By Ben Pherson

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

NORTHFIELD -- Welcome back, Jamaal.

Austin High's Mr. Everything returned to the lineup for the first time since the middle of the season, and Jamaal Gibson didn't disappoint in his reappearance.

The senior wide receiver/defensive back/punter/punt returner scored Austin's lone touchdown in a 29-8 loss to top-seeded Northfield in the Section One, Class AAAA semifinals Saturday night.

Gibson had been out since Week 4, when the Packers beat Mankato East. After that game, the Packers went on a four-game losing streak to close out the regular season.

Gibson broke his hand against East, and he wasn't cleared to return to the football field until Saturday. There was a risk of re-injuring the hand, but since Gibson knew it could be his final high school football game, he went for it.

Of course, had the Packers not upset Winona a week ago, Saturday never would have happened.

"The doctor told me there was a big chance I'd re-injure it and be out for nine more weeks," Gibson said. "I just thought, I love football, and I just got to get back out there, so I took the chance. It ended up for the best. I didn't have any pain at all."

Gibson played with the hand heavily bandaged, but he said it didn't bother him.

Gibson scored Austin's lone touchdown early in the fourth quarter. With Austin trailing 21-0, Gibson pulled in a perfect pass from quarterback T.J. Fritz and sprinted to the end zone for a 57-yard score.

Gibson finished with three catches for 69 yards. He also had one rush -- on the second play of the game -- for 5 yards.

Austin coach Tim Hermann said it was a big emotional boost for his team to have Gibson back in the lineup.

"When he came into practice this week, there were a lot of smiling faces," Hermann said. "Obviously, he's a big-play guy. But I think it was more of an emotional thing. It was great to have him be able to play that last game."

Senior send-off

It also was the final game for a solid group of Austin seniors. Austin will lose a total of 19 seniors, including Gibson, Jerrad Ryks, Mike Tindal, Preston Higbe, Fritz, Aaron Dooley, Mike Hirsch, Matt Mueller, Bobby Astrup, Brady Klingfus, Joe Diggins, Eric Maloney, Mitch Morem, Isaac Bartlett, Tyler Burkey, Jacob Hines, Genero Duarte, Keith Crape and Tyler Bentzin. Most of those seniors were starters or major contributors.

Hermann said it's been one of the best senior groups he's been around in 37 years of coaching.

"No doubt, that was one of the better groups that stayed around, worked hard and got things done," Hermann said. "We would have liked to have more wins, but I tell you what, those guys worked hard. We were together for five months, and I wouldn't have wanted to be around any other group of guys for those five months."

NORTHFIELD 29, AUSTIN 8

Austin 0 0 0 8 -- 8

Northfield 7 6 8 8 -- 29

FIRST QUARTER

NORTH -- Davonte Jacobs 9 run (Wes Kramer kick), 3:55.

Drive -- 1 play, 9 yards, :05. Key play -- Austin fumble on a punt return gives Northfield ball at Austin 9-yard line.

SECOND QUARTER

NORTH -- Tristin Faust 1 run (kick failed), 1:02.

Drive -- 5 plays, 68 yards, 1:33. Key play -- Jordan Bardwell to Alex Bisch 38-yard gain.

THIRD QUARTER

NORTH -- Jacobs 5 run (Bardwell to Bisch), :13.

Drive -- 13 plays, 85 yards, 6:56. Key play -- Bardwell to Faust for 17-yard gain.

FOURTH QUARTER

AUST-- Jamaal Gibson 57 pass from T.J. Fritz (Jerrad Ryks run), 10:29.

Drive -- 5 plays, 68 yards, 1:37. Key play -- Scoring play.

NORTH -- Scott Snesrud 25 pass from Jacobs (Jacobs run), 4:11.

Drive -- 4 plays, 52 yards, 1:46. Key play -- Bardwell to Bisch for 27-yard gain on third down.

AUS NOR

First downs 7 19

Total yards 162 288

Rush attempts-yards 19-10 51-128

Passing yards 152 160

Comp-Att-Int 12-22-1 10-13-0

Punts-average 3-29 2-31

Penalties 4-40 5-35

Fumbles-lost 4-1 2-0

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Austin -- Jerrad Ryks 10-23, T.J Fritz 8-(-18), Jamaal Gibson 1-5. Northfield -- Tristin Faust 17-66, Jordan Bardwell 10-(-12), Davonte Jacobs 15-64, Luke Reppe 6-25, Jackson Meland 1-(-2), Alex Bisch 1-(-16), Josh Corbin 1-3.

PASSING

Austin -- T.J. Fritz 12 completions-22 attempts-152 yards-1 interception-1 touchdown. Northfield -- Jordan Bardwell 9-12-135-0-1, Jacobs 1-1-25-0-1.

RECEIVING

Austin -- Jay Ettinger 2-41, Bobby Astrup 5-29, Ryks 1-(-4), Jamaal Gibson 3-69, Quinn Yocom 1-7. Northfield -- Alex Bisch 3-77, Jordan Freeman 3-15, Scott Snesrud 3-51, Faust 1-17.

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