Gulls thump Mules 26-20

The Raymond Gulls got on top of the scoreboard early and held on for a 27-20 non-league football win over the visiting Wahkiakum Mules last Friday.

The Mules took the initial lead with a 92-yard touchdown run by Kyle Bergquist.

The Gulls controlled most of the game from that point on and put four touchdowns on the board, one on an interception return.

The Mules scored twice in the fourth quarter. The first touchdown came on a 45-yard pass play from Brandon Fudge to Ryan Helms. Wyatt Parker scored late in the quarter on a four-yard run.

"The interception return hurt," said Mule Coach Eric Hansen. "And in one of their touchdown pass plays, the ball went through our defender's hands, and their guy caught it to score.

"We just didn't play a very good first half of football, but we came out in the second half and shut them down with the exception of the six-point interception return."

The Mule offense put up 189 yards rushing and 179 yards passing, with 13 first downs. Raymond had 202 yards rushing, 99 in the first quarter, and 133 yards passing with 13 first downs. The Mules fumbled four times, losing one, and Raymond had no fumbles.

Parker gained 77 yards rushing for the Mules and caught three passes for 47 yards. Cameron Elliott had 69 yards rushing. Filling in for regular quarterback Lars Blix, who strained a knee in practice on Wednesday, Fudge completed 11 of 20 passes with two interceptions for 179 yards and one touchdown. Ryan Helms caught three passes for 94 yards and the touchdown; Bergquist, Zach Pierce and John Chambers each caught a pass.

On defense, Kohl Bergseng had 11 tackles, Tylor Russell nine, Elliott and Brett Chaput six each, Fudge, Pierce and Nathan Cothren five each, and Parker, Bubba Calvert and Helms four each.

The Mules host 1-7 Vancouver Christian on Friday in their final regular season game.

Next week, Central and Pacific league teams will play crossover games to determine postseason playoff berths. The first place teams will host the fifth place teams; the second place teams will host the fourth place teams, and the Central third place team will play at the Pacific third place team.