Mike Cunningham, having just played the football game of his life, walked slowly off Wolverton Field.

Tuesday, October 05, 1999

Mike Cunningham, having just played the football game of his life, walked slowly off Wolverton Field.

He was lagging behind his teammates as they headed, chins down, to the locker room following a 24-22 loss to Mankato East Monday that Coach Steve Knox called "a hard one to take."

For Cunningham, the loss must’ve been a confusing one.

"We wanted to run it down their throats and mix in the passing game," said Cunningham, who did his part in clogging the Cougars’ windpipe with an even 100 rushing yards.

Which is what makes this loss so hard to comprehend.

What the Packers wanted to do, they did.

On offense and defense, the Packers had a plan and, for the most part, executed it, gaining 163 yards more than the Cougars, 361 to 198.

"We made some big plays tonight," Knox said.

But in the end, 10 penalties, four interceptions and a lost fumble rubbed out the big plays, the execution and the Packers’ domination along both lines of scrimmage.

In the end, everything the Packers did right didn’t matter and the team lost its fourth straight to fall to 1-4.

Austin appeared in control from the get- go.

The Packers drove 70 yards in 11 plays on their opening drive. They chewed up half of the first quarter doing so. They even got a break when Ben Kaus intercepted Tanner Schieck’s first pass of the game, then lost the football without being touched. Cunningham recovered the fumble, giving Austin a first down at its 45 yard line. Eight plays later, Schieck connected with Matt Smith on a 3-yard TD pass. Cunningham’s extra point was good, making it 7-0 Austin.

Early in the second quarter, after Packer Jamie Zavala returned a punt 45 yards with a burst right-to-left on your AM dial, the Packers let slip an opportunity to bury the Cougars early.

On second-and-11 from the East 26, Schieck’s zipped pass went in-and-out of Smith’s hands and into Kaus’ cradle.

East didn’t capitalize on the turnover, but won the battle simply by staying in the game. East scored later in the quarter on a drive set up by Kaus’ 30-yard punt return, On that play, Austin also drew a personal foul penalty. An official said a Packer stepped on a Cougar after the play was over.

It took East five plays to score from the Austin 24. Kaus fumbled on the first play of the drive, but Nate Graham recovered. Steven Graves scored the TD from a yard out. After missing the kick, East trailed 7-6 at halftime.

East took the lead on its first drive of the second half, working their way down the field with a mixture of short passes and another Austin personal foul flag.

"Right away we knew their corners were playing deep," said Kaus, a dark-haired, dashing, do-everything junior quarterback who, on the drive, carried for a first down on fourth down and scored the touchdown on a 5-yard keeper, "so we ran our 5-yard out pattern quite a bit and got good yards. We were able to chip the ball down field."

The Packers countered immediately with a commanding six-play, 69-yard drive, highlighted by Preston Horton’s 31-yard gallop on a delayed handoff and Schieck’s 13-yard keeper to the East 3.

On the next play, Schieck connected with Matt Smith’s younger brother, Dan Smith, on a 3-yard TD pass. A two-point conversion pass by Schieck gave Austin its last lead, 15-13.

East countered quickly. After linebacker Brian Heimer and Co. put East’s running game on ice for much of the game, Aaron Herzberg broke off a 44-yard TD romp on third-and-3 to put the Cougars ahead, 18-15.

Then East’s momentum hit Austin like an avalanche. After failing to catch the kickoff, Austin’s Jeff Kvam picked up the football and proceeded to get leveled by a flying East kick coverer. Kvam lost the football and East recovered.

A pass interference penalty on Austin’s Asham Bell gave East a first-and-goal, but the Cougars gave it back with a 15-yard clipping penalty.

On second-and-goal from the Austin 25, Kaus found Herzberg, who was all alone in a cushion at the 5. He caught the ball and strolled in for a 24-15 edge.

"We had a breakdown on that play," Knox said.

Austin shook off the blow and responded with a nine-play, 66-yard scoring drive on which Horton and Cummingham took turns grounding out yardage. Cunningham chewed up the final 21 yards on two bumper-pool carries of 10 and 11 yards.

After a quick defensive hold and with plenty of the fourth quarter remaining, Austin started moving in for the winning score.

The Packers, starting at their 16, drove to the East 41, where a clipping penalty and an illegal procedure call against the Pack put the drive in jeopardy at fourth-and-10. But Schieck responded, hitting Horton with a pass that he caught short of the first-down marker; Horton shed tacklers like raindrops to gain 22 yards on the play.

Horton’s effort gave Austin first down at the East 19. After a pair of rushing attempts, Schieck dropped back to pass on third down from the 14. He saw Dan Smith on the goal line and lofted the ball to his 6-foot, 5-inch target.

But Graves cut in front of Smith and picked off the pass with 2 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the game.

One more Austin drive would end in interception.

After the game, Knox mentioned Cunningham, who led the Packers with 11 tackles.

"He had a great game," Knox said. "He wouldn’t give up. He wanted to come out, but we couldn’t take him out because he was having such a good game."

A great game, but something you can bet Cunningham wanted to forget the moment it was over.