As the Austin football team lost its third home game of the season, the scene was all too familiar.

Big plays got the best of the Packers.

The Spartans converted three scoring plays of at least 55 yards in the first half as they took away all the momentum early on.

“(If we can stop big plays) it’ll keep our confidence up and keep us in it,” Austin receiver Nik Gasner said. “We could’ve easily been in the big game if we just cut out our turnovers and cut out the big plays they had.”

In all, the Spartans racked up 406 total yards of offense one week after the Packers had held Mankato East to just a shade over 100 yards of offense.

While Austin’s secondary has leaked some big plays, head coach Brett Vesel said it’s just a matter of getting everyone on the right page.

“The guys we got back there are pretty fast, so it’s not a skill thing,” Vesel said. “We’ve just got to understand what the guy’s speed is across from us and play it accordingly. We did such a good job and then we reverted back to where we were in the Faribault game.”