Class 6A Blog: Richmond Hill hosts Glynn Academy for season opener

When Week 2 kicks off this week there are going to regions in Class 6A that are tending their wounds after a tough Week 1 and others that are marching into the action confidently. Region 1 was a perfect 5-of-5 this past week with Camden County, Colquitt County, Lowndes, Tift County and Valdosta all winning their season openers. Now, Richmond Hill will open its schedule this Friday against a tough Glynn Academy team and the Wildcats have an opportunity to complete a clean sweep of season openers.

Richmond Hill has a lot to be excited about after a tremendous 7-3 season in 2024. The Wildcats opened their season with a 6-0 start and defeated arch-rival Valdosta 35-14 when the Wildcats were ranked No. 4 in the classification. Ultimately, Richmond Hill narrowly missed out of the postseason after tough losses to Lowndes and Colquitt County to close out the year, but the foundation built in 2024 is something that the program is excited to build upon in 2025. Head coach Matt Lezotte has seen the program and school make tremendous progress since accepting the job in 2015 and says the goal this year is to “win them all”. We witnessed Calhoun High School go from a team that missed out of the playoffs in 2023 to go on and win the state title the very next season and Richmond Hill is ready to make noise when they kickoff 2025, putting last season behind them and preparing to take on one of the toughest regions in the state.

“It’s really tough with six very talented teams in our region,” said Lezotte. “Someone is going to be sitting at home and all we can do is work on the things we can control and that is our effort.”

The Richmond Hill school zone is in the midst of a booming population growth and that has run parallel to the upward trajectory of the team’s success on the football field.

Feeling confident in the foundation that has been laid during his tenure, coach Lezotte and his team have much to look forward to including a brand new school building and state-of-the-art facilities that are set to open.

With the new facilities, Coach Lezotte has used a ‘cleaning house’ approach and has made sure the team is taking the positives into the future and leaving the past in the rearview mirror.

Not only is the school going to look much different with the new building, but the team is also going to have a new identity and group of leaders in 2025. The graduation of Joshua Troupe has opened up the opportunity for Amir Miller to step in as the premiere running back and Coach Lezotte is excited to see what Miller can accomplish this season.

“Joshua Troupe was great with our gap run scheme and he had as good as a back half of the season that is possible,” said Coach Lezotte. “With Amir Miller, he is a four-down back and the big difference with him is the top-end speed. He was a backup to Joshua last year, but we feel good about him and believe he has what it takes to surpass what we saw last year. He is great catching out of the backfield and is a power back at 200 pounds and is a low 4.5 40-yard dash guy.”

Last year, Troupe finished with 139.9 yards per game and led the way with 18 rushing touchdowns off of 221 carries. There is no doubt that the Wildcats will continue to play their brand of football that includes an emphasis on running the football, however, the passing game is going to play a larger role this year with the pass catching ability of Miller, the arm talent of quarterback Gunner Mobley and an offensive line that has been working relentlessly on pass protection. Coach Lezotte is also pleased with Mobley’s grasp of the offense and its goals.

“He has an understanding of what we are trying to do and what we are trying to accomplish offensively,” said Lezotte. “As far as being a student of the game and understanding the why we do things, Gunner has stood out in that capacity.”

The success that Richmond Hill has experienced over the last several seasons can be characterized by the program’s ability to make great strides forward and avoiding taking any steps back. Now, the Wildcats have a fresh opportunity to establish themselves as a premiere South Georgia program and Coach Lezotte is excited with what he has seen this offseason. After hosting a youth camp that had record attendance and support from the Wildcats community, Coach Lezotte shared that enthusiasm.

"Our team is going to look a lot different this year,” said Lezotte. “Up front, both lines of scrimmage are not as big as some of the previous teams, but the athleticism is greater with this group. We are going to be able to move a lot better and the offensive line has shown that they are improved in pass pro.”

FINDING ANSWERS…

On the other end of that spectrum, Region 7 was 1-of-5 this past week with Norcross being the only team that found the win column Week 1. In addition to Region 1, Region 4 with a 5-2 record was the only region that produced a winning record last week at 5-2. Region 3 went .500 with a 4-4 mark and the rest of the classification was sub-.500 with Region 8 (2-3), Region 6 (3-4), Region 2 (2-3) and Region 5 (3-4). Today’s blog will provide all of the Week 1 results and also look ahead to each of the 52 total matchup.

In Region 1, Camden County and Tift County will take on out-of-state opponents, while Colquitt County, Lowndes, Richmond Hill and Mundy’s Mill all face lower classifications. Region 2 is favored in all five of its matchups in the Maxwell computer predictions and Region 3 heats up with a top 10 showdown between McEachern and Region 5’s North Cobb. Region 4 will see No. 1 ranked Grayson take on powerhouse Rabun Gap as the top matchup and outside of North Cobb, Region 5’s Walton has a test against Region 6’s Lambert that will pin two 0-1 teams. The top matchup in Region 7 will be Norcross against Region 8’s Mill Creek and Region 8’s Buford will travel all the way to Savannah to take on Class 4A’s Benedictine.

