WINONA— The Austin football team finished out its regular season with a big test against the top ranked team in Class AAAA and the Packers had some mixed results as they lost 40-21 to the Winhawks in Paul Giel Field Wednesday night.

After a scoreless first quarter, Winona (8-0 overall) got on the board on a one-yard TD run by Dan Jonsgaard to go up 7-0. Then Austin’s Gavin Owens returned the ensuing kick-off to the Winon’s four-yard line that set up a Joe Seeman TD run which tied the game at 7-7 with 11:06 left in the first half.

The Winhawks took over from that point as they were able to spread the field with play-makers. Winona quarterback Riley Bosteter, who also ran for two scores, threw seven passes for more than 20 yards and two scoring throws for more than 40 yards.

“They’re probably at the top of both districts,” Austin head coach Brett Vesel said of Winona. “They’ve got some athletes that they can put on the field and they can just chuck it. You’ve got to know your skill level and you can’t sit there and play them tight or they’ll run by you. We didn’t play bad, it was just a couple of bad plays.”

The Packers (4-4 overall) pulled to within 26-14 late in the third quarter when Seeman picked off a pass and ran it back 34 yards to set up his own one-yard TD run, but that was as close as Austin would get.

Austin, which had all four of its losses come against ranked opponents, will likely host a postseason game for the first time in a decade on Tuesday and Vesel thinks that the Packers could square up against Rochester John Marshall.

“JM has some good kids out there and it’ll be nice to play at home,” Vesel said.

SCORING SUMMARY

Austin 0  7  7  7  – 21

Winona 0  26 0 14  – 40

First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

(W) Dan Jonsgaard 1 run (Josh Bade kick) (8 plays, 85 yards) 11:22

(A) Joe Seeman 4 run (Andrew Schumacher kick) (1 play, 4 yards) 11:06

(W) Riley Bosteter 1 run (kick failed) (6 plays, 56 yards) 8:11

(W) Bosteter 11 run (run failed) (2 plays, 18 yards) 7:30

(W) Terrell Hall 47 pass from Bosteter (3 plays, 56 yards) (Bade kick) 5:48

Third quarter

(A) Seeman 1 run (Schumacher kick) (1 play, 1 yard) :15.5

Fourth quarter

(W) Dakota Mathees 43 pass from Bosteter (Bade kick) (7 plays, 71 yards) 9:06

(W) Trevor Pomeroy 2 run (Bade kick) (7 plays, 48 yards) 3:44

(A) Gavin Owens 17 pass from Tate Hebrink (Schumacher kick) 2:21

AUSTIN STATS

Rushing: Joe Seeman, 15-for-53, 2 TDs; Hebrink, 4-for-12; Aiden Wilson, 2-for-8

Passing: Hebrink, 10-for-26, 126, TD, 2 INT

Receiving: Andrew Schumacher, 7-for-86; Gavin Owens, 3-for-40, TD; Seeman, 1-for-0

Defense: Jake Halsey, 2 sacks, 10 tackles; Thomas Kroymann, 1 sack; Eli Marks, 1 sack; Seeman, 1 interception

Penalties: 8-for-65

WINONA STATS

Rushing:178

Passing: 274

Penalties: 11-for-110