Two years ago to the day, a triumphant St. Albert football team made its return from the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls and was greeted by a gymnasium full of fans, parents, teachers and administration congratulating the Falcons on winning the Class 1A state football championship, which at the time was the first in school and Council Bluffs history.

Exactly 730 days later, the gym at St. Albert was packed once again as the 2006 version of the Falcons took their turn in the spotlight, celebrating this year's 1A football title in a ceremony held Tuesday night before the St. Albert girls basketball season-opener.

After waiting 32 years for the first football championship in the city, St. Albert accomplished the rare of feat of picking up two in three years.

"It really livens up the community. People talk about how there's a state champion from Council Bluffs," said Mayor Tom Hanafan following the event, during which he spoke and deemed the day "St. Albert Falcon Football Day."

"I've been a referee for 34 years - I was doing the semifinals (at the Dome) last week - and it was nice when people were coming up to me saying, 'that team from Council Bluffs is pretty good.'"

Not only did last Friday's 21-14 win over Montezuma mark their second state crown in three years, it was the fourth time in a row the Falcons finished their season among the top four teams in the state at the UNI-Dome. In three of those, they advanced all the way to the championship game.

"I think it sets us apart ... it puts us up there in the class of some of the top 1A teams in the state," said Falcon coach Jim Duggan, who returned to the sidelines last season after coaching the team from 1997-2001. "It says a lot about the program in general. It's a milestone for any program, and a lot of credit goes to the coaching staff and the players on this team."

Duggan is assisted by Kevin Culjat, Vince Rew, Jake Driver, Randy Schmitz, Brian Butcher, Mike Kayl Tony Leick and Dale Scott, all of whom played a key factor in St. Albert's success this season.

The schemes provided by Culjat - the Falcon defensive coordinator - and company went a long way in giving the Falcons their win in the playoff opener, a 35-0 blanking of Logan-Magnolia which avenged a 20-0 regular season district loss.

That win seemed to be the spark the Falcons needed. St. Albert went on to outscore opponents 91-14 in the first three rounds of the postseason, dominating the competition on both sides of the ball.

"It just kind of snowballed (after the Lo-Ma game)," Duggan said. "I've told this story to a lot of people now, but when I got home from that game, I went up to my wife and said, 'we're going to win it all.'

"I just felt like we would do it," Duggan added. "Logan-Magnolia might have been the best team we played during the playoffs, and we played a great game against them."

Several players put together impressive late-season runs for the Falcons, but the team was unquestionably led by its 13 seniors.

Jake Hoffa, Cameron Tucker, Chad Belt, Nolan Batten, Jeremy Schieffer, C.J. Gradoville, Doug Moran, Jeff McGruder, Chris McKenzie, Sam Egger, Chris Poulos, Shawn Daley and Graham Whye all finished off their prep careers in style.

Since their freshman year, St. Albert has reached the Dome every season since they've been in the program, and 2006 was their turn.

"Coach (Duggan) talked about those 13 seniors and how they had goals, and they probably learned from the group of seniors from two years ago," Hanafan said. "When you look at this team, there's no superstars out there, but they play together as a team.

"They might not go and play in the NFL, but 20 years from now, they'll be able to come back to St. Albert and realize what they did ... and that they did it together."

"The 2004 team set the bar high, and there's a lot to say about tradition," added Duggan. "I'm proud of these guys - of everybody, really - the coaches and the fans too, but for those 13 seniors, that was there game ... that's there legacy.

"This is the reason they've worked so hard for all those years, and it paid off."

~Ryan Weatherill~ Staff Writer ©Daily Nonpareil 2006