Mankato West and Austin, two schools with something to prove.

Sunday, September 12, 1999

Mankato West and Austin, two schools with something to prove.

West, a preseason favorite to contend in the Big Nine Conference, and Austin, a preseason pick as most likely to rebuild, went into Friday night’s game at Wescott Field in opposite directions.

The Packers, labeled as small and quick but inexperienced, were coming off a 34-18 win at Winona and were out for respect and eager to show last week’s win was no fluke. The Scarlets, with nine returning starters from last year’s squad which reached the Section 2AAA Finals, were coming off a disappointing 17-14 loss to defending Big Nine champ John Marshall, in which they were plagued by five turnovers.

Something had to give.

The result?

A hard-hitting contest with big-time plays, by big-time players, in a big-time setting. In the end, it took a game-winning drive in the final 2 minutes with both teams walking off the field exhausted, yet accomplishing their goals.

"That was just some Big Nine smash mouth football," Austin assistant coach Randy Smith said after West pulled out a 35-28 victory.

"The kids played outstanding," Austin head coach Steve Knox said. "We’re very proud of the way the kids played. There was no surrender in their eyes.

"They left everything out on the field."

One of those players, fullback/nose guard Brian E. Heimer, battled through a neck injury to lead the Packers in rushing and tackles.

"We were making some big hits they were giving them back," Heimer said. "I don’t hold anything back against a team like that."

Heimer, who led the Packers in rushing last week, had 15 tackles, six unassisted, and 126 yards on 18 carries.

Austin finished with 348 total yards to West’s 309.

Austin dominated the early goings of the first quarter. Ryan Waldee intercepted a pass on the second play from scrimmage to set the Packers up deep within their opponents territory. Waldee, a junior, also had 10 tackles for third best on the Packers behind Heimer and senior Kevin Maus, who had 13.

Isaac Knox, another Austin junior, had the Packer’s other interception to go along with eight tackles.

Austin quarterback Tanner Schieck put the Packers on the board first with a one-yard sneak.

Schieck finished the game completing 8-of-19 passes for 128 yards.

West was forced to punt after reaching midfield on its second possession but the drive was kept alive when Austin was penalized for having too many men on the field. On the very next play West quarterback Jay Nessler hooked up with wide receiver Chuck Wiest for a 48-yard touchdown bomb down the right side of the field.

Wiest, who had only two catches last week against JM, scored another touchdown on a 44-yard pass from Nessler.

The Scarlets made it 21-6 after Kane Wilson returned a punt 70 yards with 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

Schieck capped Austin’s sixth drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior Matt Smith. Schieck capped the scoring drive, calling his own number, taking several hits along the way for a two-point conversion to make it 21-14 at halftime.

Smith had a team-high four catches for 89 yards.

After two long Preston Horton touchdowns put Austin ahead 28-21 in the third quarter. Horton, bothered by cramps late in the game, finished with 95 yards rushing on 19 carries and 179 yards on kick returns, including a 94-yarder to start the second half. Horton, a senior, also caught two passes for 30 yards.

West tied the game up with a Chris Boyer touchdown with 5:51 left in the fourth quarter. Because exhaustion and injuries, Austin had nine juniors on the field during the tying score.

Boyer found the endzone again with 21 seconds left, pushing the Scarlets over the top, to cap a 70-yard drive. He finished with 129 yards rushing.

"Frankly, with that many juniors playing for us, that game shouldn’t have been that close," Knox said.

"We had a lot of opportunities to put the game away in the first half, but they just kept coming back," West head coach Rick Sutton said of Austin. "They made some huge improvements from the Winona game and took away some things we saw on film. They were a lot tougher than we thought."

"They might have ran out of gas in the fourth quarter," Sutton added. "We probably had more depth."

"We were a little fresher late in the game," said highly touted West linebacker/fullback Eric Stenzel, who is being recruited four Division I schools, including Minnesota.

Stenzel had 14 tackles, one fumble recovery and an interception.

Although Austin fell short of the victory, The Packers showed they will not be written off as an inexperienced team to be taken lightly.

"Now Everyone knows we can play," Heimer said. "We’re small , we’re fast and we can hit hard. We’re the total package."

"They seemed to have a lot of guys playing both ways," Stenzel said. That No. 44 (Heimer), I don’t know what his name was, but he never seemed to come off the field. They were a lot more physical than I thought they would be."