Mondays traditionally are not the greatest times for the Auburn Mountainview football team.

More often than not in seasons past, the first day of the week meant explaining weekend losses to fellow students and grueling practice sessions full of penance for game day errors.

Last Monday, however, things appeared much brighter for the emerging Lions, who beat No. 10 Bonney Lake, 33-28, in a South Puget Sound League 3A showdown last Saturday for the program’s first-ever homecoming win and the school’s first win over a ranked opponent.

“It’s a lot more fun winning and coming back to school on Monday off a win,” said senior running back Victor Korchemniy, who scored four touchdowns against the Panthers at Auburn Memorial Stadium. “And it’s a lot better not having to run at practice on Monday for punishment.”

On Friday, the Lions (1-0 league, 4-1 overall) look to keep on the winning track with a 7 p.m. game against Enumclaw (0-1, 1-4) at Pete’s Pool.

Auburn Mountainview has made a rapid transformation this season for a team that went 4-6 last year.

“To be perfectly honest, I didn’t expect it this quick,” first-year coach Jared Gervais said of the sudden surge. “I knew we could beat those teams, but I wasn’t really sure it would happen this quick.

“This group of seniors are really good and they’ve really bought in,” he added. “They’re good kids and they’re having fun. They’re really starting to believe that even though these other teams have had success in the past, they really aren’t better than them.”

Individually, the team has a core of talented players, led by Korchemniy, who has rushed for 508 yards in five games and accounted for 11 touchdowns – eight running, two receiving and one on a fumble recovery. Junior quarterback Domenic Rockey is 102-of-167 passing with 1,435 yards, 10 TDs and five interceptions.

The Lions also boast a crops of top receivers in senior Skyler White (38 receptions for 475 yards and two TDs) and junior Devin Bryant (23 catches for 409 yards and three TDs).

Also contributing have been junior J.J. Lacey (14 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown) and sophomore Joey Cassano (12 receptions for 207 yards and 2 TDs).

Another crucial part of the puzzle this season has been the team’s offensive line play, Gervais added.

“One big thing for us this year has been Dalton (Keene) and Derek Sarrett, having them both sacrifice and play guard,” Gervais said. “Dalton wanted to play running back, and Derek wanted to play receiver, but we needed them to play guard, and they did it. Without them doing that, we’d be in trouble. We definitely wouldn’t have been 4-1 if they hadn’t done that.”

But the final piece of the puzzle, according to Gervais, has been the team’s mental toughness and confidence during games, as evidenced by the Lions’ ability to bounce back after big plays.

“They did a good job against Bonney Lake,” Gervais said. “After Bonney Lake stopped us a couple times, on their first running play a guy (Panther Joe Surber) broke through for a 56-yard TD run. I thought ‘uh-oh,’ but (our guys) acted like it never happened. That’s what we’ve been working on with them, having a short memory and getting onto the next play.”

Rockey agreed.

“We’ve been making big plays when it’s not going well. We haven’t been getting down on ourselves.”

Now the Lions hope that confidence provides a foundation as they head into SPSL 3A games against Enumclaw on Friday, No. 5 ranked Peninsula (0-1, 4-1) on Oct. 14, No. 2 ranked Lakes (1-0, 5-0) on Oct. 20 and Decatur (1-0, 4-1) on Oct. 27.

“It’s huge for us to finally beat one of those teams,” Gervais said. “Now they see that if we can beat Bonney Lake, we can beat Enumclaw. If we can beat Enumclaw, we can beat Peninsula. If we can beat Peninsula, we can beat Lakes.”

For Rockey, who went 21-of-33 passing for 298 yards and three touchdown passes against the Panthers, it’s all about remaining confident.

“We don’t play to the level of our opponent,” he said. “We just play the way Auburn Mountainview plays. We don’t take anybody lightly and we don’t exaggerate how good other teams are. Lakes is beatable. Just because they are ranked No. 2 and undefeated doesn’t mean we can’t win. It’s the same for every other team.

“Year’s past, everyone was wondering if we were going to win games,” Rockey added. “Now we expect to win every game.”