Darol Ratsavongsy ran for 101 yards on 13 rushes for RHS. Alex Sida gained another 81 yards on 10 carries for the Seagulls.
Raymond led 21-14 late in the third quarter after a 31-yard run by Darol Ratsavongsy followed by a 2-point conversion run by Alex Sida. Sida also had a 27-yard TD run. Rayce Newman added 56 yards on 12 carries.
Elliott Murdock spearheaded the Gulls on defense with 10 tackles and Marvin racked up 9.
“Marvin and Elliott were both flying around, and making plays for us,” Clements said.
The Seagulls (1-1) committed 4 turnovers, all in the second half.
“This was a tough game for us and our athletes,” Raymond head coach Rob Clements told the Herald. “We felt like we controlled the whole game. It was our mistakes, and our inability to focus on the most fundamental parts of football that cost us the victory. Charles Wright is a good team, and they were able to take advantage of our miscues and pull out the victory.
“We forced a fumble on their first drive, and drove in 11 plays for the touchdown, a 26-yard run by Alex Sida on 4th and 6,” Clements said. “We then stopped them on downs, and drove 46 yards on 8 plays, capped off by a Rayce Newman run from 6 yards out. Rayce did an excellent job reading the option all night. The line handled their size very well.
“Charles Wright scored on their next drive,” Clements said. “Helped by a penalty that would have made it 3rd and 11. We can't hand teams another chance. We have to be smarter. We then drove down to the 8-yard line, but an early snapped forced us into 4th and 8 and we couldn't convert the fourth down.
“The penalty and the false snap were like our tipping point,” Clements said. “I felt like some of our players were fighting for air after those two plays. We can't let this happen; we need to be able to take each play as an individual opportunity to be perfect.
“After the half we would move the ball well, but fumble, or throw an interception,” Clements said. “We did not punt in the game. They tied the game after a lost fumble, but we took the lead on the nextdrive on a Darol Ratsavongsy 31-yard touchdown run. Sida ran the conversion in and we were up 21 to 14.
“Charles Wright scored their next play from scrimmage, and the game was tied at 21 going into the fourth,” Clements continued. “We drove to the 45, but they forced us to punt. They then went on a 16-play drive to take the lead for good with 2 minutes left. We would not score on our last chance. We obviously have some very fundamental things we need to work on going forward.”
Raymond visits Winlock Friday at 7 p.m. The Cardinals are 0-2 having lost to Morton-White Pass (68-0) and Wahkiakum (41-0).