The Auburn Mountainview football team secured its first-ever trip to the postseason last Friday with a 29-12 win over Decatur in South Puget Sound League 3A action at Auburn Memorial Stadium.
The win sets up a state tournament play-in contest for the Lions (3-2 league, 6-3 overall) against Greater Saint Helens League runner-up Mountain View (5-1, 7-2), at 7 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Stadium in Vancouver.
“It feels amazing,” said first-year Lions head coach Jared Gervais. “The game was a little tough because obviously, we didn’t play as well as I would have liked. We dropped some balls. We did some goofy things that we’ve been fixing. But we came out with the win, and I’m excited for the kids. It’s pretty fun.”
The Lions began the game against Decatur with a bang, with Cramer Helton finding a seam and returning the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. In addition to putting points on the board, the senior defensive back left his mark defensively, finishing with a blocked punt, a fumble recovery and an interception.
After posting a 16-6 halftime lead, the Lions scored touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to put away the game.
Offensively, the Lions were powered by senior running back Victor Korchemniy, who finished with 18 carries for 120 yards and two TDs, his sixth 100-plus-yard rushing effort of the season. Korchemniy has 1,073 yards rushing and a 6.10-yards-per-carry average on the season.
Junior quarterback Domenic Rockey finished the game with 8-of-25 passing for 89 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Junior Devin Bryant had three catches for 32 yards and a touchdown, and senior Skyler White had four receptions for 48 yards.
Sophomore Joey Cassano added a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter.
Defensively, Willy Mack, Nick Aumua and David Fowler had a sack apiece.
The win snaps the Lions’ two-game losing streak.
According to Gervais, the win is a nice recovery from last week’s 63-7 loss to No. 2 Lakes.
“The last two weeks have been pretty rough, so for the kids to bounce back after those two weeks feels pretty good,” Gervais said. “We didn’t have to tell them much (before the game) because it’s senior night. I mean, if you can’t get fired up for a chance to go to the playoffs for the first time in school history, then there is not a whole lot you can get fired up for.”
Gervais continued:
“It wasn’t the prettiest game we’ve ever played, but we got out with a ‘W’ and we’ve got something to build on and coach this week, and hopefully go down to Vancouver and get another ‘W’ out of it,” he said.
For White, the win and a chance to move on to the postseason were nothing short of “amazing.”
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” he said. “(Coach) told us to just give it our all and play like it’s our last game. You never know when it’s your last game, so you have to leave it all on the field and enjoy the moment.”
