The Richmond Hill record for most shutouts in a season by a football team is four by the 1996 and 2012 teams. The Wildcats got that many this past week capped by a 49-0 blanking of Everglades, Fl., on Friday night at Wildcats Stadium.
It all started with the much-delayed season opening win over Glynn Academy on Monday night and four nights later the varsity showed no lingering effects of a short week as it made quick work of the Gators who traveled 450 miles to take a beating.
In between the junior varsity and freshman teams blanked their opponents on Wednesday and Thursday nights, respectively.
“We needed it, needed it, needed it,” Coach Matt LeZotte said of the win over Everglades. “In a short week we needed a game like this.
“We had four games this week and didn’t give up a point in any of them and we gave up very few first downs. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
For the second straight game the Wildcats wasted no time in setting the tone for the evening. Against Glynn they drove 80 yards on their first possession and they repeated against the Gators (1-1) on a shorter 56-yard march which required eight plays and took 2:50 off the clock.
Gunner Mobley capped the drive with a 10-yard pass to Eli Grant on third down. The Gators were called for three penalties including a pass interference call that put the ball on the nine-yard line. After an incompletion and a running play which lost one-yard Mobley found Grant over the middle and the Wildcats were off and running.
“It’s all about the players,” LeZotte said when asked about the key to preparation for playing a second game in a five-day period. “It’s all about what you demand of them.
“You’ve got to understand what they’re going through,” LeZotte said. “I’m not the one out there playing.
“They’re the ones putting their bodies through it so we really took that into account. We cut back when we had to cut back and we pushed them when we needed to push them and they were able to respond.”
Richmond Hill (2-0) will now be looking for a normal week as it takes on New Hampstead (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wildcats Stadium. New Hampstead will be coming off a 23-20 loss to Effingham County.
After getting what turned out to be the only touchdown it needed, Richmond Hill wasted no time in making it 14-0 two plays after Grant’s score when Cannon Kuryla and Marquis Muhammad put a hard hit on a Gators running back causing a fumble.
Layton Steigelman alertly scooped up the ball and rambled 20 yards untouched for a score. Kuryla kicked his second extra point in a 54 second span and the rout was on.
Mobley, a junior who saw limited action last year as a backup, was 10-for-17 for 132 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.
After Steigelman scored, the Richmond Hill offense posted touchdowns on its next three possessions for a 35-0 halftime lead which assured a running clock in the second half.
Amire Miller made it 21-0 when he scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 1-yard run and he made it 28-0 on a 21-yard trip down the right side on 4th-and-3 with 9:59 left in the first half.
Mobley and DJ Porter assured there would be a running clock when on 3rd-and-9 they teamed up on a screen pass from 26 yards out. With excellent blocking in front of him Porter turned on the burners and coasted home.
The Wildcats got third quarter touchdowns from Jaylen Smith on a 12-yard run and Braeden Parsons who had a 15-yard run as the clock was running down. After Kuryla kicked the first two extra points Carson Cassidy kicked the next five.
Porter also had a 26-yard kickoff return while Tre Brown had four tackles, one for a sack, and Steigleman had three as the Wildcats substituted liberally throughout the game.
The school record for most shutouts to start a season is three by the 1995 team coached by Billy McGrath. The last time the Wildcats opened with two shutouts was in 2012 under Coach Lyman Guy.
