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Wildcats headed to playoffs as #2 seed
Richmond Hill Football
Ty Goldrick (13) and Zion Gillard (30) waits for play call in game against South Effingham - photo by Gerald Thomas III

RICHMOND HILL -- Richmond Hill has won three of its last four games and Coach Matt LeZotte hopes that momentum will carry over into the GHSA Class 6A state playoffs.

The Wildcats (4-5) will be making their sixth straight appearance in the playoffs at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wildcats Stadium when they take on the Lovejoy Wildcats (4-5).

Quarterback Ty Goldrick and running back Zion Gillard will lead No. 2 seed Richmond Hill against a Lovejoy team that enters the playoffs riding a three-game losing streak.

Goldrick, a junior first-year starter, has completed 103-of-161 passes for 1,368 yards and Gillard, a junior who transferred from Long County, has 560 yards including 210 in the final game of the season against South Effingham.

In the 27-13 win over the Mustangs the 5-foot-10, 200-pound Gillard ran for 210 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. Senior Ryan Dekle has 393 yards on the ground and freshman Caleb Richardson has 239.                

Ravon Grant, a speedy junior, has 42 catches for 664 yards and he and Richardson each have two interceptions to lead the team. Nick Bliss has caught 20 passes for 243 yards. Grant had three games where he had over 100 yards receiving.               

If Richmond Hill is to advance to the next round for the fourth straight season it will need a strong showing by its defense which is led by linebacker Bodie Custer’s 73 stops. Safety Tommy Bliss has 47 tackles followed by Rahmaan Moore (45), Hayden McCullough (34) and Kemon Graham (33).                

By Lovejoy’s standards this has been a down year. The Clayton County school has made the state playoffs 11 of the last 12 years and twice during that span lost in the state championship game.

While Richmond Hill’s record may be suspect its five losses came against teams who were 38-12 overall. Beaufort (9-2) is currently in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs in South Carolina while Brunswick (10-0), Burke County (7-2) and Northside Warner-Robins (7-3) will be playing this weekend. Only Statesboro (5-5) failed to make the playoffs due to its losings it last two games of the season.