The Auburn Trojans literally came with an inch of beating the Thomas Jefferson Raiders on Friday at Auburn Memorial Field.
After slugging it out for four quarters and trailing 8-7, the Trojans (2-1 South Puget Sound League North 4A, 2-1 overall) found themselves at the Raiders’ (2-1, 2-1) 4-yard line with just seconds on the clock.
“The decision was should we go for a field goal or run it in,” Auburn coach Gordon Elliott said. “And our field goal kicking is an adventure at best, so I decided I’d rather put it in the hands of our offense.
“It’s a do-or-die situation, and I thought we had better odds of doing that at that point, rather than going with our kicking game.”
With no time outs and the clock running down, the Trojans put it in the hands of junior running back Darnell Hagans, who fought his way through the Jefferson defense before being stopped just an inch shy of the end zone.
“I thought we could get it in, and it looked like we did,” Elliott said. “But I guess we didn’t.”
Hagans keyed the Trojans’ final drive of the game, which began at the Raiders’ 42-yard line with just 1 minute, 42-seconds left in the game.
Hagans finished the game with 52 yards rushing, all in the fourth quarter.
Senior Lincoln Burt (pictured right) finished the game with 160 all-purpose yards and a 7-yard
touchdown run in the third quarter.
Jefferson was led by senior quarterback K.W. Williams, who finished with a game-high 166 yards rushing. Williams also threw for a touchdown, finding Gunner Sonnenfeld from 2 yards out in the fourth quarter. Williams followed up the TD pass with a 2-point conversion run.
“Words can’t describe it,” Williams said after the game. “Honestly, coming out here, we were a little intimidated because they’ve been a powerhouse for I don’t know how many years. They’re a great team. We’re just happy to get out of here with a win.”
The Trojans struggled without the services of senior lineman Cory English, who suffered a minor knee injury against Mount Rainier last week, and will return next Friday.
“He could have helped us out there,” Elliott said. “They’re (Jefferson) pretty physical up front and not having our most physical lineman playing hurt, on both sides of the ball.”
Now Auburn will prepare to travel to Tahoma (1-1, 1-2) at 7 p.m. next Friday.
‘“We’ve got good teams coming up. We can’t dwell on this one,” Elliott said of the loss. “We’ve got four or five really good teams coming up. We’ve got to just get better. This was a game where, if we would have executed like we’re capable, it wouldn’t have come down to the last play.”
ELSEWHERE: The Auburn Mountainview Lions improved to 2-1 on the season, defeating Foss (1-2) 45-7 for their second straight win. Senior Victor Korchemniy scored five touchdowns in the contest. The Lions will host Yelm (0-2) in a nonleague game at 7 p.m. next Friday at Auburn Memorial Stadium…. The Auburn Riverside Ravens (1-1, 2-1) defeated Beamer (0-2 SPSL South 4A, 0-3) 48-13 in nonleague action at Federal Way Stadium on Friday. The Ravens were led by quarterback Josh Latta who had 77 yards on 7 carries. Latta also was 10-of-17 in the air for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Aaron Holloway added two rushing touchdowns and Jaray Bates had a rushing and a receiving touchdown. Keyonte Scott added a rushing TD and Andrey Zadneprovsky caught a touchdown. The Ravens will play Kentridge (1-2, 1-2) in SPSL North 4A action at 7 p.m. next Friday at French Field in Kent.
