As Auburn Mountainview’s Bitner Wilson emerged from the locker room, he expressed disappointment.

That seemed natural as the Lions squandered an early two-touchdown lead en route to a season-ending 23-14 loss Friday night against Bothell in the preliminary round of the Class 4A state playoffs at Auburn Memorial Stadium.

The Cougars (8-2) advanced to play in the first round of state Friday at Moses Lake.

Meanwhile, it marked the first time that Auburn Mountainview, which finished with a 5-5 record, failed to advance to state since 2013.

Now, Wilson and his teammates that return will have to wait almost 10 months to play another game.

“It’s all through the mental process,” Wilson said as he reflected on the outcome. “We want to come back and be a better team. I’m really excited.”

Wilson and his teammates had little difficulty moving the ball against the Cougars early as they scored on two of their first three possessions. Quarterback Talan Alfrey capped the Lions’ 12-play, 62-yard drive on their second possession with a 5-yard touchdown run. Auburn Mountainview then followed that with an 11-play, 70-yard that culminated with a 24-yard swing pass from Alfrey to Wilson to extend the lead to 14-0 with 11 minutes left in the second quarter.

But the Lions struggled to find any offensive consistency for the rest of the contest.

“We got up 14-0, but after that we couldn’t really sustain any drives,” Auburn Mountainview coach Jared Gervais said. “Mistakes – dropped snaps and 5-yard penalties – here and there really cost us. Against a team as good as Bothell, you just can’t make those kind of mistakes.”

That placed pressure on Auburn Mountainview to contain Bothell, which is the defending 4A state champion.

“It was a tough scheme on defense,” Bothell coach Tom Bainter said. “We don’t see that in KingCo. We thought we were going to be able to run the ball early and they took it away. They caused problems.”

That is when Bainter put the ball into the hands of 6-foot-5, 218-pound junior quarterback Jacob Sirmon. And Sirmon, who is committed to the University of Washington, did not disappoint. After the Lions’ second touchdown, he responded with a 29-yard scoring pass to Ryder Locknane. Sirmon completed 18 of 30 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown.

“He leads us,” Bainter said. “In the end, you put the ball in his hands and you feel good. He always gives us a chance to win.”

When Sirmon and the offense could not finish a drive, senior kicker James Johnston did. He converted on all three of his field-goal attempts from 30, 33 and 32 yards. The last one gave the Cougars their first lead, 16-14, with 8:43 remaining in the contest.

“Johnston led our league in kick scoring,” Bainter said. “We trust him and he did a great job.”

On three separate occasions during the second half, the Lions drove into Bothell territory. They turned it over on downs the first time, and Alfrey was intercepted on the next two.

“It was just missed assignments,” Wilson said. “We were thinking too much.”

The first interception by junior defensive back Dylan Singh gave Bothell possession at its own 48-yard line. Senior running back later broke a 48-yard run down the left sideline for the final score with 5:31 remaining. Junior defensive back DaVicious Wilson then picked off Alfrey on Auburn Mountainview’s ensuing possession to secure the Cougars’ fourth consecutive state-playoff berth.

While Gervais was disappointed with the result, he said he was proud of his team’s play – and how it responded to adversity. After all, the Lions lost their starting quarterback, junior Sui Daniels, to a fractured collarbone that ended his season Sept. 9 at Lincoln. Gervais expects to have him back, along with offensive standouts Alfrey and Wilson, next season.

“We lose some seniors and really good players, but we’re excited about the future,” Gervais said. “We’re proud of the way they played.”