Raines defense reigns supreme in Northwest Classic blowout of Ribault

Raines put an exclamation point on its third consecutive unbeaten regular season on Saturday afternoon. The point, lots of them, came with a 52-13 blowout of rival Ribault in the 57th annual Northwest Classic at the Graveyard. Raines finished 10-0 and now awaits where it will be slotted for the state playoffs. The Vikings could be headed to Class 3A to defend their state championship under head coach Donovan Masline. Or they could sneak into the confusing Open division, a new postseason bracket that includes the state’s top eight teams by the MaxPreps rankings algorithm. That metric has been panned statewide for the wild fluctuations and confusing rises and drops of teams. Wherever the Vikings land, they’re going to be a problem. They have been a wrecking ball, especially on the defensive side of the ball. That unit was on full display against the Trojans. Raines was clinical against Ribault (5-5), using its bulldozing defense and special teams to take a 49-0 lead … in the second quart