The timing was there. And it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Auburn Riverside football team.

Stuck in a 7-7 double-overtime deadlock last Thursday night, Auburn Riverside quarterback John Hakala found Dalton Thomas on a 24-yard fade, lifting the Ravens past the Royals in the South Puget Sound League North Division opener for both teams, 14-7.

“We’ve been working on the timing pattern on that for a while,” Auburn Riverside coach Bob Morgan conceded. “It’s something we felt pretty confident about throwing.

“We’re just lucky to get that one.”

Maybe so. But there certainly wasn’t a better way for the Ravens to return to the Class 4A SPSL North.

“It’s big,” Morgan said. “Both teams made a lot of mistakes, but we have to look at it in a positive light.”

Auburn Riverside’s Jake Pele, who rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries, tied the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter with a 26-yard TD run.

Thomas added four receptions for 95 yards.

Elsewhere:

At Auburn Mountainview 44, Clover Park 20: Down 6-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Lions ran off 44 straight points – with 31 of those during the third quarter – to roll past Clover Park in the South Puget Sound League 3A and season opener for both teams.

Matt Gayman gave Mountainview a 7-6 halftime lead when he scored on a 10-yard run, then kicked the extra point. Lions quarterback Cody McNeil then factored into four of his team’s five third-quarter touchdowns: a pair of 1-yard runs, for a 20-6 lead, a 60-yard pass to Darius Elliott-Free, and a 48-yard toss to Tate Newell.

In the middle of that third-quarter surge, Elliott-Free ran in from 28 yards, boosting the lead to 26-6.

Auburn Mountainview visits Bonney Lake on Friday at 7.

Tahoma 51, at Jefferson 32: The Bears raced to a 42-0 halftime lead and never looked back in the SPSL North and season opener for both teams. TJ scored 26 of its 32 points during the fourth quarter.

The Raiders visit Kentridge on Saturday night at 7.