FARIBAULT — The Austin football team missed out on some early chances as it fell to Faribault 47-6 on the road Friday.

The Falcons out-rushed Austin 382 to -14 on the ground as the Packers failed to cash in on some golden opportunities to start the game.

The Packers (0-6 overall, 0-5 Big Nine) started their first three possessions inside the Falcon 40-yard line but couldn’t manage one first down.

Austin opened the game by recovering their own kickoff at the Falcon 23-yard line and after the Packers worked to a fourth and two from the Falcon 15-yard line, they were called for a delay of game and Blas Estrada was sacked on fourth down.

“I thought the play call was in soon enough, but we took a long time to get the ball snapped,” Austin head coach Matt Schmit said.

After a bad punt by Faribault Austin got the ball back at the Falcon 38-yard line, but went three-and-out. Faribault’s Anthony Gustafson broke an 84-yard touchdown run top put the Falcons up 7-0 and Jay Ettinger responded with a 52 yard kick return to the Falcon 17-yard line.

Austin got as far as the Faribault 11-yard line, where Marcus Stoulil had a 29-yard field goal come up short off the cross bar.

“We’re not experienced and we were all nervous to get that first score,” Austin senior Josh Hart said. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, if we get those chances again we’ll know how to get down there and score those points.”

Hart gave Austin it’s first offensive touchdown of the season on a one-yard plunge to make it 35-6 in the third quarter. Austin’s drive was just one yard as they took over after Faribault (4-2 overall, 3-2 Big Nine) had a bad snap on a punt.

“We’ve always wanted that first offensive score and it feels good to get the first one out of the way,” Hart said. “Hopefully we keep building and keep getting more.”

The Austin defense had 10 tackles for a loss, but it also allowed five runs of over 10 yards.

“The defense played well for a lot of the series, but they had a couple of breakdowns that hurt us,” Schmit said.

Faribault’s biggest play of the game came on fourth and eight when Gustafson hit Matt Stocker for a 33-yard gain on a play-fake rollout pass. Riley Jandro scored on a two-yard plunge on the next play to put the Falcons up 14-0.

Faribault converted another fourth down in the third quarter when Gustafson ran wide on fourth and goal from the five to score and put his team up 28-0 with 9:58 left in the third quarter.

Austin’s best offensive play of the game came when Hart hit Ettinger on a 35-yard late in the second quarter.

“We’re just looking for something that works because we haven’t really found anything yet,” Hart said. “Hopefully we can find that one thing that works and keep going.”

STATS

Austin rushing: Pat Wagner, 2-for-12; Andrew Heickly, 8-for-6; Josh Hart, 5-for-(-3), TD; Sean Coffey, 1-for-(-6); Blas Estrada, 7-for-(-23)

Austin passing: Hart, 2-for-6, 39, 2 INT; Estrada, 2-for-6, 5, INT; Jay Ettinger, 0-for-1; Coffey, 0-for-1

Austin receiving: Ettinger, 4-for-44

Austin sacks: Leon Delgado (1.5); Cole Adams (.5)

Austin penalties: 6-for-36

Faribault rushing: Anthony Gustafson, 15-for-196, 3 TD; Riley Jandro, 13-for-97, 3 TD; Matt Becker, 7-for-48, TD; Saul Garza, 8-for-21; Riley Schultz, 6-for-14; Nick Cramer, 4-for-7; Darin Anderson, 2-for-(-2)

Faribault passing: Gustafson, 1-for-1, 33; Jake Salaba, 3-for-5, 32

Faribault receiving: Matt Stocker, 1-for-33; Jake Helgeson, 1-for-20; Schultz, 2-for-12

Faribault interceptions: Schultz (3)

Faribault penalties: 4-for-27

Austin 0 0 6 0 — 6

Faribault 7 14 14 12 — 47

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

(F) 6:03 Gustafson 84 run (VanLoon kick) (2 plays, 96 yards)

Second quarter

(F) 11:48 Riley Jandro 2 run (VanLoon kick) (10 plays, 80 yards)

(F) 4:07 Jandro 28 run (VanLoon kick) (6 plays, 80 yards)

Third quarter

(F) 9:58 Gustafson 5 run (VanLoon kick) (4 plays, 7 yards)

(F) 8:16 Gustafson 45 run (VanLoon kick) (1 play, 45 yards)

(A) 3:17 Hart 1 run (kick failed) (1 play, 1 yard)

Fourth quarter

(F) 11:56 Jandro 14 run (kick failed) (7 plays, 73 yards)

(F) 3:56 Mat Becker 35 run (kick failed) (4 plays, 44 yards)