Albert Lea running back Luke Grossman wasn’t part of last year’s thrilling 27-20 triumph over Austin, but he made up for lost time with his best performance of the season in a grueling 13-0 victory Wednesday over the Packers at Art Hass Stadium in Austin.

Grossman, who missed last year’s contest because of a broken leg, rushed for a season-high 179 yards on 36 carries and two touchdowns against Austin (3-5, 2-5 Big Nine) as the Tigers (2-6, 2-5 Big Nine) won their fourth consecutive game against the Packers and second straight on Austin’s home field.

Behind a dominant line, Albert Lea’s wishbone offense rang up 248 yards of total offense to hand the Packers their fourth consecutive loss. The Tigers did not attempt a pass in the game.

On a rain-soaked field the Tigers controlled the line of scrimmage from the opening drive and rode Grossman’s sturdy legs for four quarters as the Austin defense didn’t have an answer for Albert Lea’s methodical, plodding rushing attack in the regular season finale.

“We were hoping to win the line of scrimmage battle and that’s what we did,” said Albert Lea head coach Clay Anderson. “Our guys just did a great job blocking.”

The Tigers drove 44 yards in five plays and found the end zone on Luke Grossman’s 1-yard run to give Albert Lea a 7-0 lead.

The game featured two strong running backs in the Big Nine Conference in Grossman and Austin’s Jerrad Ryks, but it was Grossman who helped beat the Packers once again.

“It seems like every year they think they’re going to beat us but we always end up on top,” Grossman said.

Grossman rushed for more than 100 yards for the second consecutive game and the fourth time this season as he outgained Ryks 179 to 52.

Ryks was limited to 52 yards rushing as the sloppy field and stout Albert Lea defense held the Packer offense in check. Austin failed to reach red zone the entire game, despite recovering three Tiger fumbles.

The Packers (3-5, 2-5 Big Nine) went to the Wildcat formation throughout the second half to get some kind of offense going, but the Albert Lea defense was up to the task. Ryks broke free for one long run of 21 yards, late in the fourth quarter but that was it.

“I’m more happy that we won the line of scrimmage battle and really dominated in the trenches,” Anderson said. “To me that’s the best part of what happened tonight. I’m very proud of our defense. We knew Ryks was the key coming into tonight.”

Michael Hutchinson and Trevor Rasmussen intercepted passes and the Tigers held Austin to just 83 yards of total offense.

“Just to get that win kind of caps off a year that’s been real frustrating,” Anderson said. “We have a real difficult schedule this year and we’ve played a lot of tough teams and we’ve been close in all the games basically. So to come out here and throw a shutout and come away with a nice win, I think that’s the most special part of tonight.”

The Tigers will travel to Faribault for the second straight season for the first round of the section playoffs Tuesday.

Albert Lea 13, Austin 0

Albert Lea 7 0 0 6 — 13

Austin 0 0 0 0 —  0

First Quarter

AL—Grossman 1 run (Cooper kick), 8:34.

Fourth Quarter

AL—Grossman 3 run (kick failed), :12.1.

AL A

First downs 14 4

Total Net Yards 239 83

Rushes-Yards 53-248 22-52

Passing 0 31

Punt Returns 0-0 1-18

Punts 2-32.5 5-27.8

Kickoff Returns 0 3-21

Interceptions-Ret. 2-0 0-0

Comp-Att-Int 0-0-0 4-9-2

Sacked-Yard lost 0-0 1-NA

Fumbles-Lost 5-3 2-0

Penalties-Yards 2-10 2-10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—AL, Grossman 36-179, Kriewall 4-17, Hanson 9-41, Stolt 4-11. A, Ryks, 19-52.

PASSING—A, Fritz 6-11-2-33.

RECEIVING—A, Yocom, 2-17, Astrup 2-16, Ryks 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.