CLASS 6A WEEK 1 STANDINGS AND SCHEDULE

REGION 1

Camden County 1-0

Colquitt County 1-0

Lowndes 1-0

Tift County 1-0

Valdosta 1-0

Richmond Hill 0-0

Friday, Aug. 15

Camden County 44, Brunswick 35

Colquitt County 27, Benedictine 24

Lowndes 43, Jenkins 20

Tift County 35, Griffin 31

Valdosta 63, Tucker 19

Friday, Aug. 22

Camden County vs. East Lake (FL)

Colquitt County vs. Monroe

Lowndes vs. Mt. Zion-Jonesboro

Richmond Hill vs. Glynn Academy

Tift County vs. Gadsden County (AL)

Valdosta vs. Mundy’s Mill

REGION 2

Carrollton 1-0

Douglas County 1-0

Chapel Hill 0-1

East Coweta 0-1

Westlake 0-1

Friday, Aug. 15-16

Carrollton 48, Woodward Academy 21

Campbell 21, Chapel Hill 7

Sandy Creek 28, East Coweta 21

Hughes 46, Westlake 21

Douglas County 21, North Gwinnett

Friday, Aug. 22

Carrollton vs. Columbia

Chapel Hill vs. Osborne

Douglas County at Jonesboro

East Coweta at Newnan

Westlake vs. Douglass

REGION 3

Campbell 1-0

Harrison 1-0

Hillgrove 1-0

McEachern 1-0

Osborne 0-1

Paulding County 0-1

Pebblebrook 0-1

South Cobb 0-1

Friday, Aug. 15-16

Campbell 21, Chapel Hill 7

Harrison 49, Kennesaw Mountain 14

Hillgrove 46, Mountain View 7

Banneker 32, Osborne 9

Hiram 30, Paulding County 6

Locust Grove 41, Pebblebrook 7

South Forsyth 36, South Cobb 14

McEachern 50, Walton 17

Friday, Aug. 22

Campbell vs. South Forsyth

Harrison vs. Wheeler

McEachern vs. North Cobb

Osborne at Chapel Hill

Paulding County vs. North Atlanta

South Cobb at Banneker

REGION 4

Grayson 1-0

Grovetown 1-0

Newton 1-0

Rockdale County 1-0

South Gwinnett 1-0

Archer 0-1

Heritage-Conyers 0-1

Friday, Aug. 15

Grayson 51, Collins Hill 3

North Cobb 28, Archer 14

Grovetown 42, Lakeside-Evans 17

ML King 24, Heritage-Conyers 16

Newton 39, Eastside 24

Rockdale County 40, Salem 0

South Gwinnett 14, Shiloh

Friday, Aug. 22

Archer at Seckinger

Grayson vs. Rabun Gap

Grovetown vs. Greenbrier

Heritage-Conyers vs. Salem

Newton at Alcovy

Rockdale County vs. Forest Park

South Gwinnett at Dutchtown

REGION 5

Etowah 1-0

North Cobb 1-0

North Paulding 1-0

Cherokee 0-1

Marietta 0-1

Walton 0-1

Wheeler 0-1

Friday, Aug. 15-16

River Ridge 28, Cherokee 23

Etowah 38, Woodstock 31 OT

Gainesville 26, Marietta 7

North Cobb 28, Archer 14

North Paulding 41, Parkview 27

North Forsyth 25, Wheeler 21

McEachern 50, Walton 17

Friday, Aug. 22

Cherokee vs. Sequoyah

Etowah at Sprayberry

Marietta at West Forsyth

North Cobb at McEachern

North Paulding at East Paulding

Walton at Lambert

Wheeler at Harrison

REGION 6

North Forsyth 1-0

South Forsyth 1-0

West Forsyth 1-0

Alpharetta 0-0

Denmark 0-1

Forsyth Central 0-1

Lambert 0-1

North Atlanta 0-1

Thursday, Aug. 14-15

Hebron Christian 29, North Atlanta 22

West Forsyth 27, Douglass 0

Sequoyah 24, Denmark 21

East Forsyth 19, Forsyth Central 15

Mill Creek 30, Lambert 16

North Forsyth 25, Wheeler 21

South Forsyth 36, South Cobb 14

Friday, Aug. 22

Alpharetta at Kell

Denmark vs. River Ridge

Forsyth Central at Winder-Barrow

Lambert vs. Walton

North Atlanta at Paulding County

North Forsyth vs. Creekview

South Forsyth at Campbell

West Forsyth vs. Marietta

REGION 7

Norcross 1-0

Duluth 0-0

Meadowcreek 0-0

Berkmar 0-1

Brookwood 0-1

North Gwinnett 0-1

Parkview 0-1

Peachtree Ridge 0-1

Friday, Aug. 15-16

Lakeside-DeKalb 49, Berkmar 13

Norcross 16, Lanier 12

North Paulding 41, Parkview 27

Roswell 45, Peachtree Ridge 17

Houston County 31, Brookwood 24

Douglas County 21, North Gwinnett 7

Friday, Aug. 22

Berkmar at Cedartown

Brookwood vs. Shiloh

Duluth at Centennial

Meadowcreek at Dacula

Norcross at Mill Creek

Peachtree Ridge vs. West Broward (FL)

REGION 8

Buford 1-0

Mill Creek 1-0

Central Gwinnett 0-0

Dacula 0-0

Collins Hill 0-1

Discovery 0-1

Mountain View 0-1

Friday, Aug. 15

Buford 20, Milton 13

Grayson 51, Collins Hill 3

Walnut Grove 43, Discovery 20

Mill Creek 30, Lambert 16

Hillgrove 46, Mountain View 7

Thursday, Aug. 21

Discovery vs. New Manchester

Friday, Aug. 22

Buford at Benedictine

Central Gwinnett vs. Stone Mountain

Collins Hill at Woodward Academy

Dacula vs. Meadowcreek

Mill Creek vs. Norcross

Mountain View vs. Lanier

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