Up to the day in 2011 when Jared Gervais became the third Auburn Mountainview head football coach in the school’s history, the Lions had enjoyed only one winning season.
My, my, how things have changed.
Gervais’ boys clinched their third consecutive playoff berth with a 24-10 win Thursday night against Decatur in a North Puget Sound League 4A Olympic Division game at Auburn Memorial Stadium.
Marking the fifth time in the Lions’ 12 seasons of football that the team has advanced to the playoffs.
And every one of those postseasons under Gervais’ direction.
Much has changed since 2011, but Gervais has never lost his appreciation for the program’s development.
“We’re almost 50 percent,” Gervais said with a laugh after Thursday’s victory.
Other benchmarks are just up around the next bend, including a .500 record. Auburn Mountainview has a 51-60 record, and is 29-23 under Gervais.
As Gervais likes to say, success is built over the summer months,
“The kids work extremely hard during the offseason in the weight room,” Gervais said. “Because, physically, the kids are there in the weight room, and they’re working hard all summer long, we can fight through some mental mistakes.”
Consider the game against the Gators.
Decatur converted a third-and-18 at the Lions’ 35-yard line when Jake Cassaday found Cameron Bledsaw for a 28-completion. Four plays later, Andrew Comito converted a 20-yard field goal to give the Gators a 3-0 lead.
Auburn Mountainview answered with a pair of touchdowns in the second and third quarters, Bitner Wilson scoring on a 4-yard run near the end of the first half, and Talan Alfrey later finding Michael Kramer for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Lions a 14-3 lead with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter.
Still, Auburn Mountainview (5-3 overall, 5-1 Olympic) had to work hard to lock up the win. Linebacker Jeremy Palaita scooped up a Jared Currie fumble and returned it 75 yards to cut Decatur’s deficit to 14-10 with 10:45 left in the contest.
“It’s one of those games where I think the guys got a little overconfident, maybe looking at the other team’s record,” Gervais said. “We told them Decatur’s got good athletes, they’ve got kids that have a lot of pride and want to be good in football. They came out and played really hard. At times, we were able to match that, and at other times our focus wasn’t where it needed to be.”
But the Lions’ defense reared up on its haunches and roared in the fourth quarter as Bitner Wilson and Ben Mose recovered fumbles that they translated into 10 points, Carlos Huizar converted a 33-yard field goal, and Alfrey scored on a 4-yard run with 4:13 remaining.
That does not mean Mose, a defensive end who missed one game after tearing the labrum in his right shoulder Oct. 7 against Auburn, was satisfied.
“We’re going to learn from this and come back even stronger,” Mose said.
Still, there were some highlights. In addition to forcing four turnovers, Auburn Mountainview held the run-oriented Gators to minus-6 yards on 36 carries. In particular, Gervais said, Alfrey and Wilson made it tough for Decatur (0-8, 0-6) to run.
“That’s a huge advantage for us, to have two, really good outside players, especially against a team that likes to run outside like they do,” Gervais said.
Auburn Mountainview closes out its regular season next Friday at Enumclaw and returns home at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 to face KingCo 4A’s No. 3 seed. That likely will be Bothell, which owns a tiebreaker for third place based on its 21-19 win Sept. 30 against Eastlake. The Cougars are the defending 4A state champions.
“We’re excited,” Gervais said. “We are trying to build into a program that’s one of the best in the state. To do that, you have to beat one that’s the best in the state.”
