The Austin Packers affirmed everything they thought to be true about their football team by battering arch-rival Albert Lea 41-6 in the AHS homecoming game Friday night at Wescott Field.

The formerly winless Packers (1-6) put forth a complete team effort and had nothing but uplifting things to say about each other despite a rocky start -- the worst in school history -- that ended with an exclamation point on rivalry week in Big Nine Conference play.

"This is exactly what we needed," said Austin senior lineman Riley Brolsma. "It's a big relief. We've got a lot of seniors on the team and this was their last chance to play on Wescott Field. We wanted to go out with no regrets.

"This was the last time we'd get to wear the red jerseys, so we wanted to go out and wear 'em with pride."

Austin rounded up season-highs in every offensive category and crushed the rival Tigers in convincing fashion. The Packers pounded out 350 yards rushing en route to a season-high 456 yards of total offense, led by a pair of 100-yard rushers in Mark Cavanaugh and James Dammen.

Senior fullback Mike Gravelle ground up 87 yards to complement the speedy outside attack of Cavanaugh (129 yards) and Dammen (103) in Austin's most complete performance of the season.

"Everybody played hard, it was a great team effort," Cavanaugh said after his career-high rushing performance. "It was easy to get yards when (the offensive linemen) are doing a job like that.

"This shows teams we can put points on the board. We knew we could do it, this shows everybody we could put it together."

Austin was the lowest-scoring team in the Big Nine entering Friday night's homecoming contest against still-winless Albert Lea (0-7). The Tigers have not won since early in the 1998 season -- just once in their last 42 games.

"The most important thing about this game is the victory," said AHS coach Steve Knox, "a victory to build off.

"It's nice when you can be rewarded for your hard work, especially as you get this close to the playoffs."

The Packers will likely play on the road in the first round of the Section 1AAAA playoffs, which begin Oct. 22. Austin finishes the regular season at Mankato West (5-2) Wednesday night.

"It's Albert Lea but it's a win," Cavanaugh said. "It feels great and we'll use it as a springboard."

"It doesn't get any bigger," Brolsma said of the win. "I don't know if it could have been a bigger win, with more value. We needed it, we wanted it and we did it."

Cavanaugh's 41-yard scramble in the fourth quarter put him over the 100-yard plateau, setting up Andy Swank's 6-yard touchdown run that ended the onslaught.

Austin scored 27 points off five Albert Lea turnovers, including Kyle Spinler's school record-tying three interceptions.

Spinler found himself in the right place a number of times and the Packer offense put points on the board because of it.

"I couldn't imagine a game like this," Spinler said. "The defensive line really pressured the quarterback and forced some bad passes. I was starting to get confidence that any pass I could tip.

"I owe it all to the team. Good tight coverage and pressure on the quarterback forced the mistakes."

Austin made sure to take full advantage of the turnovers. The Packers scored touchdowns on four of five possessions after stealing the ball back for an offense that could not be stopped.

Gravelle gave AHS a 6-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown plunge set up by Billy Anderson's fumble recovery with Albert Lea in scoring position on the game's opening possession.

Austin received the game's opening kickoff, but the incoming ball bounced off Cavanaugh's knee and directly into the hands of Albert Lea's Brett Frydenlund. The Tigers started on the Austin 30-yard-line but fell short on fourth-and-five as Anderson recovered an errant option pitch from Tony Tolbers to Jason Kuipers.

Twelve plays later the Packers broke into the end zone for a 6-0 lead.

"It was nice to see the kids explode," Coach Knox said. "The whole thing is defense setting the tone. I thought the defense set the tone for the whole night."

Albert Lea rallied on its next possession to score the tying touchdown, but John Bastyr blocked the extra-point kick for what would have been the Tigers' first lead of the season.

Austin responded by scoring 35 unanswered points over the final three periods, three of which Cavanaugh had a hand in. Cavanaugh rushed for touchdowns of 16 and 6 yards and threw a 40-yard halfback pass to Matt Ball to send the Tigers reeling.

"We had confidence going in," Cavanaugh said. "At halftime we really wanted to just close the door. This time the guys were determined, we were more live in there, I think that really helped a lot."

The Packers came out of the halftime pumped up, and Spinler's second of three interceptions 1:26 into the third quarter set up Cavanaugh's 6-yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage.

The touchdown was the first points the Packers had put on the board in the third quarter this season.

"We really wanted to see what our offense could do," said Brolsma, the only three-year starter on the squad. "The third quarter has always been our weakest quarter, we just got so pumped to come out for the second half."

Austin accumulated 262 total yards in the first half and 194 in the second, but the scoring stayed about the same. Dammen added a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Swank's 6-yard sprint led the second-team offense into the end zone for the final points of the game.

Packer quarterback Tucker Schieck completed 3-of-6 attempts for 66 yards, while Cavanaugh's halfback pass to Ball netted 40 yards and a touchdown.

Ball sat on the sideline for much of the second half with an undisclosed injury to his left knee. Ball said his knee may have been hyper-extended and an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear had not been ruled out, but the Packer coaching and medical staff was hopeful for his return after the game.

Ball had a fumble recovery , a blocked kick, a quarterback sack and a touchdown reception in his last game on Wescott Field.

Middle linebackers Billy Anderson and Jesse Krueger, both seniors, anchored the Austin defense that allowed a season-best 32 yards rushing. The duo accounted for 37 total tackles, solo and assisted, as the Packers earned their first win of the season.

"It's a good feeling to walk off the field and watch the excitement in the kids' eyes," Coach Knox said.