begin preparation for season ending games against Lowndes (8-0, 3-0) and Colquitt (7-2, 2-1). Both of those games will be played at Wildcats Stadium.
Valdosta, ranked No. 9 in the state by the AJC, was coming off a disappointing loss to Colquitt last week and it was determined to take out its frustration on whoever was next up on the schedule. That whoever just so happened to be Richmond Hill.
Offensively, Richmond Hill is last in the region in total offense and it struggled against the homestanding Wildcats as it managed only 162 yards. Gunner Mobley completed eight of 20 passes for 87 yards while being picked off twice and Amire Miller had 58 of the Wildcats’ 75 yards on the ground. The Wildcats are now averaging 246.9 yards per game, 129.4 on the ground.
Valdosta, which was averaging 50 points per game before being held to 17 by Colquitt, put up 485 yards against a Wildcats defense which was giving up only 10.5 points per game going into the contest. Valdosta passed for 353 yards and rushed for 132 more.
Senior defensive back Jason Copeland, a University of Arkansas commit, set the tone early when he picked off Mobley twice in the first quarter for touchdowns of 55 and 35 yards.
After a scoreless second quarter Valdosta snuffed out any lingering thoughts Richmond Hill may have had about getting back into the game when quarterback Tyrieke Wade found a seam and scampered 76 yards to paydirt.
It was the second time this season Richmond Hill was shut out. Earlier it dropped a 21-0 decision to Buchholz, Fl., in a game called at halftime because of the weather. The Wildcats have a road win at Wayne County (41-9) and are 3-0 at home.