It didn’t take long for the Austin football team to impose its will on Red Wing in the season opener, and once they did they never let up in a 45-7 victory over the Wingers in Art Hass Stadium Thursday.

The Packers (1-0 overall) came up with 12 plays of more than 10 yards in the first half as they built up a 45-0 lead in the first 24 minutes of the contest — the offensive starters sat the entire second half and the defensive starters played just one series in the second half.

“Being our first game, we still had some questions going in,” Austin quarterback T.J. Fritz said. “It’s a great win for the young guys to get their confidence up.”

Austin opened the game with a five play, 67 yard drive that was capped by a two-yard scoring run by Jerrad Ryks, who ran for 137 yards and four scores in the first half.

After a fumble by Jamaal Gibson on the Packers’ next possesion, Austin defensive back Aaron Dooley picked off a pass off a deflection which set up a four play, 48 yard drive that saw Ryks pound in a one yard touch down to put his team up 13-0 with 3:31 left in the first.

Then Gibson took over the game. He had over 100 yards on punt returns in the first half as he set up scoring drives of 34, 34, 23, 71, and 28 yards for Austin.

“Every time I caught the ball all I saw was red,” said Gibson, who also caught four passes for 77 yards and a score in the first half. “The purple guys were so far away from me. I didn’t even have to think about having to make a move on someone until I got past where they started punting.”

Gibson got most of his receiving yards on quick hitters from Fritz, who was eight-for-eight with 143 yards in the first half.

“The timing is going good with me and Jamaal. Practice went good this week and lets hope it goes good again,” Fritz said. “I just get it to him and let him do his thing.”

While the fast start was the quickest scoring spree in Tim Hermann’s coaching career with the Packers, he still saw some things that can be fixed.

“We’ve never started out like that,” he said. “It was a funny game because we did some good things but we did some things sloppy too. Our athleticism allowed us to get away with some things that weren’t maybe as pure as they should be.”

Hermann said the Packers can enjoy the win, but must now focus on next week’s opponent — Rochester John Marshall, who they play next Friday at 7 p.m. in Rochester.

“You can’t argue with 45 points on the board and seven against you,” Hermann said. “Except we’ve got to play better next week because it’ll be a different team.”

Ryks was hardly touched by the Winger defense in the first half as he ran behind the solid blocking of offensive linemen Brady Klingfus and Joe Diggins. He capped his night with a 53-yard scamper to make it 39-0 with 5:06 left in the first half.

“Our line did very well. I knew they’d do good, now we’ve just got to get ready for the next game,” Ryks said. “I’d like to thank the offensive line and our defense, which played a great game.”

After the game, the Packers presented the Spirit of the Sport Award, a new tradition for the team, to Red Wing’s Dionte Emerson. The award is given to the opposing team’s player who showed the most sportsmanship.

The Packers came out wearing a new logo on their helmets on Thursday. Due to a trademark issue with the University of Arkansas, the Packers had to discard the hog on their logo and decided to go with a football with the word Packers inside it.

STATS

Austin rushing: Jerrad Ryks, 11-for-137 yards, 4 TDs; Andrew Heickley, 7-for-27; Josh Hart, 2-for-5; Joe Bumgarner, 1-for-0; Jordan Stevens, 6-for-(-1)

Austin passing: T.J. Fritz, 8-for-8, 143, TD; Hart, 1-for-1, 21 TD

Austin receiving: Jamaal Gibson, 4-for-77, TD; Heickley, 2-for-36; Bobby Astrup, 2-for-30; Heickley, 2-for-36; Quinn Yocom, 1-for-21, TD

Interceptions: Aaron Dooley

Sacks: Mitch Morem (2), Blas Estrada

Penalties: 2-for-10

Red Wing rushing: David Goggin, 3-for-35; Marcus Noesen, 10-for-34; Dionte Emerson, 11-for-32; Mike Stegora, 5-for-26; Justin Lance, 1-for-9; Jake O’borsky, 2-for-8; Josh Hall, 2-for-7; Joel Newman, 2-for-(-14)

Red Wing passing: Joel Newman, 8-for-16, 85, TD; David Goggin, 2-for-6, 15

Red Wing receiving: Noesen, 2-for-48; Jack Strusz, 1-for-28, TD; Luke Johnson, 3-for-25; Emerson, 2-for-13; Tm Rother, 1-for-10; Travis Balster, 1-for-(-4)

Penalties: 9-for-60

RW 0 0 0 7 — 7

Austin 20 25 0 0 — 45

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

(A) 10:00 Ryks 2 run (Matt Mueller kick) (5 plays, 67 yards)

(A) 3:32 Ryks 1 run (kick failed) (4 plays, 48 yards)

(A) :32 Fritz 18 pass to Gibson (Jacob Hines kick) (2 plays, 34 yards)

Second quarter

(A) 10:20 Fritz 7 run (kick failed) (3 plays, 34 yards)

(A) 8:07 Ryks 15 run (conversion failed) (3 plays, 24 yards)

(A) 5:06 Ryks 71 run (Hines kick) (3 plays, 71 yards)

(A) :48 Josh Hart 21 pass to Quinn Yocom (kick failed)

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

(RW) 10:38 Joel Newman 28 pass to Jack Strusz (David Goggin kick)