Jeff Moeller, sports correspondent

For the Richmond Hill Wildcats with two regular-season games remaining, it’s crunch time.

The Wildcats are coming off a 40-27 loss at Camden County last week in which they rallied for 19 points in the final quarter, but they started slowly and found themselves in a 16-0 halftime hole.

It was their third straight defeat (5-3, 0-2) after a 5-0 start. More importantly, the Wildcats suffered their second consecutive region loss in the Class 7A Region 1 bracket.

Against Camden County, head coach Matt LeZotte believed his team was prepared, but it was a matter of staying focused.

“Give Camden credit,” said LeZotte. “They were ready to play, and we put ourselves in a difficult position with our start. In this region, you can’t spend part of the game trying to find your footing. We need more consistency in our execution and a better response to adversity. We’re capable of playing good football, but we have to sustain it for four quarters.”

LeZotte cited the importance of attacking from the start.

“I think we’re learning that preparing well doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to play well,” noted LeZotte. “You have to bring that same urgency, energy and attention to detail into the game.

“We haven’t consistently done that from the opening snap, and that starts with me. We have to do a better job getting our guys ready to attack the game and respond when things don’t go our way.”

After two consecutive road games, the Wildcats are back home Friday night for a key matchup with undefeated Lowndes (7-0) in another regional matchup.

Lowndes is coming off a bye week after they routed Camden County, 50-13. The Vikings have been led by running back Mason Woods, who ran for 295 yards with four touchdowns two weeks ago, and he has rushed for 810 yards and scored 16 touchdowns this year. They accumulated 475 yards on the ground against Camden.

The Vikings have used six different quarterbacks, and Trey Robertson and Waylon Weidinger split time against Camden. But Lowndes is primarily a running team with 1,745 yards rushing and 614 yards passing.

Defensively, East Carolina recruit Maliek Patterson has a team-high 56 tackles and four interceptions, and Marcus Vaughn has five sacks and 44 tackles.

Lowndes defeated Richmond Hill, 41-23 last season, and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs, finishing with an overall 10-2 mark. They have a 20-4 record the past two seasons.

LeZotte is well aware of the Vikings, but he also wants his team to maintain its efforts throughout the season.

“It doesn’t matter who will play or where we play…we have to fight our tails off every week to have a shot,” stressed LeZotte. “They (Lowndes) have elite talent on both sides of the ball. We cannot make inopportune mistakes like we have the last two weeks.”

Quarterback Gunner Mobley, who completed 20 of 32 attempts for 277 yards with two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown last week, is confident his team can reverse its current course.

He sees his club making an impact against Lowndes and at Valdosta in two weeks to end the regular season.

“Friday’s game (last week) showed our fight as a team from start to finish,” offered Mobley. “It’s the little things we need to clean up to make a playoff run. We got a shot at two very good teams to finish our region play, and we are looking to make those count.”

LeZotte concurs with his quarterback.

“Coming off two very rough region losses, we have to find a way to get better,” said LeZotte. “Our region is unbelievably balanced, and our players need to believe they have a shot every time they step on the field.

Being 0–2 (region) puts us in a tougher position, certainly. Every opportunity matters, and we’ve made things harder on ourselves. But our focus has to stay on what we can control—how we prepare, how we execute and how we respond this week. There’s still meaningful football ahead of us. Our job is to make sure we’re playing our best football as we move forward.”

Paw Prints: Mobley has completed 93 of 154 attempts for 1,135 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions on the season…CJ Menzie ran for 123 yards against Camden, and he has 727 for the year with three touchdowns…Eli Grant caught six balls for 124 yards last week, and he has 31 catches for 526 yards with six touchdowns on the year…Jaylon Deal had 12 tackles last week and has a team-high 55 for the season. Jaleal Barnard has 36 tackles, and a team-high six sacks, and Layton Steigelman has 34 tackles…Richmond Hill has lost the last two meetings against Lowndes, and they last defeated them in 2023 by a 37-14 score.