If the Packer football team wants to win some games this year, they’ll have to get their jerseys a little dirty.

After a season that saw Austin win two games in 2007, the Packers are ready embrace the ground game.

“If we’re gonna be successful, the running game is gonna be a huge part of it,” Austin head coach Tim Hermann said. “Whether we’re gonna be able to run the ball consistently and whether we’re gonna be able to stop it defensively.”

The Packers have reason to believe they can run better in 2008 as they return most of their offensive line from last season.

“A plus for us is we have a ton of experience coming back on the offensive line,” Herman said. “Plus some kids are bigger and their stature is huge.”

Senior Andy Burton is one of the returning lineman for Austin and he said the line did a good job of lifting to get bigger in the offseason. He also stated they’re ready to face off against the big fronts of the Big Nine Conference.

“Everyone thinks the skinny guys do it all, but we do most of the work,” Burton said of the line’s importance.

This season the line will have a new back to block for as junior halfback Jerrod Ryks looks to take over most of the carries. Ryks is a straight ahead runner who should give the team plenty of positive gains.

“Our line’s looking real good so hopefully it won’t be too hard. I’m excited,” Ryks said. “I really don’t know how big everyone else is, but we’ll see what happens.”

Hermann said Ryks will give the team a go-to-guy at the half back position.

“Jared Ricks will carry the brunt of the load as long as he remains healthy. He looks very good,” Hermann said.

While Austin will look to run, it still has its core of receivers back from last year. Senior quarterback Nate Justice will have some familiar faces to throw to in Marcus Gunderson, John Maxfield and Jaamal Gibson.

“I trust all those guys,” Justice said. “I just throw to them and they make plays.”

On defense, the Packers are not as big as they are on offense, but they are quick and strong. The coaching staff will have to improvise to keep opponents from overpowering their front line.

“You’re gonna find that there will be people coming from different angles much of the game,” Hermann said.

One thing the Packers have going for them is that most of them have been working together since June in offseason camps. The team scrimmaged with 14 quality opponents at North Dakota State and most of them played together last season.

“Everybody feels a lot more comfortable the more they’re out there,” Hermann said. “A lot of them last year, it was their first real varsity experience in any sport.”

While special teams was an issues on last year’s team, Hermann feels the punting game and return game is looking good so far. But kickoffs are still a question.

Most of all, Hermann is very optimistic about the amount of skilled players on his team.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen athletes as a group like I’ve seen this year,” he said. “We have several athletes that can do good things and I look forward to watching them play. Our biggest goal is to be ready to go by the Section playoffs. We only play eight games and if every game isn’t a big game, I don’t know what you’re doing in football.”

One thing on the mind of the Packers is their back-to-back losses to Albert Lea at the end of last season. Austin doesn’t play the Tigers until the last game of the season Oct. 15, but they’ll be ready.

“What’s done is done,” Justice said. “But when they come here to play us, it’ll be on our minds a little bit.”

The Packers open their season at Red Wing Thursday at 7 p.m. Their home opener Sept. 5 against Faribault.