LACEY — River Ridge’s goal entering year two under head coach Tim Claridge was to change the culture of the program.
That started with the construction of the 2026 schedule. Claridge wanted the Hawks to be challenged during the non-conference slate so that his team would be battle-tested once Puget Sound League play kicked off.
An 0-2 start isn’t necessarily how River Ridge wanted to start that non-conference schedule. But, there is palpable evidence that the Hawks’ DNA is starting to transform, especially after Thursday night.
River Ridge battled back from multiple double-digit deficits in the second half against Auburn Riverside and was 23 yards away from tying the game in the final minute, but the Hawks’ comeback fell gut-wrenchingly close in a 35-29 loss at South Sound Stadium.
“We intentionally scheduled two really good teams for the first two games of the season. We wanted to have competition. We wanted to get better,” Claridge said. “The way you get better is by playing better teams. We feel really good about the game that we played tonight. We fought through some adversity.”
Both quarterbacks put up gaudy numbers in the shootout. Auburn Riverside sophomore Colten Reid completed 12 of his 14 passes for 211 yards and four touchdown passes, while River Ridge senior Ryzen Nunez threw for four touchdowns and 200 yards on 11-of-17 passing.
It wasn’t such an exhilarating start for either offense in the first quarter, however, as both teams punted on their opening drives. But the Ravens eventually got rolling with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Reid to an open Brayden Rudolph.
Auburn Riverside surprised River Ridge with a pooched kickoff, and lineman Michael Hutchinson muffed the kick as the ball was wrapped up by the Ravens inside Hawks territory. They capitalized three snaps later with Reid’s second touchdown pass of the first quarter, this one to senior running back Emediong Ukpe.
Nunez nearly ended the first quarter with a 68-yard touchdown run off a scramble, but it was called back.
Needing to shake off a tough first quarter in which the offense only took six snaps, the Hawks finally put together a scoring drive to start the second quarter. Nunez found the end zone through the air, connecting with Ayden Rookwood for a 32-yard touchdown, but a blocked extra point kept it an eight-point game.
Reid continued to dice up the Hawks defense by threading the needle to a variety of Ravens receivers. He threw a dime in the back of the end zone to Sayon Rias, who did his best Antonio Brown “Tony Toe Tap” impression in traffic for a 13-yard score. Down 21-6, the Hawks methodically drove down the field in 10 plays and nearly five minutes. Xavier Street caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Nunez to cut the deficit to 21-14 just before the halftime buzzer, with River Ridge getting the ball back to start the second half.
Another lengthy drive by the Hawks — 12 plays and over seven minutes — was riddled with holding penalties. It ended in disaster as Nunez fumbled on a run that would’ve been a third-down conversion if no turnover had occurred.
Auburn Riverside made the Hawks pay, as Reid’s fourth touchdown pass of the night was thrown to Rias, giving the Ravens their 14-point lead back through three quarters.
But River Ridge just wouldn’t go away.
On the first snap of the fourth quarter, Nunez launched a deep ball to Rookwood, who broke away for a 60-yard touchdown. All of a sudden, 12 seconds into the fourth quarter, it was once again a seven-point game.
The fireworks continued with a long kickoff return by Rai Hampton, who set up a 30-yard touchdown run by Ukpe on the Ravens’ first play of the next drive. Yet again, Auburn Riverside’s lead grew to 14 with 11:24 remaining. Excluding the kneeldown just before halftime, the Ravens scored touchdowns on five consecutive drives.
For the third time Thursday night, Nunez and Rookwood cashed in deep down the field. Although Rookwood already had two touchdowns, the Ravens defense left him all alone on a 31-yard touchdown catch from Nunez, who then found Tyler McClellan in the end zone for the two-point conversion.
With 5:18 remaining, Auburn Riverside led by six, and the Hawks desperately needed a stop on defense.
Fueled by a sack from Nunez and a fourth-and-2 stop by Ozias Tinitali, River Ridge got exactly that.
“The guys stood tall,” Claridge said. “It could have been really easy to give up from behind. These guys stood tall and held their ground.”
The Hawks took the ball back at their 40-yard line with 1:40 left, and Nunez used his legs to put them on the brink of the red zone with under a minute to go. But on third-and-long and fourth-and-long, Nunez couldn’t connect with his receivers streaking toward the end zone, and the comeback effort came to a halt.
“We fought through, and that’s not easy to do. It’s really hard to play a good team, have them punch you in the mouth, and get back after it,” Claridge said. “We did a really good job of not hanging our heads. We did a really good job of playing as a team tonight.”
Nunez bounced back from a tough Week 1 performance at Kelso last weekend where he threw two interceptions and completed just five of his 13 passes. But against Auburn Riverside, he came alive with four touchdowns, three of which went to Rookwood, who took all three receptions to the end zone for a total of 123 yards. Nunez also rushed for 96 yards.
“Ryzen did a fantastic job. He made some calls on the field where he made adjustments and took control of the game by himself,” Claridge said of Nunez. “That’s impressive when a quarterback can do that and find success with it. One of the big things we talked about from last week was making sure that he’s dangerous on the field, and I think he showed tonight that teams better watch out for him.”
River Ridge (0-2) will travel to Shelton next Friday, Sept. 18.
