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KASSON — Don’t underestimate the power of momentum in football.

Kasson-Mantorville used a big dose of momentum on Thursday to turn the tide against Winona in Big Southeast District Blue Division play.

Winona used a couple of big plays to help produce touchdowns and led the host KoMets 13-10 late in the first half. K-M’s defense got a stop and the team got the ball back with 1:39 to play. Just a minute later, the KoMets had perhaps the biggest play of the game.

Running back Broc Barwald popped a 34-yard scoring run right up the middle with just 33 seconds left in the half to cut Winona’s lead to 13-10 at the break.

“That was a big play,” Barwald said. “We’ve got great linemen up front, just moving and pushing guys out of the way and making big holes for us.”

“We had a huge stop, used our timeouts and got the ball back,” K-M coach Joel Swanson said. “And our offense responded and made a big play. We ran up the gut because they were bringing everybody.”

The play certainly turned the tide of the game. The KoMets dominated play in the second half and posted a 31-13 victory. K-M ended up scoring the game’s final 28 points.

“We wanted to punch them in the mouth coming out the half and we did,” K-M quarterback/defensive back Kyle Nelson said.

The KoMets were coming off a 28-17 loss to rival Byron in their opener.

“It was a nice bounce back,” Barwald said. “Last week against Byron we kind of came out flat footed.”

Evan Snow, who finished with 119 yards on just six carries, gave K-M the lead for good with a 5-yard TD run in the third quarter. Nelson made the margin 24-13 with the first of two KoMets touchdown runs in the fourth quarter.

The KoMets rushed for 213 yards on 33 carries in the second half. Overall, the team used 12 different ball carriers. Barwald led the way with 160 yards on 28 carries.

“Our offense kind of got their feet under them and got going,” Swanson said.

K-M does have three new starters on the offense line and it is taking a bit for the unit to jell and adjust to the speed of varsity play. But the line certainly put together a quality game against Winona, especially in the second half.

“I think it’s just a whole team thing,” Swanson said of the line. “We busted loose on a lot of counter plays because the other team was just jumping our motion so bad. So credit to our coaches and players for executing on that.”

While K-M’s offense excelled in the second half, the defense was lights out. The KoMets held Winona (1-1) to just 14 yards of offense over the final 24 minutes.

“We got some big stops on defense and we kept on rolling,” Barwald said. “The energy was up and momentum is a big game changer.”

The KoMets had 381 yards, all on the ground. Nelson had to throw just one pass in the game.

“When that happens it’s a good game,” he said.

Nelson intercepted more passes than he threw. He picked off a pass in the second quarter and another early in the fourth quarter.

Winona had some passing success early, including Mason Langowski throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. But the Winhawks were just 1-for-8 for 12 yards and an interception in the second half, when they did not record a single first down.

“Our defense really stepped up,” Nelson said. “After a couple of drives we really got comfortable and really shut them down. That was really the key to the game, the defense was shutting them down and the offense was running the ball.”

K-M also did a nice job on special teams. Kicker Lars Ingram made a 22-yard field goal and was 4-for-4 on extra points.

“Our special teams were just lights out,” Barwald said.

Both teams are on the road next Friday night. Winona plays at Byron; Kasson-Mantorville plays at Mankato East.

K-M — Lars Ingram 22 field goal, 4:26.

Winona — Peyton Hoff 5 run (bad snap, run failed), 2:03.

Winona — Aiden Kronebusch 9 pass from Mason Langowski (Bryan Cassellius kick), 5:41.

K-M — Broc Barwald 34 run (Ingram kick), 0:33.

K-M — Evan Snow 5 run (Ingram kick), 2:52.

K-M — Kyle Nelson 18 run (Ingram kick), 8:12.

K-M — Caisen Thome 12 run (Ingram kick), 5:20.

Pass att-comp.-int. 6-17-2 — 0-1-0

Winona — Deion Prolo 5-21, Ronnie Lemon 8-19, Jaden Blanck 1-10, Peyton Hoff 1-5, Mason Langowski 3-4, Aiden Nation 1-2. Kasson-Mantorville — Broc Barwald 28-160, Evan Snow 6-119, Kyle Nelson 10-38, Michael Hoff 2-15, Caisen Thome 3-14, Owen Nelson 2-11, Dominic Mann 2-8, Peter Gillis 1-7, Emmett Ricke 1-6, Howard Head 1-5, Bennett Brown Gillis 1-4, Sam Graunke 2-(-4).

Winona — Deion Prolo 5 completions, 12 passes, 2 interceptions, 0 touchdowns, for 68 yards; Mason Langowski 1-2-0-1, 9 yards. Kasson-Mantorville — Kyle Nelson 0-1-0-0 for 0 yards.

Winona — Mason Langowski 3-47, Ronnie Lemon 1-12, Adien Kronebusch 1-9, Patrick Curtain 1-9. Kasson-Mantorville — None.

Evan Snow 5 TD run and Kasson-Mantorville leads Winona 17-13, 2:52 left in 3rd. pic.twitter.com/wnApCYXruz

Broc Barwald pops 34 TD run with just 33 seconds left in half. Kasson-Mantorville with 13-10 of Winona. pic.twitter.com/0WNu6X2v9N