The numbers favored the Albert Lea football team in nearly every category except for the one that matters the most.

The Tigers (0-2, 0-1 Big Nine) outgained, outplayed and generally dominated No. 8-ranked Winona Friday at Hammer Field, but the Winhawks, ranked No. 8 in Class 4A, escaped with a 20-14 win largely due to three big plays.

Winona (2-0, 1-0 Big Nine) avoided an upset when Jake Lieske returned an Albert Lea kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and left the Tigers mulling how the game got away.

The return came on the heels of the Tigers’ best series of the game, a 14-play, 79-yard drive that was capped by Luke Grossman’s 1-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion by Casey Marka on a pass from Kyle Kriewall that gave Albert Lea a 14-12 lead with 9 minutes, 37 seconds to play in the game.

The drive would have been the fitting end a game where the Tigers outgained the Winhawks by 200 yards, but Winona continually found ways to remain in the game.

“Bottom line we let one escape from us,” said Tigers head coach Clay Anderson. “Good teams find ways to win and right now we’re just finding ways to lose. We just gotta get over that hump.”

Albert Lea took an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter when Kriewall found Aaron Klatt down the near sideline for a 38-yard touchdown reception, but Winona responded with a 60-yard touchdown when Jay Moran caught a wobbly pass from quarterback Jared Gilbertson in the second quarter to tie the game.

The Winhawks took a 12-6 lead with 16 seconds to play in the first half when Thomas Lueck scored from 1-yard out. The touchdown came three plays after Winona blocked a Tigers’ punt and took over on downs at the 1-yard line.

“We were by far the better team, they just had three good plays,” said Tigers linebacker Jake Jensen. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Albert Lea outgained Winona 348-147 and the Winhawks had just three first downs in the entire game. Take away the 60-yard pass play and Winona had just 87 yards of total offense.

“The one thing we take away is that we’re a pretty good team and if we continue to work hard good things are going to happen to us and I honestly believe that,” Anderson said. “The other thing you’ve got to take away is you’ve got to get the job done when the chips are down. Hopefully we learned a little bit tonight.”

Albert Lea moved the ball effectively on offense all night with Grossman rushing for 104 yards and Kriewall passing for 160 yards, but 10 penalties for 90 yards hurt the Tigers throughout the game.

Marka caught five balls for 100 yards, including a 20-yard pass to bring Albert Lea down to the 1-yard line on the team’s final scoring drive.

The Tigers had a shot late to possibly win the game when they drove down to the Winona 20 with less than 3 minutes to play. But Albert Lea was driven back to the Winona 30 after a penalty and a 5-yard loss on third down to set up a fourth-and-15. Kriewall dropped back to pass and found Klatt down the near sideline at the 1-yard line, but the pass was just out of his reach.

How Albert Lea responds from the game will be important. When asked if he needs to be concerned about a letdown following the loss, Anderson said it’s always a concern given the recent history of the program.

“I think any time you have not won on a regular basis you have to worry about those things,” Anderson said. “I think the test will be this week to see if this team has more maturity than years past. That’s what it takes — it takes some maturity from our kids, it takes some ability to understand the positives and this isn’t the end, this is the beginning of some things that could be really good.”

Going toe-to-toe with a top-10 team in the state was proof to some on the team that the Tigers can play competitive football this season.

“I think it gives us a lot more confidence going into next week against another tough opponent, Owatonna,” said senior lineman Jordan Cooper said. “We know we can play now.”

Next week’s game against the Huskies, the defending Big Nine champion, will surely be the biggest test of the season thus far. Keeping the approach from Friday will serve the team well heading into it.

“That was one of the best games we’ve played in a while,” Jensen said. “We dominated the game. We just gotta think like that and go to next week.”

Winona 20, Albert Lea 14

Winona 0 12 0 8 — 20

Albert Lea 6 0 0 8 — 14

First quarter

AL— Klatt 39 pass from Kriewall (kick failed), 8:19.

Second quarter

W— Moran 60 pass from Gilbertson (pass failed), 7:16.

W— Lueck 2 run (kick failed), :16.

Fourth quarter

AL— Grossman 1 run (Marka from Kriewall), 9:37.

W— Lieske 87 kickoff return (Lueck run), 9:21.

W AL

First downs 3 15

Total Net Yards 147 348

Rushes-yards 22-61 43-169

Passing 86 189

Punt Returns 1-17 4-21

Kickoff Returns 3-120 3-30

Interceptions Ret. 2-44 0-0

Comp-Att-Int 5-13-0 1 1-22-2

Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 3-16

Punts 5-29 6-39.3

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-0

Penalties-Yards 10-90 7-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing— W, Inman 10-54, Jacobsen 6-11, Lueck 2-0. AL, Grossman 24-104, Stolt 12-53, Kriewall 6-8, Solie 1-1.

Passing— W, Gilbertson 5-13-86-1-0. AL, Kriewall 10-21-160-1-2.

Receiving— W, Moran 1-60, Inman 2-23, Bade 1-16, Woodard 1-9. AL, Marka 5-100, Klatt 3-58, Stolt 1-16, Grossman 1-8, Rasmussen 1-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.