RED WING — Things couldn’t have started worse for the Packers in Red Wing Friday night, but everything ended up just fine.

Red Wing’s Jawon Terry broke open an 80-yard TD on the very first play from scrimmage to put Austin in an early hole, but the Packers allowed just 102 yards of offense the rest of the night as they made some big plays on both sides of the ball.

“They ran an offense that they’ve only ran a handful of times this year. I kind of had a feeling they were going to do that, but we just got caught up on that [first play]. The defensive coaches did a great job of adjusting,” Austin head coach Brett Vesel said. “Logan [Braaten] looks good, [Luke] Hawkshead had a good game and Corey Waller played a great game.

A key moment came when the game was tied at 14-14 and Austin made a big stop on a fourth and six on its own 15-yard line. The Packers took a 20-14 lead when Tabarie Gunsallus had a seven-yard TD run with 3:48 left in the first half and Gunsallus had another six-yard TD run to open the second half and make it 27-14.

Austin (2-5 overall) put the game out of reach when Elijah Marks made a tackle in the backfield for a safety and Jany Gash hauled in a 40-yard TD from Tate Hebrink to make it a 37-14 lead with 1:41 left in the third quarter.

Gunsallus racked up 210 yards and three touchdowns on the ground for the Packers.

“The linemen and I were communicating. We had good chemistry and after that it was a go,” Gunsallus said. “They scored [early] and we knew we couldn’t keep our heads down or we were going to get trolled on. We just came out and worked hard.”

Braaten, a junior defensive end, was playing in his first varsity football game since he was injured last season. He was able to make a few tackles and bat a couple of passes down at the line of scrimmage against the Wingers (0-7 overall).

“It’s great being out there with my teammates,” Braaten said. “Those guys have been out there supporting me for over a year and I just want to go out there and play hard for them.”

SCORING SUMMARY

Austin 14  6  16  7  —  43

Red Wing 14  0   0   7  —  21

First quarter

(RW) Jawon Terry 80 run (Seth Cushing kick) (1 play, 80 yards) 11:47

(A) Tate Hebrink 1 run (Zach Chandler kick) (7 plays, 57 yards) 9:35

(A) Tabarie Gunsallus 10 run (Chandler kick) (2 plays, 10 yards) 6:39

(RW) Mac DeSutter 7 run (Cushing kick) (6 plays, 57 yards) 4:22

Second quarter

(A) Gunsallus 7 run (pass failed) (6 plays, 64 yards) 3:48

Third quarter

(A) Gunsallus 6 run (Chandler kick) (5 plays, 57 yards) 10:21

(A) Elijah Marks tackle for safety 2:52

(A) Jany Gash 40 pass from Hebrink (Chandler kick) (3 plays, 49 yards) 1:41

Fourth quarter

(A) Nate Murphy 17 run (Chandler kick) (1 play, 17 yards) 5:27

(RW) Cushing 26 pass from David Howe (Cushing kick) (8 plays, 66 yards) 2:15

AUSTIN STATS

Rushing: Tabarie Gunsallus, 34-for-210, 3 TDs; Tate Hebrink, 14-for-90, TD; Nate Murphy, 4-for-34, TD; Sam Hagan, 7-for-32; Jany Gash, 1-for-15

Passing: Hebrink, 3-for-14, 54, TD, INT; Murphy, 0-for-1

Receiving: Gash, 1-for-40, TD; Gavin Owens, 2-for-12

Defense: Corey Waller, 2 fumble recoveries; Luke Hawkshead, 1 fumble recovery; Jesse Synoground, 1 sack

Penalties: 5-for-40

RED WING STATS

Rushing: 181

Passing: 1

Penalties: 11-for-80