While disappointed by the outcome, Richmond Hill coach Matt LeZotte came away from last Friday’s 20-6 loss to Ware County feeling good about the Wildcats’ prospects.

“I think we played well,” LeZotte said. “We were down a few key players but our players continued to play well. We had some missed opportunities on both sides of the ball that was the difference between winning and losing.”

The Wildcats led 7-6 after the first quarter but the Gators, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A, came back to forge a 12-7 halftime lead. Ware then scored late after thwarting a Richmond Hill drive to put the game on ice.

LeZotte said there were four plays which were pivotal in changing the game.

“On their first score Ware had only five guys on the line of scrimmage, an illegal formation, which was not called and it allowed them to connect on a long screen play,” LeZotte said. “We had an early fourth down conversion come up short: we had possession on their end of the field and we were physically wearing on them.

“There was a fourth down conversion (opportunity) in the fourth quarter with a few minutes left and we had a couple of mishaps that led us coming up short,” LeZotte said. “That ended a drive that would have given us a 13-12 lead should we have scored.

“On a third down conversion on Ware’s last drive we had some missed tackles and missed assignments to led to a long run that took the ball deep into our territory. They essentially had three plays on offense the entire night.”

Zion Gillard led the Wildcats in rushing with 101 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries and Joshua Ulrich added 37 on 12 attempts.

While moving the ball on the ground Richmond Hill was unable to break any big plays through the air. Ty Goldrick completed 18 of 31 passes for 85 yards with Ravon Grant catching 10. Grant, however, could pick up only 49 yards against the stingy Gator secondary.

Sophomore linebacker Lee Johnson had a solid night with eight tackles, one for a loss, and a deflected pass. He now shares the team lead for tackles with junior linebacker Gabe Bauman. Each has 21.

Richmond Hill will be looking to rebound when it takes on Jenkins (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wildcats Stadium. The Warriors dropped a 45-0 decision to Benedictine in their opener but rebounded with a 34-21 win at Bluffton, S.C., last Friday.

This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2013. Richmond Hill is 4-0 in the series.

“Our young team is becoming more and more seasoned in dealing with adversity,” LeZotte said. “We have yet to complete a pre-game warmup. There have been weather delays in each game.

“We were dialed in to the very end (against Ware) and that will pay dividends at the end of the season.”