As key seniors depart, Wildcats prep for upcoming football season

While it is only February, the Richmond Hill Wildcats are already preparing for the fall 2025 football season.

The Wildcats will look different next school year, by having new starters and being the first sport–in addition to volleyball and cross country–to have their season in the brand new campus set to open next school year.

The Wildcats will also seek to replace starters in all three phases of the game. While every team and sport must replace their seniors, this season is a bit different for Richmond Hill in comparison to other teams and programs in that nearly every starter in all positions will graduate this May. 

Their leading passer in quarterback Kirk Scott, who was also third on the team in rushing, is a senior. Their top three rushers, including Kennesaw State signee Joshua Troupe and Furman University signee Caleb Easterling are also seniors. Troupe rushed for 1,399 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2024, while Easterling added 521 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground. Scott had 495 yards passing with 5 touchdowns and 494 yards rushing with 6 touchdowns. 

Out wide, Easterling led the team in receiving yards with 239 yards and a touchdown. Several other seniors combined for over 100 yards receiving and three more touchdowns. As a group, the seniors combined for over half of the passing yards on the year and all but one touchdown receiving. 

With all of those seniors leaving, only two players had significant reps for the Wildcats, and both of those players will be rising seniors and likely team leaders this fall. Amire Miller had forty six carries on the season for 252 yards and two touchdowns. Nick Swain had 15 catches for 214 yards and secured the lone touchdown pass that was not caught by a senior. 

Defensively, the top three leaders in tackles were all seniors. Gabe Bauman, Berry University signee, who led the team with 97 tackles on the year, and Aiden Grant, who also signed with Berry, finished third in tackling with 45 total tackles, are both gone. Lee Johnson, who was second on the team in tackles with 94 tackles on the year, has committed to Division One James Madison. 

Cannon Kuryla was fourth on the team in total tackles, with 43 tackles, and had the highest number of tackles of non-seniors. Kuryla is a linebacker for the Wildcats and is also a rising senior who will likely be a team leader. Kuryla is also the team’s starting kicker, so the Wildcats will at least return some familiarity in the kicking game on special teams. 

The two leaders in sacks on the year, Tad Christman, who had 6 sacks, and Omar Khalil, with 5 sacks, are both seniors and will not be back for the 2025 season. Christman currently holds an offer from Faulkner University out of nearby Alabama. 

Linebacker Steven Robinson will make a return in 2025 and is a rising junior. He finished with 4 sacks on the year and tied with David Rivas, who is also a rising junior at the linebacker spot. Both of those young men look to take over starting roles in 2025. 

The Wildcats have already started installing their offenses and defenses with those athletes not in other sports, including getting some work in as a team by doing 7v7 afterschool on Wednesday afternoons.