Jeff Moeller, sports correspondent
Richmond Hill head coach Matt LeZotte knew there was a little anxiety facing South Carolina-based and perennial power Wando for the first time before a large homecoming crowd at Wildcat Stadium last night. But it took just one play to relive his fears.
Quarterback Gunner Mobley laid a perfect sideline strike to Eli Grant in stride for an 80-yard touchdown, and the Wildcats (5-0) rolled to a 35-7 victory for their fifth-straight win to start the season.
LeZotte didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on the opening play, and he and his team took the cue from there. Soon afterwards, the outcome was easily decided.
“It’s kind of an exhale after you practice all week,” noted LeZotte. “ You want to make a big play on the first play of the game. The coaches last Sunday said I think we can do this and open up and take the top off. It was smooth after that.”
The Wildcats’ Layton Steigelman recovered a fumble on Wando’s first possession and marched down field on a seven-play, 62-yard drive, taking a 13-0 lead when Mobley hit Nick Cameron on a 29-yard post pattern.
A bad punt on Wando’s next possession gave the Wildcats’ excellent field position at midfield. Nine plays later, DJ Porter took an inside pitch and scored from four yards out for a 20-0 advantage.
However, things didn’t get any better for Wando (3-2). After they pieced together a methodical 11-play drive that took them down to the Richmond Hill 28 before a combined sack from Tre Brown and Jaleal Barnard, Brown then blocked a 51-yard field goal attempt.
From there, Richmond Hill would seal the game with a seven-play, 54-yard drive when Mobley again found Cameron, this time on another 29-yard scoring play with 3:12 left before halftime. Mobley ran in the two -point conversion, and the Wildcats had a 28-point cushion.
Mobley, who was a crisp 12-for-15 for 206 yards with the three scores, figured he could have a good game throwing the ball.
“We saw on film that our receivers could beat their guys over the top,” said Mobley. “We worked all week on that. We talked about getting a big play on the first play. To see it happen was really cool.”
Mobley entered the game coming off a 3-for-16, 81-yard, one interception performance against Ware last week, and he expected to have more of an effective passing attack.
“We had been working on throwing the ball more all week,” added Mobley. “We wanted to throw more and we were able to execute better.”
Mobley relished the homecoming atmosphere, and he was one of the homecoming king nominees.
“It was awesome to see a lot of our guys on the homecoming court,” said Mobley. “We were all excited to get a win on homecoming.
“It is always a little uneasy to play a South Carolina team, but we just had to do our job.”
LeZotte also was happy to see his passing game have a solid showing.
“Obviously we haven’t thrown the ball very well, and there have been situations where we should have thrown the ball well lately,” said LeZotte. “This was a situation where we did throw the ball well. I’m very proud of our guys. We were able to do some good things offensively and defensively. The best part was that we executed.”
It was another stellar effort for the Wildcats’ defense, which limited Wando to 173 yards of total offense.
Steigelman, who had seven tackles and a fumble recovery, was aware of a possible letdown.
‘This was kind of a trap game,” said Steigelman. “We knew they were really good and it was Homecoming. “There were a lot of distractions, but that first touchdown got us in a groove. But we went out there and did our job.”
Steigelman felt he and his teammates had a good reading of their opponent.
“There was nothing that we didn’t see from them,” added Steigelman. “We watched a lot of film on them and had our meetings.”
Steigelman was relieved that his team took care of business early after they had three straight games in which the outcome was decided in the final quarter.
“I told my teammates that we don't want games like we have had the past few weeks,” said Steigelman. “My heart was able to beat a little easier with this one.”
Both teams emptied their benches in the second half, and Wildcats’ sophomore running Marquez Sanders stood out with his 34 yards, 27 of them on a touchdown scamper late in the third quarter for the Wildcats; final score.
“He’s awesome,” said LeZotte. “He can find a little hole and he can go. He’s a high speed guy with great vision. He’s a young back breaking in and getting used to everything. It was great to see him get into the end zone.”
LeZotte was pleased to see his club gain control, and also have a complete game.
“I think it was the uncertainty with a little fear in our preparation,” he said. “You want to go out and make a statement against these guys. Some stuff we have to clean up, but you could tell they were a well-coached team, but our personnel was better
“Since I have been at Richmond Hill, we haven’t had too many games where you can exhale early,” added LeZotte. “When you're executing and hitting on all cylinders like we were and have a good ball club like we have, it makes exhaling all that more refreshing .
“It will make my coffee taste better in the morning.”
Wando 0 0 0 7 - 7
Richmond Hill 13 15 7 0 - 35
First Quarter
RH - Eli Grant 80 pass from Gunner Mobley (kick failed)
RH - Nick Cameron 29 pass from Mobley (Shane Tucker kick)
Second Quarter
RH - DJ Porter 4 run (Tucker kick)
RH - Cameron 29 pass from Mobley (Mobley run)
Third Quarter
RH - Marquez Sanders 27 run (Tucker kick)
Fourth Quarter
W - Corey DaCosta 11 pass from Oliver Todd (Cameron Moody kick)