Liberty County built a 25 point lead before Richmond Hill finally broke through at the end of the second quarter with a turnover and a trick play. The Panthers made the score stand up in a closely played second half to spoil the Wildcats Homecoming 32-13.

The first half was dominated by Liberty County and it started with the opening kickoff. Richmond Hill’s return only made it to the 9 yard line. It would be the first of four straight kickoff returns that failed to get Richmond Hill in starting position beyond their 16 yard line. The result was allowing the already talented Panthers the advantage of playing on a 50 yard field.

The Panthers hit the ground running with two early successful scoring attempts. The second was by Panthers star running back Shedrick Thorton. Thorton rushed for over 150 yards on the night and while he scored just this once, he was heavily responsible for helping set up the others that would follow.

The Wildcats first half troubles continued as they had a field goal kicked against them, had a punt blocked in to the end zone for a safety and then had Panther quarterback Julian Stokes score on the ensuing free kick possession. It was 25-0 and all of this before Richmond Hill had picked up a first down.

Afterward, Richmond Hill’s head coach Lyman Guy talked of his team having to overcome their culture of "not believing" and of having to "challenge" his team each and every week to get a response.

A long, high Sam Vernon punt was met with a perfectly timed hit on the would-be Panther punt returner by Albert Reddick. Reddick recovered the muff at the Panther 25 yard line with just 20 seconds left in the half. Richmond Hill reached into its bag for a play they hadn’t used yet.

Zach Broome took the snap in the shotgun and started to his left like the quarterback sweep but this time pitched to his wide receiver coming the other way. Matt Williams took the pitch, set his feet and threw a strike to Dale Richardson waiting in the end zone.

Richmond Hill’s defense responded to the momentum change by forcing the Panthers to punt for the first time at the start of the third quarter, and the offense responded as well.

The Wildcats started at the 46 yard line and managed first downs from running back Terrell Morise and Broome before Zach Denney broke free through the middle of the Panther defense for a 33 yard score. Lori Barnes kicked the extra point to finish the Wildcat scoring.

Richmond Hill held Liberty County scoreless in the third and allowed one touchdown in the fourth. A much different result than their first half effort garnered, it was more like a different team had come out of the locker room.

The Wildcats fell to 3-6, 0-5 on the season and will play their final game at Washington County Friday. The Panthers (7-3, 4-2) will spend their bye week getting ready for their first round state playoff birth.