As he passed through the end zone and onto the track waiving his arms as blue-and-orange clad Auburn Mountainview fans roared in approval, Antonio Corea had one thought.

Steak.

The Lions’ senior lineman was promised a splendid dinner if he ever reached the end zone.

Corea did just that Friday night, recovering a high snap that sailed over Meadowdale quarterback Drew Tingstad’s head with 1 minute, 32 seconds remaining to secure the Lions’ 35-27 district playoff win at Auburn Memorial Stadium.

Auburn Mountainview (8-2) will advance to play heralded Eastside Catholic (9-0) next week in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs at a to-be determined date and location. Eastside Catholic is the defending state champion.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks (5-5) were eliminated from the playoffs.

Without Corea, it might have been a different scenario. After all, Meadowdale had a first down at its 27-yard line with all three timeouts and a reliable kicker – Julio Abad converted 29- and 35-yard kicks during the third quarter to reduce the Mavericks’ deficit to 28-27.

“You get a touchdown, you get a steak dinner,” said Corea, who played running back as a freshman before transitioning to the offensive line when he moved up to varsity as a sophomore. “The first time I touched the ball, I got a touchdown. It was the most unreal thing of my life.”

Auburn Mountainview coach Jared Gervais was happy to see the 5-foot-9, 225-pound Corea get an opportunity to touch the ball.

“That’s awesome for Antonio,” he said. “He’s a kid who has sacrificed for us. He would like to be a fullback, but we need him to play offensive line, and he’s done a great job with that for the last few years.”

But the Lions still needed one more stand. Or so they thought.

That was before a short squib kick ricocheted off a Mavericks’ player and was recovered by Auburn Mountainview. That enabled the Lions to run out the clock and advance to state for the second time in their 11-year history.

Gervais said the squib, which was more of an onside kick, was not intentional.

“We haven’t had the best time with the kickoff team,” he said. “That wasn’t even a designed onside kick. It was just a drive left that just happened to hit one of their kids, pop up and luckily into our hands. That was pretty nice.

“It would’ve been nice to make a few more plays in the second half and end it sooner.”

Auburn Mountainview, which scored more than 40 points in five games this season, did not produce an offensive touchdown in the second half.

University of Montana commit Gresch Jensen, who missed a game after suffering a concussion Oct. 23 against Auburn, completed 26 of 34 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. But only 41 of those yards came after intermission.

“Winning a playoff game always is tough,” Gervais said. “We made a lot of mistakes that made it harder on ourselves. Meadowdale … had a plan and made us come out and earn it.”

The Lions relied of their defense, which intercepted Tingstad twice in the first half. But Gervais was not satisfied with his defense’s performance as the Lions took a 28-21 lead into the locker room.

“I think our biggest thing defensively in the first half is we weren’t doing a great job of tackling,” Gervais said. “Kids were in position to make plays and they were just missing here and there. In the second half, we talked about it and they came out and did a much better job of wrapping up, bringing their feet and getting guys to the ground.”

For the second consecutive week, Auburn Mountainview held an opponent scoreless in the second half. The Lions did the same during their 21-17 win Oct. 29 against Enumclaw.

“We thought our defense could hold them, and that’s what happened,” Corea said. “Our defense has played big for us in the past. We believe in our defense.

“It was a big confidence booster going into next week.”