No. 4 Ironwood Ridge outlasted No. 13 Sunnyside 34-30 Friday night to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Division II state playoffs where the Nighthawks (9-2) will host No.5 Marcos de Niza (10-2).

Ironwood Ridge defeated Marcos de Niza 35-24 on the Padres' home field on Oct. 16. Prior to this season, Marcos de Niza knocked Ironwood Ridge out of the 2013 playoffs in the first round.

The Ironwood Ridge/Sunnyside game was a rematch of last year's first round game where Sunnyside upset No. 2 Ironwood Ridge 35-14.  There was no upset this year but the game was just as entertaining and the outcome was in doubt until the final seconds.

Sunnyside (6-5) was led by senior quarterback Nick O'Hagin. O'Hagin threw for 133 yards and rushed for 236 more. On the other side, junior QB Cole Gerken threw for 237 yards with four touchdowns to lead Ironwood Ridge. It was a classic back-and-forth battle.

"Nick can do it all," Sunnyside head coach Glenn Posey said. "He had to do it all for us but he was up to the task. He's a great kid."

Ironwood Ridge built a 13-0 lead with 2:58 left in the first quarter after Harrison Beemiller hit Jared McKemy on a 58-yard toss and then Beemiller picked off O'Hagin to set up another score with Gerken hitting Beemiller on a 66-yard strike.

Sunnyside was struggling early but O'Hagin started to pick his way through the Nighthawk defense and he cut the lead down to 13-8 after he ran one in from 18 yards out and then converted a 2-point conversion.

But McKemy intercepted another pass to help keep Sunnyside at bay. Gerken would take advantage of another turnover and he connected with McKemy on another TD pass to extend the lead to 21-8 at the half.

McKemy came into the game with only two touchdown catches all year. With only 199 yards receiving, the senior is known more for his pass defense than his offense. But that changed tonight.

"It wasn't me. It was the guys calling plays, our quarterback and the guys blocking," McKemy explained. "I was a decoy on some of those plays but we got lucky. Sunnyside's defensive line was the best I have seen this year."

McKemy almost doubled his season total with 152 yards receiving and he collected four touchdowns. It was more than luck.

O'Hagin scored from one yard out with 3:20 left in the third to cut the lead down to 21-16 and the Sunnyside defense forced a punt and O'Hagin got the ball back and he hit Daniel Hernandez on a long pass to give the Blue Devils a 24-21 lead with 11:26 left in the game.

Some teams would crumble at that point but Gerken and McKemy connected on a 44-yard touchdown with the Sunnyside defense coming down on Gerken on a long third-down situation.

Ironwood Ridge led 28-24 with 10:08 left but it felt like the lead was not enough with O'Hagin on the field but Beemiller collected his second interception of the night and it would lead to another Ironwood Ridge score after Gerken hit Daniel Peabody from 15 yards out on a third-and-goal situation.

Still, O'Hagin came back and threw a laser to Jorge Dabdoub with 2:20 left to cut the lead down to 34-30.

Ironwood Ridge was able to run the clock out after a failed onside kick attempt.

"You work twelve months to prepare for ten games and then you earn an eleventh only to lose it," Posey said. "It's a horrible feeling. Turning in equipment and saying goodbye to seniors.

"We don't praise a lot of our players individually but O'Hagin is the best quarterback in the city," he added.

Ironwood Ridge head coach Matt Johnson played the game with few of his stars missing.

"Honestly, I'm shocked we won the game," Johnson explained. "We didn’t have Chase Laurita and six starters but the team pulled together.

"I was impressed with how my guys worked through adjustments but this is probably the first time I have won with rushing yards this low."

Ironwood Ridge finished with only 59 yards rushing on an offense that is used to gaining almost 240 a game. But Johnson, like McKemy, also credits Sunnyside's defensive line especially Deshay Ramos and Aaron Sanders.

"Those guys are All-City," Johnson said. "But we watched some film and felt we saw some openings."

When asked about Gerken's play, Johnson said he was a special player as was McKemy and Beemiller.

Beemiller threw for 64 yards to go along with the 237 from Gerken and Beemiller collected 83 yards receiving but it was his two interceptions that dealt the biggest blows.

Ironwood Ridge turned three interceptions into three touchdowns. The Nighthawk defensive backfield features some of the best in McKemy, Cole McLafferty, Beemiller and Joey Ventimiglia. They are all quick and play harassing defense.

O'Hagin broke the 2,000 yard mark for passing this year and will graduate with over 3,100 yards passing in his career. He also broke 1,000 yards rushing with one fourth of that coming against Ironwood Ridge.