Boy, that was fun.

The Austin High football team is alive for the second round of the section playoffs for the first time in my four seasons of covering this squad.

The Packers pulled off the "mild" upset, knocking off No. 4-seeded Winona 18-13 Tuesday night in Winona. Just two weeks ago, the Winhawks beat Austin 44-15, though the score was deceiving.

I must preface this column by saying one thing ... I had written off this team. I feel bad about it, but I was ready for the season to be over.

Four consecutive ugly losses will do that to a guy. At separate times during that rough stretch, the offensive line, the secondary, the linebackers and the passing game struggled.

Despite the troubles, my frustrations mainly revolved around the fact that I felt this team had underachieved.

In past years, I wouldn't say that's always been the case. But when I looked at the talent on this Packers squad and sized up the schedule, I truly felt Austin was capable of going 6-2 in the regular season and contending for the No. 1 seed in Section One, Class AAAA.

That didn't happen. Not even close.

The ugliness started on the west side of Mankato about five weeks ago, on a gloomy, rainy Friday night.

The Packers were getting top-ranked Mankato West, a pass-happy team, at the best possible time, on a night when the rain didn't stop until the fourth quarter and the field looked like a mud puddle. The West passing attack should have been slowed greatly by the conditions, but the Packers provided little resistance and never were in the football game.

Despite the shutout loss, I remained positive about the season. After all, this was one of the two losses for which I had budgeted. No, it wasn't the performance I anticipated, but all certainly was not lost.

Then Faribault came to town. And the ugliness continued. For the first time all year, the Packers lost to what I felt was a lesser team. Then came Winona and Albert Lea. Lesser, lesser.

After the loss to Albert Lea, Austin's fourth straight to their rivals from down the highway, I threw in the towel. I wasn't sure if this team wanted to keep playing football.

Ask my sideline brethren from the Daily Herald -- my demeanor went from Mr. Positive, to Mr. Negative, in a very short period of time. A team I had praised and stuck with suddenly made it hard for me to stomach high school football.

That, of course, changed Tuesday night in Winona. This group of Packers proved me wrong. And Mr. Positive returned to the Austin sideline.

What changed for these Packers? Everything. Jerrad Ryks said it best after the game, "We all talked about starting over, forgetting everything that happened this season. We wanted to start it all over. This really felt like the first game all over again."

That's often easier said than done. But somehow, the Packers blocked out the last four weeks, focused on Winona, and got the job done.

To me, there were two key factors in the turnaround -- the overall play of the Austin defense and the return of THE T.J. Fritz.

The defense was sieve-like for much of the second half of the season. Regardless of which offense they were up against, the Packers defense never exuded confidence and it never felt like that unit could consistently stop another team's offense.

But Tuesday, that unit was stellar. The secondary was good, really good. And that hadn't happened in a long time. The linebackers made plays. The defensive line was in the backfield all game. It was fun to watch.

And how about T.J. Fritz. Now that's the kind of potential this kid showed early in the season. Fritz guided the offense with confidence. His final stats would have been even better, but there were a few dropped balls. Fritz finally put on display the type of leadership for which Hermann praised him before the season.

Again, fun to watch.

So, I'm officially back on the bandwagon. But I must strain my expectations for this weekend. The Packers get top-seeded Northfield (6-2) in the section semifinals, in Northfield on Halloween night.

The Raiders are very good, with their only two losses coming against No. 1-ranked and undefeated Mankato West and No. 5-ranked and 7-1 Hutchinson.

Austin, obviously, won't be favored against the top seed. However, if the team that showed up Tuesday in Winona shows up on Halloween in Northfield, you better believe the Packers have a chance. More than a chance, really.

Northfield is beatable, that's for certain.

Once again, Ryks said it best: "I didn't want the season to be over. I just want to see how far we can take this thing."

I'm with you, Mr. Ryks.

Ben Pherson is a Post-Bulletin sports writer. He writes a weekly Thursday column.

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