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The defense came through in a big way Friday night for Winona Senior High School’s football team, coming up with a key stop in the fourth quarter to secure a win.
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Winona’s Chad Peterson cuts through teammates and Austin defenders on Friday in Winona. (Photo by Paul Solberg/Winona Daily News) |
The Winhawks held on for a 29-26 victory over Austin in the Big Nine Conference, staying perfect in three games this season at Paul Giel Field.
The message came from coach John Cassellius before his defense took the field a final time.
“He just said go out there and if we get the stop, we get the ‘W’,” WSHS senior linebacker Chase Bratland said. “We had trouble stopping them all night, but we knew we had it in us.”
Austin moved the ball seemingly at will, answering every time the Winhawks (3-1, 2-1) regained the momentum.
In a game that had nine lead changes, the eighth came with 8:41 remaining when the Packers (1-3, 0-3) grabbed a 26-22 lead.
WSHS answered with a seven-play, 64-yard drive that chewed only 3:10 off the clock. Mitch Jacobsen’s 2-yard run gave the Winhawks a 29-26 advantage with 5:25 to play.
“They couldn’t stop us and we weren’t having a great time stopping them,” Cassellius said. “We knew it was going to come down to a stop and that would be the difference in the game.”
Austin’s final drive started well enough, with runs of 6 and 5 yards by Jerrad Ryks for a first down.
An incomplete pass on first down put Austin (1-3, 0-3) in a hole and a dropped shotgun snap on second down resulted in a 2-yard loss.
The Packers lost another yard on a screen pass on third down, the tackle made by Bratland. A fourth down pass deep down the sideline fell incomplete.
“We kept bringing it and our guys executed,” Cassellius said. “We mixed up some of our blitzes and ran some stuff we didn’t all game. We made plays.”
WSHS’s offense ran the final 2:59 off the clock, the key play a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak by Joe Zimbric that picked up 4 yards.
It was another big win for a program that struggled the past five years. The Winhawks hadn’t won a home game since 2002 and ended a 39-game conference losing streak earlier this season.
The only loss was a 27-20 setback last week at Rochester John Marshall, a game WSHS led going into the fourth quarter.
“We’re not used to it yet. Look at us, we don’t know what to do,” Zimbric said. “Last week was a close game we lost, so it’s nice to get this win.”
Zimbric made two huge throws to help the Winhawks regain the lead on two occasions, including the go-ahead touchdown drive.
He found Chris Merritt streaking down the sideline for 49 yards on the first play of the final drive before halftime. It set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Jacobsen for a 15-12 halftime lead.
Zimbric also hit Chad Peterson for 29 yards to set up Jacobsen’s go-ahead run.
Zimbric finished 6 of 11 for 138 yards, while Peterson had 17 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns, the first a run of 35 yards.
Peterson also caught three passes for 44 yards and Merritt had two for 67 yards.
WSHS also recorded a safety for its first points, taking a 2-0 lead at the 9:33 mark of the first quarter.
The 29 points scored were only one fewer than the Packers allowed in their first three games. Austin has lost three league games by 12 points combined.
“It’s great playing at home. It’s great seeing the fans,” said Cassellius, whose team plays Albert Lea at home next Friday. “All you want to do is keep stringing together as many (wins) as you can.”
