Of Iowa's numerous tradition-rich high school football programs, just two will be playing in the UNI-Dome this weekend for a fourth straight year.

West Des Moines Valley, with its state-of-the-art facilities, and Council Bluffs St. Albert.

Current St. Albert coach Jim Duggan said it's a culmination of years of hard work.

"It really says something about the program in general, from when Nick McGrain got things going in 1976, to Marshall (Scichilone) to Ken (Schreiber) and I and Adam (Kuhl)," he said, referring to former head coaches. "The saying is that tradition never graduates. Everyone here takes a lot of pride in the tradition that's been built."

Unrated St. Albert (9-2), which has outscored its two playoff foes 70-0, will meet No. 2 Southern Cal (11-0) on Saturday in a 4:30 p.m. Class 1-A semifinal at Cedar Falls.

Even though Southern Cal, which is based in Lake City, has a 13-2 postseason record and won the 2000 state title, none of its current players have played in the dome. Most of St. Albert's starters have, and Duggan hopes that benefits his squad.

"The majority of them have experienced some of the oohs and aahs of being in there," he said. "They know what to expect, and I think that's an advantage from going in and being awestruck. It can catch people off-guard."

Coach Bryan Case's Mustangs have displayed good offensive balance. Senior quarterback Gavin Crandall has thrown for 1,285 yards and 12 touchdowns. Southern Cal has run for about 250 yards per game, led by sophomore tailback Kelen Richardson's 1,087 and 15 scores. Senior Keaton Hildreth has 718 receiving yards and nine TDs.

The stingy Mustangs are allowing 7.9 points and 145 total yards per game on defense.

For St. Albert, senior tailback Jeremy Schieffer has run for 1,338 yards and 15 touchdowns. He didn't play in the dome last year due to injury. Senior quarterback Nolan Batten has picked up his game in the postseason, and thrown for 837 yards on the year and eight scores.

Senior linebacker Chad Belt leads a defense which has recorded three straight shutouts.

"The coaches have done a great job scheming and putting our players in position to succeed," Duggan said. "We have 11 kids on defense playing with a lot of confidence."

The Falcons have had no margin for error since losing to Logan-Magnolia in week three of the regular season, which dropped them to 1-2 overall. Every week has been an elimination game.

"We had two goals at the beginning of the season," Duggan said. "The coaches' goal was to make the playoffs. The seniors' goal was to win a state championship. At one point, we thought that was a long shot. But now our (coaches') goal has changed. We want to win a championship."

~Kevin White~ Omaha World Herald - 11.11.06