Rainier football loses nailbiter against Raymond-South Bend

Despite a valiant fourth quarter comeback effort from Rainier High School, the Mountaineers fell to Raymond-South Bend 27-26 on Friday, Sept. 12, in Rainier.

With limited time remaining in the fourth quarter and trailing 27-20, the Mountaineers needed a touchdown to bring the game to just a one-point contest. Freshman quarterback Jackson Stockdale was up for the task, leading his team to the endzone late in the game to bring the tie within reach.

The Mountaineers offense remained on the field after the late touchdown, but ultimately failed a two-point try — which would’ve potentially handed Rainier its first win of the 2025 season. After the failed two-point conversion, the Mountaineers attempted an unsuccessful onside kick. After a first down by Raymond-Sound Bend, the Ravens clinched the victory by kneeling the game out.

“We had a two minute drive there to end the first half where we ended up throwing about a 25-yard touchdown, and then the drive there at the end of the game. With a freshman quarterback, we don’t want to drop back and sling it 20 times a game like we would’ve with Meldrum at the helm. The little nuances that Jackson Stocksdale, our quarterback, has picked up this year has been tremendous. He did an outstanding job doing that this early in the season,” Andy Bartell, Rainier’s head football coach, told the Nisqually Valley News. “The strides he made from week one to week two were astronomical in my opinion. The fact he was able to do the things he did and make the reads with the game on the line, just being a freshman, says a lot about the preparation and training he does. It’s a great sign for our program to see that he’s as far along as he is in week two.”

The coach also gave credit to the Raymond-South Bend offense for wearing out the Mountaineers’ defense late in the game. Bartell believes his team’s conditioning, offensively and defensively, late in the game will continue to improve as the season goes by.

“A lot of credit to Raymond. Their running back, that fullback kid, runs the ball hard. He runs extremely well. When we get tired on the defensive side, we start tackling, as we say, like we’re hugging our grandma with our arms out and butt away. We need to be more physical, even when we’re tired,” Bartell said. “For us to rush the ball there in the first half was really good. Kaden Goodman had three carries for 78 yards and a touchdown, which was really good for us. We couldn’t get, in the second half, our other two seniors, Jayden Alegarbes and Dorien Cano, really going. It was a lot better than week one, and we’re making big strides which is a good sign.”

Bartell also believes there are a couple of simple aspects to clean up on each side of the football, such as limiting self-inflicted mistakes on offense and being more physical late in the game on defense.

“On the offensive side of the football, we definitely need to clean up things that are drive killers for us. We can’t beat ourselves. We can change up the snap count, go on two or go on the first sound. We also have to limit and clean up the holding penalties. Those are drive killers,” Bartell said. “We’re not as dynamic as we used to be with some of the seniors that’ve left us, so we really need to stay on schedule. We need to clean up offensively, what we call drive killers with pre-snap penalties and holding calls that can put us in down-and-distance.”

The Mountaineers will return home on Friday, Sept. 19, to host Morton-White Pass. The contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.