NEW PRAGUE — The Packers had 152 yards of offense in the fourth quarter Tuesday against New Prague — but they needed one more.

Austin was stopped on a late drive for the fourth time this season in a season-ending 31-28 loss to New Prague in the first round of the Section 1AAAA playoffs Tuesday.

The game ended when Austin running back Jerrad Ryks was stuffed at the one-yard line after catching a six-yard pass from T.J. Fritz as time expired.

The Packers had the ball at the seven with .5 seconds left, but chose to go for the win instead of an overtime-forcing field goal.

“We were going for the win. We weren’t real sharp on some of the things we were doing with the snap and the wet ball, so why not go for it,” Austin head coach Tim Hermann said. “(The play) was set up for Gundy, but we always take a look at what’s open and T.J. liked the middle and he threw the middle. We just came up a yard short.”

Fritz had driven the No. 5 seeded Packers (2-7 overall) 51 yards in 47 seconds while completing four passes. Austin did a managed the clock well on its final possession as it had no timeouts remaining.

“I thought T.J. had a pretty good game after being thrown in there (two games ago),” Hermann said. “We did a lot of checking and he got every check and threw the ball fairly effectively. I thought we did the no-huddle pretty well.”

The fourth-seeded Trojans (4-5 overall) took the lead for good when Andy Zweber scored on a two-yard run with 47.5 seconds left in the game. The score capped a 10 play, 66 yard drive that saw New Prague convert a fourth and four and a third and 13.

On the fourth down play, New Prague quarterback Sam Dittberner completed a 10-yard pass to Jon Schoenecker in the middle of the field. On the third and 13 play, Dittberner took advantage of time in the pocket to find Schoenecker again for a 13-yard gain on the right sideline to the Austin 38 yard-line with just under two minutes left in the game.

“The coverage was great, we just didn’t have a rush on that play,” Hermann said.

Austin had trailed 24-14 after Dittberner threw a 9-yard TD pass to Eric Meger on a quick hitter on fourth and three with 8.5 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Packers got back in the game when Justin Maxfield returned the ensuing kickoff 91-yards for a score and after Austin’s defense forced a punt, the Packers drove 95 yards on nine plays to set up a nine-yard TD run by Ryks, who ran for 135 yards and three scores, to go up 28-24 with 4:33 left. Ryks, who wasn’t touched on his nine-yard run, had a 58-yard scamper where he broke two tackles to get the ball to the nine. Fritz got the drive started with a 14-yard run on third and nine from his own six-yard line.

“I thought T.J. played well and Ryks played well the whole game. At times the offensive line did better than just spurts. We just weren’t able to stop their inside run and then when we worked to stop the inside run they did a good job of going outside,” Hermann said. “It was great to see Justin break one. He’s got the speed to do it. There were a couple of blocks at the point of attack to create a wedge.”

New Prague scored the first touch down of the game, but Austin turned the momentum by scoring two touch downs in 16 seconds. First Ryks capped a 13 play, 78 yard drive with a one-yard TD run. Ryks set up the score by running for eight yards on fourth and seven from the New Prague 10-yard line.

On the ensuing kickoff, Austin kicker Miguel Hernandez-Miller forced a fumble and the Packers recovered, setting up a 31-yard scoring run by Ryks to put Austin up 14-7 with 11:07 left in the second quarter.

“Miguel did a great job on that play. If you’re gonna play football and you’re not dominant, you’ll have to force turnovers,” Hermann said.

The Packers will graduate 19 seniors from this year’s team — including the bulk of their offensive line and most of their receivers.

“I’m gonna miss the seniors,” Hermann said. “I’m really excited the way our seniors led the offensive line and today was a great way for our senior receivers to go out. Tonight Nate Justice was down on the field with headphones on talking to me (in the booth). What a way to contribute after disappointment of breaking his leg.”

The Packers will return Fritz and Ryks — who ran for 1,123 yards and 15 TDs in nine games this season.

“Ryks is a great player. I think he’s a very, very good high school player,” Hermann said. “If we can get a line next year to create some seams he can do well. If he gets a seam, he can make things happen.”

The Trojans will head to Winona Saturday to take on the No. 1 seeded Winhawks at 7 p.m.

STATS

Austin rushing: Jerrad Ryks, 19-for-135, 3 TD; T.J. Fritz, 6-for-26; Jesse Barker, 5-for-21

Austin passing: Fritz, 13-for-21, 123, INT

Austin receiving: Marcus Gunderson, 5-for-63; John Maxfield, 3-for-39; Ryks, 3-for-26; Jaamal Gibson, 1-for-8

Interceptions: Gibson

Penalties: 2-for-15

New Prague rushing: Andy Zweber, 13-for-94, 3 TD; Cal Oldenberg, 11-for-43; Sam Dittberner, 9-for-34; Mitch Lunder, 5-for-19; Eric Meger, 4-for-16

New Prague passing: Dittberner, 14-for-20, 130, TD, INT

New Prague receiving: Meger, 4-for-34; Connor O’Brien, 3-for-33; Jon Schoenecker, 3-for-25; Lunder, 2-for-19; Oldenberg, 1-for-16; Chase Buthe, 1-for-(-3)

Interceptions: Ryan Haugen

Penalties: 6-for-45

SCORING SUMMARY

Austin 0 14 7 7 — 28

New Prague 7 10 7 7 — 31

First quarter

(NP) 7:19 Andy Zweber 20 run (Kyle Buro kick) (9 plays, 68 yards)

Second quarter

(A) 11:23 Jerrad Ryks 1 run (Matt Mueller kick) (13 plays, 78 yards)

(A) 11:07 Ryks 31 run (Mueller kick) (1 play, 31 yards)

(NP) 1:59 Zweber 16 run (Buro kick) (3 plays, 33 yards)

(NP) :10 Buro 17 field goal (6 plays, 34 yards)

Third quarter

(NP) :8.5 Austin Vind 9 pass from Sam Dittberner (Buro kick) (12 plays, 58 yards)

(A) :00 Justin Maxfield 91 kickoff return (Mueller kick)

Fourth quarter

(A) 4:33 Ryks 9 run (Mueller kick) (9 plays, 95 yards)

(NP) :47 Zweber 2 run (Buro kick) (10 plays, 66 yards)