With playoffs on the line for Richmond Hill, the Wildcats came through when it mattered the most and delivered the Vikings a 37-14 loss at home, becoming playoff eligible after the victory.

“Man, I am just so proud of this football team and group of men,” head football coach Matt LeZotte said. “Little ol' Richmond Hill. Just so proud. We had the 'Mighty Vikings' of Lowndes come in here, and with our backs against the wall and all of the odds stacked against us, we prevailed. I am just so very proud.”

LeZotte and the Wildcats have plenty to be proud of after the performance that they put together against an inferior Lowndes football team. Rushing for over 300 yards as a team on the evening, Richmond Hill was giving Lowndes more than they could compete with, as two ‘Cats would finish with over 100 yards rushing apiece, and one more would go over 50 yards.

Senior athlete Nick Bliss would finish with 12 carries for 155 yards and a touchdown of 75 yards, as well as adding a rushing 2-point conversion, a receiving 2-point conversion and 5 catches for 36 yards. Joshua Troupe added 14 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown. Kirk Scott carried 11 times for 51 yards to go along with 9/13 and 88 yards passing with a touchdown. Caleb Easterling carried 4 times for 19 yards and a touchdown. Derrick Lum caught 2 passes for 38 yards.

The Plantation Lumber & Hardware Player of the Game went to Brandon McDonald who had 2 interceptions with one being returned for a touchdown and 5 total tackles, to go along with 2 receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown.

Richmond Hill would open up the scoring by driving the entire field with their potent rushing attack, and capped it off with a 15 yard rushing touchdown by Easterling. Two big penalties against Lowndes would prove to be costly in the field position game on the first drive, including one being called on by Lowndes' coach.

The ensuing Lowndes drive would seem to stall out, but the Vikings would make a gutsy play call, going for it on fourth down from their side of the 50. The Vikings would convert, but would throw the first of three interceptions on the evening to Brandon McDonald near the endzone. 

The Richmond Hill drive would stall, however, and Lowndes would take over, and would again throw an interception that would be returned for a touchdown by Aiden Grant, who also added 7 tackles on the evening. 

With both teams trading blows for much of the quarter, the scoring would stall until late in the second quarter. After back to back timeouts, one by each team, Richmond Hill’s Kirk Scott would connect with McDonald for a touchdown. A penalty by Lowndes gave Richmond Hill better field position to attempt a 2-point conversion, which was successful by Nick Bliss, and would take the score to 22-0 at the break.

Richmond Hill and Bliss did not take long to find the end zone yet again, as Bliss came in at Wildcat quarterback and scampered for 75 yards straight through the middle of the Lowndes defense, and the 2-point conversion would make the score 30-0 with 9:48 to go in the third.

Lowndes would strike back quickly, however, as senior tailback Jacarre’ Fleming made several great plays to get the Vikings down the field, including some elusive runs, that he would cap off with a rushing touchdown of his own to cut the lead to 30-7 with 8:09 left in the third quarter. 

On the ensuing drive, Kirk Scott would give the Vikings some hope, and great field position, when he threw an interception to Braylon Neal. The Vikings would score their second rushing touchdown of the evening, this time with junior quarterback Marvis Parrish carrying it in, to make it 30-14 with 4:59 to go in the third.

The Wildcats ran the ‘Wildcat’ formation for the remainder of the game, as Bliss and Troupe would share the load running the ball. Troupe would add his own touchdown late in the third quarter, to cap the scoring at 37-14 with 1:02 to go in the third quarter. 

Lowndes would make one last attempt to score with 5:25 to go in the ball game, however after three consecutive run plays inside the one-yard line, Fleming would attempt to dive over the pile to score and would be stuffed, and fumbled the ball away to the Wildcats.

Gabe Bauman would again lead the Wildcats in tackles with 11 on the evening, to go along with 2 tackles for loss. Lee Johnson also added 10 total tackles. Black Williams went 3/3 on PAT’s and Bliss recorded a blocked punt. 

“I am just so proud of these guys for finishing,” LeZotte said. “They battled all night and all year. Went through the pains of growing and getting better and it paid off for them. It paid off for us. I am proud. Little ol' Richmond Hill. Wow!”

Richmond Hill will travel to Moultrie to take on Colquitt County next Friday on 11/3. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm.