The Richmond Hill High School Wildcats’ football team has been off to a good start this fall. Beginning the year by winning the first four games is no small feat. 

But after suffering a loss at the hands of Florida’s Buchholz with a score of 21-0, the Wildcats bounced back with two straight region wins over Tift County, 35-10, and Camden County, 24-20. While those two wins showed promise of what could be, the Wildcats traveled to Valdosta to take on the Wildcats and suffered a 41-0 loss. 

After the loss, Richmond Hill had a chance to get a reset, via their bye week on October 17, and will now host another team from Valdosta, this time in Lowndes High School, on October 24. 

Despite the bye week, Richmond Hill may have their hands full, as the Vikings are currently undefeated on the season, and sit in the drivers’ seat for the region, as they are in first place. 

Lowndes is bringing in a potent rushing attack that Richmond Hill hopes to slow down, having rushed for 2,352 yards and 36 touchdowns on the year. They are led by junior tailback Mason Woods, who has 1,009 of those yards, and 13 touchdowns on his own. The Vikings have also thrown for 700 yards on the year and 8 touchdowns. They are averaging 39.6 points per game, to just allowing 8.5 points per game. 

Richmond Hill currently sits at fourth in the region standings, with a 2-1 record in region play, and a 6-2 overall record on the year. The Wildcats are currently averaging 26 points per game, to just 14.3 points per game allowed on defense. The Wildcats just edge the Vikings in passing yards on the year with 940 as a team and 7 touchdowns. In the run game, the Wildcats have rushed for 1,035 yards and 21 touchdowns as a team, with senior Amire Miller leading the way at 563 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

“I think the biggest thing that will get us this win is trust and belief in each other,” senior tailback Amire Miller said. “We have to trust in the quarterback to get the ball to the receivers. Trust in the offensive line to block up the run correctly. We have to have belief that our defense will get us big time stops and special teams will give us great ball positioning. At the end of the day, everyone is going to fall back on our preparation and coaching and that will get us the win Friday night.”

The Wildcats hope that their home field advantage in their new stadium will be the key difference in the matchup, as they hope to knock off the number one team in the region and shake things up. Kickoff will be at 7:30pm.