COUNCIL BLUFFS — A year ago, West Lyon ended Council Bluffs St. Albert's five-year run of semifinal appearances in the UNI-Dome with a fourth-down stop late in a Class 1-A quarterfinal game.

Friday at Al Leber Field, the unbeaten Falcons returned the favor.

No. 2 St. Albert turned back the fifth-ranked Wildcats 24-21 to earn its sixth trip to the state semifinals in the last seven years. But to do so, the Falcons had to stop a West Lyon running attack that had blitzed them for 334 yards — including 168 in the first quarter — on a fourth-and-5 with 1:33 to play.

“We hadn't been hit by a really good team this year, and they came out and smacked us in the mouth,” St. Albert coach Kevin Culjat said. “It took us a while to get into the flow. Coach (Jake) Driver and all the defensive coaches did a heck of a job. What a great stop at the end of the ballgame.”

The Falcons (12-0), who will meet unbeaten Prairie Valley in a 1-A semifinal in Cedar Falls on Nov. 14 at 1 p.m., had a 24-13 lead until West Lyon running back Jesse Selgeby broke free for a 59-yard touchdown run with 12 seconds left in the third quarter. Cody Ahrendt added a two-point conversion run to pull the Wildcats within three.

After forcing a punt with 7:37 to play, West Lyon marched from its own 4-yard line to the 40 before losing 5 yards on a false-start penalty. On the next play, St. Albert's Eric Golwitzer sacked quarterback Cody Grotewold for a 9-yard loss.

“I saw him booting out really wide so I knew I had to take a good angle,” Golwitzer said. “He got away from me once before, but it wasn't going to happen that time.”

On third-and-long, Grotewold completed his only pass of the game, an 18-yarder to Selgeby. But the junior was stopped for no gain on a fourth-down option play, ending West Lyon's hopes.

St. Albert quarterback Jake Waters took a knee three times after that to run out the clock and end a year-long mission for the Falcons to make a return trip to the dome. Waters, who ran for 68 yards and threw for 67 Friday, said prior to the season that last year's loss to West Lyon served as a motivator for his senior class.

“It's a great feeling,” the all-state quarterback said. “We waited 365 days for this. It was tough, but we pulled it out.”

West Lyon opened the game with a 10-play, 80-yard drive, jumping on top on a 14-yard touchdown run by Selgeby. After the teams traded fumbles on consecutive snaps, St. Albert answered with a 2-yard TD run by Andrew Brown.

The Wildcats went 80 yards again on the next series, but missed their PAT attempt following a 1-yard Selgeby run. Brown countered with a 41-yard TD to give the Falcons a 14-13 lead after a first quarter that, surprisingly, featured dueling running attacks.

“We really schemed them,” Culjat said. “Everybody thought we were going to throw it, but we knew we could run it against them. Our coaches did a great job of game planning. To be honest, we thought we could stop them. But they're a good, good football team.”

West Lyon (10-2).................13 0 8 0—21

St. Albert (12-0)..................14 7 3 0—24

WL: Jesse Selgeby 14 run (Trevor Snyders kick)

SA: Andrew Brown 2 run (Gabe Meis kick)

WL: Selgeby 1 run (kick failed)

SA: Brown 41 run (Meis kick)

SA: Jake Waters 1 run (Meis kick)

SA: Meis 27 FG

WL: Selgeby 59 run (Cody Ahrendt run)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: WL, Selgeby 24-256, Al-Ostaz 17-45, Grotewold 7-13, Ahrendt 2-17, Rice 1-3. SA, Waters 13-68, Gentile 12-94, Brown 11-89, Team 3-(-4), Finn 2-8.

PASSING: WL, Grotewold 1-2-0 18. SA, Waters 9-13-0 67.

RECEIVING: WL, Selgeby 1-18. SA, Brown 3-10, Finn 2-23, O'Neill 2-19, Johnson 2-15.