PONCA, Neb. -- Jared Curry and his band of unbeaten Ponca Indians are headed to the Nebraska Class C2 football playoff quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

Curry rushed for 297 yards and five touchdowns and second-ranked Ponca distpatched of (Nebraska City) Lourdes Central Catholic 48-19 in a second-round game here Wednesday night. The Indians, now 10-0, play unranked Elmwood-Murdoch in a quarterfinal game Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

Elmwood-Murdoch surprised No. 7 Fremont Bergan 14-13 on Wednesday.

The 180-pound Curry, who had over 1,400 yards during the regular season, ran his touchdown total to 35 while toting the pigskin 32 times on a chilly evening. Joel Markworth added 106 yards on 14 carries as Ponca racked up 527 total yards, all but 57 on the ground.

Ponca survived a 293-yard passing night by Lourdes Central Catholic's Ben Fedoris, as well as 10 penalties for 105 yards.

"Lourdes Central Catholic is a very good football team so the fact that we were able to move the ball and score gives us confidence going into the next couple of rounds," said Ponca Coach Joe Kvidera. "They tested us the first half, but we were able to make some adjustments the second half and the guys really picked up their play in the second half."

Ponca dodged a bullet early when Lourdes Central Catholic drove to its three-yard line before turning it over on downs. Curry dashed 75 yards for a touchdown five plays later, but that was the only scoring of the first quarter.

Lourdes pulled within 7-6 on a 39-yard pass from Ben Fedoris on the first play of the second quarter, then appeared poised to take the lead after Eric Francois returned a fumble 38 yards to the Ponca four-yard line.

The Knights, however, coughed it up on the very next play, setting Ponca up for a 12-play, 95-yard scoring march. The Indians' only pass completion of the game, a 57-yarder to Nolan Block, led to a nine-yard touchdown run by Markworth with 5:06 left in the half.

There was, though, plenty of scoring left before intermission.

Ponca recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Curry scored his second touchdown on a seven-yard run. Lourdes answered on the next series when Ben Fedoris teamed with his twin brother Andy for a 43-yard scoring strike.

Curry added his third touchdown just a minute before halftime, sprinting in from 18 yards away after Markworth ran for 43 on the two previous carries. Lourdes still had enough time to drive to the Ponca 11, but Kash Echtenkamp intercepted a pass to preserve Ponca's 27-13 halftime lead.

A fumble recovery by Jesse Way set up Curry's fourth touchdown, a 13-yard run with 6:28 left for the only scoring of the third quarter. Curry's final touchdown was a four-yarder at the 8:56 mark of the fourth quarter and he carried just one more time, a 15-yarder that set up a nine-yard touchdown run by Andrew Watchorn with 6:30 left in the game.

Andy Fedoris had a one-yard quarterback sneak for Lourdes' final touchdown.

"I don't know if there are any words to describe this season," said Curry, a state track high jump champion. "We've been fighting through the year and coming out on top.

"From the time that we were young, we'd always dreamed of being that team that made history for Ponca. We've always wanted a state championship and now we're one step closer to it.

"This is a special bunch of guys who have that burning desire to go," said Kvidera, a 1988 South Sioux City High School graduate. "I've told them the only thing that can stop them is them. Hopefully that remains true and we have three more football games to play."

Lourdes Central Catholic, playing just its second season of 11-man football, finished the season with a 7-3 record.

"We squandered too many scoring opportunities in the first half and Ponca is too good of a team to miss those," said Lourdes Coach Andy Fedoris, a graduate of Mediapolis (Iowa) High Schol and Coe College graduate who coached at old Cedar Rapids LaSalle and Springville High School before coming to Lourdes, where he's had 15 playoff teams in 16 seasons. "We felt like we had a good shot at winning this game because we have a winning tradition."

Coach Fedoris is the father of Ben and Andy. Andy Fedoris Jr. hauled in nine receptions for 140 yards while Ryan Durr had four catches for 112 yards.

Ponca 48, Lourdes C.C. 19

Lourdes Central Cath. 0 13 0 6 -- 19

Ponca 7 20 6 15 -- 48

First Quarter

Ponca: Jared Curry 75 run (Ben Gehring kick) 4:22

Second Quarter

LCC: Ryan Durr 39 pass from Ben Fedoris (kick failed) 11:52

Ponca: Joel Markworth 9 run (run failed) 5:06

Ponca: Curry 7 run (pass failed) 4:47

LCC: Andy Fedoris 43 pass from Ben Fedoris (Garrett Hoyle kick) 3:08

Ponca: Curry 18 run (Curry run) 1:08

Third Quarter

Ponca: Curry 13 run (kick failed) 6:28

Fourth Quarter

Ponca: Curry 4 run (Gehring kick) 8:56

Ponca: Andrew Watchorn 9 run (Markworth run) 6:30

LCC: Ben Fedoris 1 run (pass failed) 3:59

TEAM STATISTICS

LCC Ponca

First Downs 19 22

Rushes-yards 24-78 63-470

Passing yards 293 57

Passes 20-43-2 1-5-1

Total plays-yards 67-371 68-527

Punts-avg. 3-29.3 2-27.5

Fumbles-lost 3-2 6-3

Penalties-yards 3-27 10-105

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Lourdes Central Catholic - Ben Fedoris 14-40, Andy Fedoris 3-17, Greg Denniston 6-12, Steven Francois 1-9. Ponca - Jared Curry 32-297, Joel Markworth 14-106, Andrew Watchorn 8-23, Kash Echtenkamp 3-15, Vasean Markworth 1-11, Austin Hansen 2-8, Eric Watchorn 1-7, Nathan Uhl 1-3.

PASSING: Lourdes Central Catholic - Ben Fedoris 20-42-1-293, Andy Fedoris 0-1-1-0. Ponca - Andrew Watchorn 1-5-1-57.

RECEIVING: Lourdes Central Catholic - Andy Fedoris 9-140, Steven Francois 6-38, Ryan Durr 4-112, Garrett Hoyle 1-3. Ponca - Nolan Block 1-57.