Eli Grant, Tre Brown and Cannon Kuryla headlined a bevy of Richmond Hill players who earned Region 1-6A all-region honors. The team, voted on by region coaches, was announced this past weekend.
Grant, a junior wide receiver, earned first team honors after catching 41 passes for 573 yards and five touchdowns for the Wildcats (6-4) who open state playoff play at 7 p.m. Friday night at Buford. The Wolves (10-0) are a double-digit favorite as they begin pursuit of their 15th state championship and first since 2021.
Brown and Kuryla, who also excelled as a kicker for Coach Matt LeZotte’s team, were first teams on the defensive side of the ball. Brown had 44 tackles with four tackles for loss from his defensive lineman position while Kuryla had 53 tackles, two for loss, at cornerback. He was named honorable mention as a punter.
Kuryla was Richmond Hill’s second leading scorer as he had 35 points, all kicking: he converted 29 of 30 extra point attempts and made two of six field goals with a long of 42 yards. Kuryla averaged 36.2 yards per punt and put nine of his 35 kickoffs in the end zone.
The strength of the underclass dominated team—Richmond Hill has only 11 seniors on a roster showing 37 juniors, 28 sophomores and four freshmen—was its defense and it was reflected by having defensive linemen Kahleel Scott and Jaleal Barnard along with linebacker Jaylon Deal named to the second team.
Deal, a junior, had a team high 83 tackles, six for loss, seniors Scott and Barnard had 49 and 48 tackles, respectively. Kuryla and Barnard both had eight tackles for a loss. Linebacker Lance Steigelman was the Wildcats’ second leading tackler with 63 and he was honorable mention.
Offensively second team honors went to tight end Jack McGrath, wide receiver Marquis Muhammad and linemen Blake Whitaker and Cole Rory.
Earning offensive honorable mention honors were quarterback Gunner Mobley, running backs Amire Miller and C.J. Menzie and wide receiver Nick Cameron. In addition to Steigelman, defensive honorable mention went to defensive lineman Cory Simms and defensive backs Jayden Taylor, Grant, Muhammad and Walter Pugh.
D.J. Porter, one of several Wildcats who went both ways, was an honorable mention athlete as he played defensive back and wide receiver.
Coach of the Year was Shelton Felton of region champion Valdosta which swept the honors as it had the Region Player of the Year in Marquis Fennell, Offensive Player of the Year in Tyrieke Wade and Defensive Player of the Year in Zamarian Williams.
Special Teams Player of the Year was Aiden Andrews of Lowndes County and Athlete of the Year was David Coleman of Camden County.
Mobley, a first-year starter as a junior, led the Wildcats in passing as he completed 113 of 198 passes for 1,372 yards and 11 touchdowns. Miller had 645 yards rushing with 12 touchdowns.