By: Joseph Stuckey

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Richmond Hill Wildcats football team is looking to take a big step in 2026, building off of their success in 2025.

The Wildcats play in the newly added 7-A class, which is GHSA’s highest classification. Their region is one of the most competitive in the state and consists of: Camden County, Colquitt County, Lowndes, and Valdosta.

Last year they made the state playoffs as the 4 seed coming out of Region 1 in 6-A (was GHSA’s highest classification at the time). The Wildcats would take an early exit after drawing national power Buford High School in the first round on the road.

This year, they look to play well during the regular season and use the GHSA’s new power-ranking formula for playoff seeding to their advantage.

To do this, they will rely heavily on senior quarterback Gunner Mobley. Last season, he got region honorable mention, and during the season he threw for over 1400 passing yards and was responsible for 13 touchdowns. He was also named a top-5 quarterback in the greater Savannah area.

The schedule sets up pretty well for the Wildcats. By being in GHSA’s highest classification, most of their games outside of region play will be against lower-classification teams and should favor the Wildcats.

They will take on a nearby opponent in the Effingham County Rebels. In this game, On3 gives the Wildcats an 86% chance to win this game. Effingham County is a solid opponent that hosted a first-round playoff game last year in GHSA’s second-highest classification (5-A).

They will also take on another nearby opponent with Liberty County; according to On3, this game should be all Wildcats as they are given a 99% chance to win this game.

The Wildcats will also take on Jenkins out of Savannah, who has become one of the toughest opponents for any team can face in the 912 area code. Another one of South Georgia’s perennial powerhouses is also on the schedule for Richmond Hill.

The Wildcats will take on the Gators of Ware County in what is sure to be one of the top games of the year in South Georgia.

The Wildcats will also compete in a border-battle game as they take on Wando High School, which is located near Charleston, South Carolina. This is the only out-of-state game on the schedule for the Wildcats in 2026.

Richmond Hill will also take on West Georgia powerhouse East Coweta in what is sure to be one of the top games of the week in the state. On3 has this game at basically a coin flip, with it being listed as 41-59 favoring East Coweta.

Finally, to end the season, the Wildcats will take on the South Georgia Gauntlet; their region play will consist of games against Colquitt County, Camden County, Lowndes, and Valdosta in that order to end the season.

The bonus here is that each of those teams has the potential to be a playoff team, which should boost Richmond Hill’s power ranking under the new GHSA formula.

I see Richmond Hill as a team that, based on its strength of schedule, is able to compete for a top 16 seed and could potentially host a home playoff game in the first round of the GHSA state playoffs.