WINONA — Multiple lapses and a late breakdown all caught up to the Austin football team in a 44-15 loss at Paul Giel Field in Winona Thursday.

The Packers (3-4 overall, 2-4 Big Nine) had a chance to make a game of it late in the second half, but they couldn’t finish. Trailing 24-15 with 5:25 left in the third quarter Austin quarterback T.J. Fritz threw short on a fourth down pass intended for Jay Ettinger in the corner of the end zone and the Packers would get just one first down the rest of the night.

“He was wide open, we just didn’t throw the ball very well,” Austin head coach Tim Hermann said. “We’re in this game and we had a great shot to get it really close and we don’t do it. It’s kind of a story of what we’ve had in the past and we’ve tried just about everything we can with our players as coaches. Our players have to rally themselves as well.”

The play should’ve never happened, since Austin was called for a false start on what would’ve been a two-yard touchdown by Jerrad Ryks on second and goal. The penalty moved it back to Winona’s seven yard line.

“The huge play of that game was that false start. We have to execute and we have to be accountable,” Hermann said. “Who’s going to stay onside when we snap the ball? Sooner or later, we have to do that.”

Winona (4-3 overall) closed the game in a fury as they scored three touchdowns in the last three minutes to make the score look a little more lopsided.

The game started promising for Austin as Jerrad Ryks broke five tackles on a third and three run that saw him go 45 yards to the Winona 25 yard line. Ryks would score on a 15-yard run to make it 7-0 Austin right after the Winhawks had jumped off-side on a fourth and five for the Packers.

Winona answered in a hurry as Jay Gilbertson hooked up with Ryan Woodard on an 85-yard touchdown pass on the Winhawks’ first play of the game. Austin botched a pitch play for a lost fumble on it’s next possession, and Winona scored on a 21-yard run by Anthony Inman.

“Defensively we allowed some terrible plays early. We can’t allow one play scores like that,” Hermann said. “We battled back and played well on defense in the second half, but then we fall apart on offense and get in a hole.”

Austin took a 15-14 lead when Fritz hooked up with Yocom for a 14-yard score and found Bob Astrup on a fake P.A.T with 11:15 left in the second quarter. After Austin’s Matt Mueller missed a 24-yard field goal, the Winhawks took the lead for good when Jay Moran hauled in a 76-yard scoring strike from Gilbertson on third and four.

While Ryks ran for 157 yards, the Austin passing game struggled as Fritz was 8-for-28 with 78 yards.

“We had several wide open receivers and we had guys we needed to hit. We just didn’t do a good job of executing the passing game,” Hermann said. “I thought our offensive line played well and we had time to throw, it’s just a matter of consistency and execution.”

The Packers, who have lost three in a row, will host Albert Lea Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“We’ve got a big game coming up against Albert Lea, and you’d think we’d want to win that one and we’ve got to look at what we can do in the sections. We’re down to the last couple of games and this is still a team that can play well, but we have to be much more consistent.” Hermann said. “This is the time of the year where when you’re struggling you have to decide what you want to do. I haven’t given up and I’m going to fight like mad until the end. I’ve got to have that same effort from my guys.”

Austin stats

Rushing: Jerrad Ryks, 21-for-157, TD; T.J. Fritz, 8-for-15; Andrew Heickley, 2-for-6; Josh Hart, 1-for-(-7)

Passing: Fritz, 8-for-28, 79, TD, INT

Receiving: Bob Astrup, 4-for-34; Quinn Yocom, 2-for-21, TD; Jay Ettinger, 1-for-16; Ryks, 1-for-8

Sacks: Tyler Bentzin

Interceptions: Cole Adams (2)

Fumble recoveries: Anthony Condit

Penalties 1-for-5

Winona stats

Rushing: Anthony Inman, 12-for-98, TD; Mitch Jacobsen, 11-for-31, TD; Jared Gilbertson, 8-for-5; Thomas Lueck, 1-for-2, TD; Ryan Woodard, 1-for-1

Passing: Gilbertson, 12-for-15, 285, 2 TD, 2 INT

Receiving: Woodard, 5-for-155, TD; Moran, 3-for-91, TD; Zack Spies, 2-for-27; Jacobsen, 1-for-7; Inman, 1-for-3

Penalties: 11-for-85

Austin 7 8 0 0 — 15

Winona 14 10 0 20 — 44

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

(A) 8:44 Ryks 15 run (Matt Mueller kick) (7 plays, 73 yards)

(W) 8:25 Woodard 85 pass from Gilbertson (Arik Jacquart kick) (1 play, 85 yards)

(W) 7:59 Inman 21 run (Jacquart kick) (1 play, 21 yards)

Second quarter

(A) 11:15 Yocom 14 pass from Fritz (Fritz to Astrup) (6 plays, 70 yards)

(W) 2:49 Moran 76 pass from Gilbertson (Jacquart kick) (3 plays, 94 yards)

(W) ;02 Jacquart 26 kick (8 plays, 61 yards)

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

(W) 3:15 Lueck 2 run (Jacquart kick) (12 plays, 53 yards)

(W) 2:35 Inman 60 interception return (kick failed) (1 play, 60 yards)

(W) :57 Jacobsen 5 run (Jacquart kick) (2 plays, 9 yards)