Gehlen Jays football notebook

A look at Friday's matchup between No. 6 Gehlen and No. 3 Southern Cal:

Postseason Path

Regular season: Both Gehlen and Southern Cal won their respective district championships with 8-1 (6-0) records.

Substate: Gehlen def. Rockwell City-Lytton 24-0; Southern Cal def. Alta 28-14.

First round: Gehlen def. Clay Central-Everly 21-18; Southern Cal def. Akron-Westfield 28-14.

State football history

Gehlen Catholic

1995 - The Jays won the Class A title with a 22-0 win over North Mahaska and went 12-1 under head coach Denny Muller.

1996 - The Jays were runner-up in Class 1A with an 11-2 record after losing to West Hancock 17-14 in the championship game.

Under head coach Tony Gunter, the Jays have gone to the state playoffs three times - in 2004 (co-head coach with Erv Whitehead), 2005 and 2008.

Under former head coach Denny Muller, who is now at Southeast Polk, the Jays went to the state playoffs seven consecutive years in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 (1st), 1996 (2nd), 1997 and in 2001.

Southern Cal

1990 - The Mustangs defeated Parkersburg in 17-10 in the state championship after they went 12-0 under head coach Delos Schumacher.

2000 - The Mustangs defeated Aplington-Parkersburg 26-8 in the state championship and went 13-0 under head coach Don Boulware.

2008 - The Mustangs defeated North Tama 22-21 (OT) in the state championship and went 13-1 under head coach Bryan Case, who remains at the helm in 2009.

Under head coach Bryan Case, the Mustangs have gone to the state playoffs in 2006, 2007 and 2008 (1st). Southern Cal is 19-4 in state playoff games prior to 2009.

Statistical leaders

Gehlen Catholic

Offensively for the Jays, quarterback Taylor Wurth boasts a 156.1 quarterback rating as he is 84-for-132 for 1,133 yards and 13 touchdowns against eight interceptions. His favorite target is Cody Campbell, who has 22 receptions for 333 yards and five touchdowns.

Alec Mousel adds 235 yards with two touchdowns while Eric Loutsch has 107 yards on 12 catches with two touchdowns.

Wurth leads the ground game with 891 yards and 16 touchdowns on 109 carries while Jordan Sitzmann adds 804 yards on 137 carries with eight touchdowns.

The Jays feature a relatively balanced offensive attack that features 2,748 rushing yards (34 touchdowns) and 1,154 passing yards (14 touchdowns).

Senior Cole Heissel leads the defense with 75 tackle points, including 16 for loss, while Campbell adds 74 tackle points and one interception and Drew Kellen has 65 tackles.

Sitzmann adds 48 tackles, including four for loss, and two interceptions while Chris Eral has 57 tackles, including 11 for loss. Both Taylor and Zach Wurth have four interceptions on the year.

Southern Cal

Greg Meyer, the senior quarterback, is 44-for-99 for 751 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 120.7 quarterback rating for the 10-1 Mustangs.

Junior Brian Green is the senior's favorite target as he has reeled in 398 yards and four scores on 21 catches.

Austin Blair has seven catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns while senior runningback Matthew Schleisman caught six balls for 100 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Senior Schliemann (871 yards, nine touchdowns) and Chase Willett (832 yards, seven touchdowns) lead a Southern Cal team which has 2,736 total yards on the ground. Sophomore Austin Blair has 759 yards and eight touchdowns for the Mustangs' three-pronged rushing attack.

Meyer has just 136 yards but has scored seven of the team's 33 rushing touchdowns on the season.

Defensively, Schleisman has 126 tackle points, including five for loss, to lead the squad.

Chase Willett has 90 stops and junior Keith Holm has 71 tackles.

Schleisman has 3 interceptions, including a pick-six, while Kirby Vogel and Brian Green each have two picks for a team that has 12 on the season.

Compiled by Bethany Kroeze