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Season-ending win a big one for RHHS
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The Wildcats didn’t make the playoffs. They didn’t even have a winning record, but for the first time since 1996 Richmond Hill football had four wins in a season.
The 32-21 victory over South Effingham was a milestone that first-year coach Lyman Guy sees as a good first step in getting his program headed in the right direction.
“It was a great way to end ... with a win, and it was good for our program,” Guy said.
The Wildcats traveled to South Effingham in September and brought home a one-sided 38-21 win.  
This game was anything but one sided and went back and forth all night.
Richmond Hill took advantage of an early fumble and a nifty 20-yard reverse to Alvin Early set the tone on the first play from scrimmage. A 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Eli Thompson ended the opening drive, but the 2-point conversion try failed. The touchdown was Thompson’s team leading 11th rushing touchdown of the season and the final of his very successful senior season.
But South Effingham came right back.
After Tony Hunter and Joshua Mercer began moving the ball on the ground, Hunter finished the drive with a touchdown pass to Shae Hudson. David Smith’s extra point kick gave the Mustangs their first lead 7-6 -- but it didn't last long.
Junior running back T.J. Franklin gave the fans in attendance a glimpse of what they can look forward to next season.
After Thompson’s long run to the 10 set up Franklin’s 1 yard strike and gave the Wildcats the lead back, Franklin added two more touchdowns.
The first was an 80-yard burst where he simply outran the Mustang defense. He added a 36-yard score and finished the game with 149 yards rushing on just six carries.
The Mustangs showed some character in the third period after being down 19-7 at the half, recovering a Wildcat fumble. South Effingham drove the ball 70 yards and scored on a 28-yard run from Mercer.  28 yard run. The Mustang added a 49-yard scamper for a score from Hunter to take a 21-19 lead.
But Guy praised his team's  ability to find a way to win after last week's late turnover helped Brunswick to a comeback win.
The Wildcats recovered the Mustangs' ensuing onside kick at midfield, then used the running of sophomore David Katzman to garner two quick first downs before Franklin struck for the final time with his 36-yard scoring run.
The Wildcat defense came up big too, twice stopping the Mustangs on downs in their own end of the field. On a fourth down run just after the start of the fourth quarter, Hunter was stopped for no gain by Wildcat defenders Andy Balas and Conner Beeson to turn the ball over on downs.
That stop led to an insurance 48-yard  TD carry from Alex Cruz and the Wildcats finished with 430 yards of rushing in Guy's triple option offense. 
Defensively, Richard Cohen finished with 8 tackles and 1 assist, Beeson added 8 tackles and Mark Smith had 6 tackles.
Richmond Hill finished the season with a 6-4, 0-5 record.

Cross Country
Richmond Hill’s girls team ran at the state tournament in Carrollton on Saturday and represented their team well and as a team finished 28th out of 31 teams competing. The girls finish and times:

158 Morgan Stubblefield  - 23:37
159 Tina Shwayri - 23:39
160 Chelsey Callahan - 23:52
168 Taylor Carpenter - 24:26
170 Shanee McKee - 24:37
178 Arisa Spill - 25:06

Coach Levi Sybert was not available for comment at press time because the team was preparing for their post season banquet on Monday. Look for more coverage soon.
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