LE MARS, Iowa - Southern Cal's football team hung on for dear life Friday night.

Sixth-ranked Gehlen Catholic drove 76 yards down the field in the final four minutes of a Class A state quarterfinal game at Jim Lorenzen Field. Facing fourth down and four yards to go at Southern Cal's 10-yard line with 33.2 seconds left, the Mustangs' Greg Meyer broke up a pass in the end zone intended for Eric Loutsch and the defending Class A state champions held on for a 14-9 win over the Jays.

"No question, Gehlen's a good football team," said Southern Cal Coach Bryan Case, whose second-ranked squad will take an 11-1 record into a 1:30 p.m. semifinal game next Friday at the UNI-Dome against No. 5 Madrid (11-1), which advanced with a 42-15 win over Avoca AHST.

"I have a lot of respect for Coach (Tony) Gunter and a lot of respect for his football program. Everywhere you look, they have athletes on the field. We feel fortunate to win, no doubt. We've been fortunate a lot of times this year."

Southern Cal is in the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. Gehlen Catholic (10-2), which was in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1996, had a 309-221 total yards advantage, paced by 6-1, 179-pound senior running back Jordan Sitzmann, who rushed 26 times for a game-high 158 yards.

Gehlen Catholic's defense limited Southern Cal running backs Matthew Schleisman (895 yards rushing this season) and Chase Willett (889 yards) to 24 and 57 yards, respectively. Willett gave the Mustangs a 6-3 second-quarter lead on a one-yard touchdown run while quarterback Greg Meyer's two-yard run pushed the Mustangs' advantage to 14-3 in the third.

With Southern Cal taking away fleet-footed junior quarterback Taylor Wurth's option running game, Sitzmann stole the show. Sitzmann toted the pigskin six times for 33 yards on the first six plays of the final drive, highlighted by a 22-yard gain to Southern Cal's 41-yard line.

Wurth, who passed for 198 yards and hit Shaun Ryan with a 62-yard pass with three minutes left in the fourth quarter of Monday night's 21-18 first-round win over Clay Central-Everly, completed a 14-yard pass to Alec Mousel at the 16 and a seven-yarder to Zach Wurth with 47 seconds left.

Wurth, who pulled the Jays within 14-9 when he threw his 14th touchdown pass of the season, a five-yarder to Cody Campbell with 6:49 left, was unable to complete his last two passes of the contest.

"We did a good job of moving the ball downfield," said Coach Gunter. "They had taken Taylor out of his game, out of the option. That's a big part of our offense. Southern Cal was coming off the edges.

"Jordan Sitzmann had a big night. But late in the game when there's not much time on the clock and you're playing from behind, you have to go to the air. We just ran out of downs."

Gehlen Catholic had played the last four games without sophomore running back Trevor Bouma, who was out with a collarbone injury. Bouma had rushed for 870 yards and nine touchdowns in eight games, but will return next season along with Wurth, who had passed for 1,252 yards and rushed for 910 yards and 16 TDs.

In fact, five seniors will graduate from the squad, giving the Jays a chance to repeat their District 1 championship and perhaps, advance deeper in the playoffs.

"All you ask of the kids is to leave it on the field," said Gunter. "But you can't tell them to get over the loss. It'll take a while for that."

Southern Cal 14, Gehlen Catholic 9

Southern Cal 0 6 8 0 -- 14

Gehlen Catholic 3 0 0 6 -- 9

First Quarter

GC: FG Jordan Sitzmann 26 6:24

Second Quarter

SC: Chase Willett 1 run (kick failed) 7:49

Third Quarter

SC: Greg Meyer 2 run (Brian Green, pass from Meyer) 7:47

Fourth Quarter

GC: Cody Campbell 5 pass from Taylor Wurth (pass failed) 6:49

TEAM STATISTICS

SC GC

First downs 11 17

Rushes-yards 43-175 40-193

Passing yards 46 116

Passes 5-6-0 11-28-0

Total plays-yards 49-221 68-309

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Punts-average 4-27.5 3-40.-

Penalties-yards 2-20 2-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Southern Cal - Austin Blair 11-70, Chase Willett 17-57, Matthew Schleisman 9-24, Greg Meyer 6-24. Gehlen Catholic - Jordan Sitzmann 26-158, Taylor Wurth 11-19, Alec Mousel 2-12, Cody Campbell 1-4.

:PASSING: Southern Cal - Meyer 5-6-0 - 46. Gehlen Catholic - Wurth 11-28-0 - 116.

RECEIVING: Southern Cal - Schleisman 3-37, Blair 1-8, Willett 1-1. Gehlen Catholic - Mousel 4-43, Zach Wurth 2-26, Campbell 2-20, Sitzmann 2-18, Eric Loutch 1-9.