Richmond Hill is headed to the Class 6A state football playoffs with the herculean task of taking on unbeaten and nationally ranked Buford. Despite the Wolves' lofty status, the Wildcats will not go into the game intimidated.
Coach Matt LeZotte’s team may be the only team in the state, certainly the only one in Class 6A, to have finished its season by playing three straight games against teams ranked in the top 10: Valdosta, Lowndes County and Colquitt County.
So, Richmond Hill is accustomed to playing tough competition. In addition to its region brethren it also played Buchholz (9-1) of Gainesville, Fl., which enters its state playoffs as the No. 2 team in Florida in Class 6A and No. 12 for all classes.
The Wildcats (6-4) did admittedly lose all three games against the Region 1 powers but other than a 41-0 loss at Valdosta (9-1) they were competitive in the others, especially last Friday night against No. 8 Colquitt County (8-2) as they dropped a 28-21 decision to the Packers at Wildcats Stadium.
Buford (10-0) obviously represents a tremendous challenge but the Wildcats won’t be making the trip with a sense of dread but rather looking at it as another opportunity to prove themselves. That’s the only mindset LeZotte and his staff will let them take.
Valdosta claimed the region championship with a 23-14 win over Lowndes (9-1) last Friday night. The Wildcats, Vikings and Packers all finished 4-1 in region play but the title went to Valdosta on tie-breakers although Colquitt owned an 18-17 win over Valdosta.
The win enabled Valdosta to jump to No. 5 in the final AJC Class 6A rankings of the season. Lowndes is No. 6 and Colquitt is at No. 9. Grayson (10-0) is No. 1 and Buford is No. 2.
Richmond Hill, thanks to wins over Tift County and Camden County, had secured its playoff spot after beating Camden. A win over the Packers would have earned the Cats a No. 3 seed and a more favorable matchup with Mill Creek
Instead, it’ll be a trip to Buford and its new $60 million stadium with a chance at making some history against a school which owns 14 state and 33 region championships. This will be the first ever meeting between Richmond Hill and the Wolves.
Against Colquitt the Wildcats fell behind early when the Packers scored on their fourth play from scrimmage as quarterback Cohen Lawson found Antwan Lockett on a crossing pattern which turned into an 87-yard touchdown.
Showing their mettle the Wildcats responded with a touchdown pass of their own as junior quarterback Gunner Mobley hit Jack McGrath on a 37-yard scoring pass to make it 7-7 after the first quarter.
Mobley and Lawson both had three scoring passes with Lawson hitting Malik Walker from 24 yards out in the final minute of the second quarter to give his team a 14-7 lead at the half.
The Wildcats tied it at 14-14 when Mobley and DJ Porter teamed up on a 28-yard score. Colquitt regained the lead on a touchdown by running back and Georgia commit Jae Lamar and then made it a 28-14 game when Lockett hauled in a 27-yard scoring strike at the start of the fourth quarter.
Richmond Hill got within one score when Mobley struck again on a 24-yard pass to Nick Swain with nearly nine minutes to play. The Wildcats, however, were unable to close the gap.
Mobley completed 24 of 36 passes for 261 yards and the three touchdowns while being picked off once. Eli Grant had a big night, too, as he caught 11 passes for 122 yards. Cameron had four catches for 40 yards, McGrath two for 37, Swain four for 32 and Porter had one catch.
The Wildcats struggled to run the ball with Amire Miller leading the way with 31 yards on 15 carries. Jaylen Deal and Cannon Kuryla led the Richmond Hill defense with eight and six tackles, respectively. Kuryla, who kicked all three extra points, had one sack and two tackles for a loss.