St. Albert's 35-0 trouncing of Logan-Magnolia in the first round of the Class 1A football playoffs Wednesday was another benchmark for a program that's making its 10th consecutive trip to the postseason.

The Falcons (8-2) didn't have long to celebrate the victory, however.

Their reward for avenging a regular-season loss to the Panthers is a quarterfinal round date with Mount Ayr (10-0), the fifth-ranked team in 1A. The Raiders have won 17 of their last 20 football games.

The two will square off Monday at 7 p.m. at Al Leber Field.

"They're a good team. They have a very wide-open attack on offense," St. Albert coach Jim Duggan said of the Raiders. "They run a double-wing offense with a lot of misdirection and options, stuff that's kind of hard to defend."

Mount Ayr has the personnel to make its offensive game plan a headache for opponents as well.

"They're very talented in the skill positions," Duggan said. "They're quarterback is a real shifty player, and they have a couple wingbacks who are real fast, speedy kids."

The defense will be challenged Monday, but that's nothing new for the Falcons.

On Wednesday, in an effort to try to slow down the potent Lo-Ma offense, St. Albert switched from its usual 4-3 defense to a 5-3, using five down lineman for the first time all season.

The move worked, with linebackers Chad Belt, Jeff McGruder and Jace Cochran using the extra room to shut down the Panthers.

"We changed up our scheme to try to free up our linebackers and give them a chance to make plays," Duggan said. "And that's what they did. Chad, McGruder and Jace made some big plays, and that was a big advantage for us."

The Falcons will most likely mix things up again Monday against Mount Ayr, although Duggan wasn't quite as specific about the plan.

"We're going to kind of Lou Holtz it," he joked. "We're going to run everything, and then go back to what works."

Offensively, St. Albert was the picture of balance in the opening-round win over Lo-Ma, led by senior quarterback Nolan Batten.

Batten threw for over 150 yards in the first half as the Falcons carried a 28-0 lead into the locker room at intermission, and he was also the team's leading rusher in the game. He tossed three touchdowns passes and ran in one more.

"That's what you expect from your senior quarterback, to move the chains and make big plays, and that's what he did," Duggan said. "He had a lot of perimeter help with guys making big catches and big blocks too.

"Our offensive line did a pretty good job of giving him the extra time he needed."

Matt Waters, Jake Hoffa and Marc Baumert were the recipients of Batten's touchdown passes Wednesday. Jeremy Schieffer accounted for the Falcons' other score, hitting paydirt on a 26-yard scamper in the first quarter.

If the Falcons can get past Mount Ayr Monday, it will keep another streak going.

St. Albert has played at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls the last three years in a row, and a win Monday would put the Falcons in the semifinals and extend the mark to four straight. Duggan isn't looking that far ahead just yet, however.

"We really haven't discussed that much. Our goal was to make the playoffs this year, and once we did that we've reevaluated our goals," he said. "I think the kids probably have it in the back of their mind, but we just need to focus on the game that we're playing next.

"We want to go out and play as well as we can, and if we're fortunate enough to make it (to the semifinals), we'll definitely be excited."