Enhanced competition and recruiting. Senior wide receiver/linebacker Michael Kramer said those were two primary reasons behind his decision to transfer from Black Hills High School of Tumwater to Auburn Mountainview midway through last school year.

“Moving up to the 4A level, I’m seeing a lot of better competition,” said Kramer, who contributed on both sides of the ball to the Lions’ 33-15 win Thursday night in a North Puget Sound League 4A Olympic Division game against Thomas Jefferson at Auburn Memorial Stadium. “Lots better quarterbacks, running backs and linemen.”

Kramer, who said he hopes to play baseball at Washington State University but is open to opportunities to play that sport or football at another college, moved in with his aunt to make with a desire to gain more exposure.

“It was great that she let me come up and live with her,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of aunts who would let a teenage boy into their house.”

Auburn Mountainview coach Jared Gervais is happy to have Kramer.

“He’s a very aggressive kid,” he said. “That is something that works well for us.”

The Lions’ slow start was magnified when Carlos Huizar’s 31-yard field-goal attempt was blocked and recovered by defensive end Sonny Fuavai, who returned it for an 84-yard yard touchdown with 4:31 remaining in the second quarter. That gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead.

“The first half was rough,” Kramer said. “I think we just were overlooking them. There were missed blocks and stupid penalties.”

But Auburn Mountainview responded with its own touchdown drive capped by Talan Alfrey’s 16-yard pass to Alex McBee to 1:59 left in the first half.

That is when Kramer stepped up with a fumble recovery at Thomas Jefferson’s 21-yard line. Three plays later, Alfrey found Ben Mose to give the Lions their first lead, 14-7, with 54 seconds remaining in the half.

“That fumble recovery was huge to swing our momentum,” Kramer said.

The Lions (3-2 overall, 3-0 league) opened the second half with five unanswered points on a block punt that resulted in a safety and Huizar’s 25-yard field goal. But Thomas Jefferson (1-4, 0-3) took advantage of a fumbled punt that gave it possession at Auburn Mountainview’s 29-yard line. Quarterback Mason Delacruz later scored on an 11-yard scramble to reduce the Raiders’ deficit to 19-14 with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter.

Again, enter Kramer.

On fourth-and-3 at Thomas Jefferson’s 34, he caught an 18-yard pass from Alfrey that helped set up Bitner Wilson’s 4-yard touchdown run.

“I got through the line and the ball was already up there and I caught it,” Kramer said. “I was worried that one of the defensive backs was going to take my head off.”

After Wilson scored his second touchdown of the fourth quarter on a 40-yard run, Kramer and his teammates celebrated their third consecutive win.

It is an opportunity he is grateful to have. Kramer has a scar that extends nearly the length of his right arm from a dirt-bike accident on Aug. 14, 2015, in Idaho as a reminder of how fortunate he is.

“I got thrown off about 35 mph and hit a rock that was probably 2 feet in diameter,” Kramer said. “You should’ve seen it when I first did it. It was all bloody and I had to ride 2 miles out of the trail with a separated shoulder, fractured hand and my arm all cut up.

“I was really lucky. It was about the best-case scenario that could’ve happened to me.”

Auburn Mountainview has won three consecutive games and plays rival Auburn at 7 p.m. Friday in a contest that could determine first place in the Olympic Division. It is not just the team that appears to be on an upward trajectory, though. More than 13 months removed from his accident, Kramer said he feels stronger each week.

“I couldn’t use my right hand for the first couple of games, but now I’m starting to get my strength and mobility back,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the next couple of games.”