The Austin football team made a late push, but a big drive by Winona put the game away as Austin lost 28-19 in Art Hass Stadium Friday.

Elijah Andersen hauled in a 79 yard touchdown pass from Jakob Crouch to pull the Packers (0-2 overall) within 21-19 with 1:35 left in the third quarter, but Winona countered with a 16 play, 74 yard drive that saw it go up 28-19 on a 2-yard TD run by Tanner Remlinger with 6:14 left in the game.

Austin had three turnovers in the loss.

“We’ve got to clean up a lot of things and that’s partly because we’ve got some guys who haven’t played before,” Austin head coach Brett Vesel said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys that are trying to find out where they fit in and they’re getting better. We’ve just got to continue to improve.”

While Austin’s defense couldn’t stop the Winhawks (2-0 overall) on that fourth quarter drive, they played solid defense for most of the night. Winona’s other three scores came on the results of big plays. Winona’s Jared Boelter had 60-yard punt return for a TD in the first quarter, Joshua Bade had a 55-yard TD catch with 18 seconds left in the first half and Remlinger had an 89-yard run that set up a score to put the Winhawks up 21-7 with 6:11 left in the third.

“The defense has been playing good,” Vesel said. “We’ve got to do more on offense. Nineteen points stinks for us, and even if we score 29 points, that’s not good for us. We’ve got to pick it up and start moving the ball and putting points on the board.”

Austin scored its first TD when Jany Gash came up with a 20-yard TD strike from Crouch, who threw for 294 yards, and Brandon Edgar pulled Austin to within 21-13 when he picked up a loose ball and ran in for a 3-yard TD with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

The Packers had plenty of red zone opportunities that came up short. Two of their drives ended inside Winona’s 10-yard line and another drive ended at Winona’s 28-yard line.

“We’re missing blocks and we’re missing leads,” Vesel said. “It’s little things. We’re fine. They’re not doing anything that’s overpowering us, we’ve just got to execute.”

Austin will play at Rochester Mayo 7 p.m. Friday.

SCORING SUMMARY

Winona 7 7 7 7 — 28

Austin 7 0 12 0 — 19

First quarter

(W) Jared Boelter 60 punt return (Jared Boelter) (1 play, 60 yards) 8:15

(A) Jany Gash 20 yard pass from Jakob Crouch (Nate Conner kick) (10 plays, 80 yards) 1:14

Second quarter

(W) Joshua Bade 55 pass from PJ Appicelli (Bade kick) (3 plays, 72 yards) :18

Third quarter

(W) Alex Fanzwa 10 run (Bade kick) (3 plays, 96 yards) 6:11

(A) Brandon Edgar 3 run (kick failed) (7 plays, 40 yards) 3:22

(A) Elijah Andersen 79 pass from Crouch (pass failed) (2 plays, 75 yards) 1:35

Fourth quarter

(W) Tanner Remlinger (Bade kick) (16 plays, 74 yards) 6:14

AUSTIN STATS

Rushing: Brandon Edgar, 29-for-113, TD; Jakob Crouch, 10-for-37; Nate Conner, 7-for-4

Passing: Crouch, 16-for-37, 294, 2 TD, 2 INT

Rushing: Jason Stoulil, 10-for-150; Elijah Andersen, 3-for-85, TD; Jany Gash, 3-for-69, TD

Sacks: Logan Braaten (1); interceptions: Jesse Synoground (1)

Penalties: 8-for-46

WINONA STATS

Rushing: Tanner Remlinger, 34-for-183, TD; PJ Appicelli, 10-for-31; Alex Franzwa, 1-for-10, TD

Passing: Appicelli, 7-for-16, 106, TD, INT

Receiving: Bade, 3-for-65, TD; Matthew Schoh, 2-for-38; Logan Comero, 1-for-6; Remlinger, 1-for-(-3); penalties: 7-for-48