In recent years, the Richmond Hill Wildcats football team has seen success on Friday nights.

Since Head Coach Matt Lezotte took over in 2015, the Wildcats have posted a 39-27 record with five playoff appearances.

This included their 2019 season when they secured the Region II Championship before falling short one game ahead of the GHSA 6A State Championship, faltering to Allatoona in an overtime battle during the semifinals.

A season ago, the Wildcats would go 9-3 before losing 55-13 to Westlake in the second round of the playoffs.

Despite the disappointing ending to the year, Lezotte enjoyed the season, giving props to the 26 seniors for pushing through the hardships when it was needed the most.

Lezotte felt like his former players from a season ago made the standard for this year’s team to follow to get to the level of success that the team aspires to reach.

“We had a special group of seniors that played a lot of games and set a precedent for what the expectations were to commit to everything that we asked them to do,” he said about the 2021 graduates. “It was a fun group to coach and then we ran into a buzzsaw at Westlake and the season ended. We had our backs to the wall and had to deal with a lot of adversity. We were very resilient in the season and did not let outside sources affect us at all. I think they graduated with the most wins in the history of the school and had some playoff victories in playoff environments. Now we are reloaded. A lot of guys on this current roster were a member of that team and seen the examples that were set by those guys and have been living up to those expectations this offseason.”

The biggest question that Lezotte is looking to answer is if his team can come together to get wins under the Friday night lights.

He thinks that his team will be a well-oiled machine because of the player’s commitment of putting in work over the summer to prepare for the 2021 season.

“We have gone to some tremendous camps,” Lezotte said. “Some of these guys have played significant time on Friday nights when their number was called. The big thing is putting it all together. We are the strongest that our team has ever been. We had 120 guys a day showing up in the summertime. The lowest number we ever had was 108. They have been going through this experience of growth and development together. The story of our team is can we come together when it counts during the game.”

Coming into the new year, the Wildcats will have a plethora of first-time starters on the field.

Adopting the phrase, “Don’t Flinch,” Lezotte want his players to not get caught overthinking in the moment and to trust themselves.

“There is going to be a lot of fresh faces that show up on the field,” he said. “That is probably going to be the most unfamiliar part about our team. There is going to be a lot of new star power that show up on Friday night at every position. Both of our offense and defensive coaches have done a fantastic job of scheming around what we can do well to allow those guys to be successful on the field. The biggest thing is not allowing negative thoughts to enter your head because you have been preparing for this moment for years and now is your opportunity to shine and make stand and be the guy.”

The Wildcats will focus on running the ball out of their spread-power formation with transfer Junior running backs Zion Gilliard and Ryan Dekle, but they will put their trust in Junior Quarterback Ty Goldrick to throw the ball also.

“We are a spread-power team,” Lezotte said about their Friday night schematics. “We are able to put the ball in the air, but we also emphasize running the football within those formations. We want to run the ball a lot. A lot of that has to do with the talent we have in the backfield. We got a really good trigger man this year in Ty Goldrick. Much improved from last season. He had a great offseason developing into being potentially a very good quarterback.”

On defense, the Wildcats will set up an odd front with different coverage schemes and shifts on the line; the makings of a 3-4.

“We are a multiple odd front,” Lezotte said about his defense. “We are able to move guys around a lot to put them in a situation to be able to make plays. We run multiple coverages on the backend while shifting up front.”

Senior Wide Receiver Tommy Bliss, Junior Wide Receiver Ravon Grant, Senior Tight End Ryan Steele, Senior Tackle Alex Workman, Senior Tackle Christian Hubbard were noted as offensive threats for the Wildcats.

“Tommy Bliss is going to be a huge impact player for us on both sides of the ball this year. His season was cut short last year due to an injury. He is a tremendous ball player. We got Ravon Grant in the mix in 2019 and he was playing during that playoff run as a freshman. We returned Ryan Steele at tight end that was an All-Region player. Two offensive linemen Alex Workman and Christian Hubbard have a lot of game experience,” Lezotte said about his players.

Defending the ball, Senior Safety Tommy Bliss, Senior Linebacker Bodie Custer, Senior Outside Linebacker Hayden McCullough, and Freshman Safety Caleb Easterling, Senior Defensive End Zach McGowan were named as the defensive anchors for the team.

“We have not returned a lot of guys that played on defense,” Lezotte said. “Tommy Bliss is a part of that. He was starting before he got hurt. There will be a lot of new faces and the big thing with that is can these guys step up. Bodie Custer is playing really good at linebacker. Hayden McCullough is at outside backer. And we have a freshman Caleb Easterling that has been shining on both sides of the ball. He is going to have a special season. Our defensive front coach Blanton has been doing a great job using a variety of guys to produce results. By committee, we are going to battle up front. Zach McGowan is about the only guy that has had playing time out those guys up front. So, we are counting on him to come in strong.”

Service is a big deal to Lezotte.

He wants players to help each other on the field but also be a source of being community figures in Richmond Hill.

“The one thing we are looking to accomplish on and off the field is serving,” Lezotte said. “Our football program is geared around service. How can you make the guy that line up in front of you at practice better? We have also been doing community service. We have been averaging a ton of hours before it was cut down because of COVID. The year before we had 1000 hours of community service amongst our team. We always lend a helping hand any time it is asked, and we take a lot of pride in it. We want people to reference how involved our team is. It is what we do away from Friday nights that impacts the community, school, and culture more than anything else. The results on the field is a byproduct of being selfless contributors to the team, school, and community. It has helped changed the culture of athletics here at Richmond Hill High School.”

Success is measured the same every year for the Wildcats.

Winning in the classroom and picking up victories on Friday nights.

“Every year is a new year, but the goals of the program remain the same,” Lezotte said. “We want to graduate these guys, have an enjoyable experience, and win. Winning has become very important to these guys. We are going to focus on that and if we can pull the best version of our players out of them over the course of the season, wins and losses are going to come but as long as they finish without any regrets at the end of the season, we will feel the same. The goal is always to win games but that is a byproduct of doing things the right way.”

The Wildcats will cross the Georgia border to South Carolina for their first matchup this year when they head to Beaufort to take on the Eagles on August 20 at 7:30.