The Austin football team had the right mixture of defense and big plays as it beat Winona 20-14 to score its first homecoming win since 2008 in Art Hass Stadium Friday.

The Winhawks (1-6 overall, 1-6 Big Nine) had the ball with a chance to score a go-ahead TD late in the fourth quarter, but Sam Diggins came up with a fourth down sack at the Winhawk 32-yard line that put an end to their chances. Austin (3-4 overall, 3-4 Big Nine) was able to run the clock out when it got the ball back with less than two minutes remaining.

“I was starstruck,” Diggins said of his sack. “It didn’t really hit me at first, then when I got up it felt amazing. I went over to the seniors and thanked them all and we hugged it out.”

The Packer defense came up with five sacks on the night and it held its second straight opponent to 14 points after allowing at least 40 points in its first five contests of the season. Kole Igou had a big night as he had two sacks and made some big tackles in the backfield on running plays.

“The defense is playing way better right now and we’re only going to go up from here,” Igou said. “[This win] is something that we’re going to talk about until we die. It’s making history and it’s a great feeling right now.”

The Packer offense thrived on big plays in the win as Nate Conner finished with 195 rushing yards on just 18 carries. Conner had a 71-yard TD run that put Austin up 12-0 in the first half and he also had runs of 52 and 30 yards in the win.

Conner also ran it in the middle enough times to open up things for Brandon Edgar, who had 106 yards and two TDs. Edgar scored on a lead-option from six yards out to put the Packers up 20-7 with 10:51 left in the game.

“I made some bad reads and I took it a couple of times and that actually made them take me more and it gave Brandon extra space,” Conner said. “Brandon ran hard.”

Winona pulled to within 20-14 when Phillip Appicelli dove in a quarterback sneak on fourth and goal from the one-yard line with 8:35 left in the game.

Austin head coach Brett Vesel said he liked what his team did on Friday.

“We did really well. I thought we had a great week of practice on both sides of the ball. We just had a few simple mistakes on offense, but overall it was an awesome job,” Vesel said. “We just take what they give us [on offense]. We haven’t had the passing like we have in the past and we’ve been a lot better at running.”

Austin has now won two straight games and it’s hoping to close out the season like it did last year when it won three straight regular season games and a playoff game. Conner said the team is feeling very close together at this point in the season.

“We’re all friends on this team and we’re family,” he said. “The defense kept us in it [tonight] and you can’t give enough credit to them.”

Austin will close out its regular season when it plays at Mankato East Wednesday at 7 p.m.

SCORING SUMMARY

Winona 0 0 7 7 — 14

Austin 6 6 0 8 — 20

First quarter

(A) Brandon Edgar 15 run (run failed) (4 plays, 64 yards) 9:58

Second quarter

(A) Nate Conner 71 run (pass fail) (3 plays, 80 yards) 2:08

Third quarter

(W) Tanner Remlinger 1 run (Michael Russell kick) (11 plays, 74 yards) 7:27

Fourth quarter

(A) Edgar 6 run (Elijah Anderson from Conner) (8 plays, 54 yards) 10:51

(W) Tristan Voegeli 30 pass from Phillip Appicelli (Russell kick) (6 plays, 59 yards) 8:35

AUSTIN STATS

Rushing: Nate Conner, 18-for-195, TD; Brandon Edgar, 22-for-106, 2 TD; passing: Conner, 2-for-8, 30; receiving: Elijah Anderson, 1-for-18; Jason Stoulil, 1-for-12; sacks: Kole Igou (2); Logan Hotek (1); Sam Diggins (1); Damien Ryks (1); penalties: 12-for-125

WINONA STATS

Rushing: Tanner Remlinger, 17-for-64; Phillip Appicelli, 18-for-28; Christopher Wisted, 10-for-11; passing: Apicelli, 13-for-24, 144; receiving: Tristan Voegeli, 2-for-46, TD; Remlinger, 4-for-32; Jared Boelter, 2-for-18; Wisted, 1-for-15; Casaey Machajewski, 1-for-9; Hayden Zabrowski, 1-for-9; penalties: 3-for-25