IMPERIAL - West Allegheny's starters received their mission for Friday night's football game: Take care of business and get out.

Mission accomplished.

The Indians (10-0) scored touchdowns on their first six possessions as the first string played only the first two quarters in a 41-6 WPIAL Class AAA first-round playoff victory over Knoch at Joe P. DeMichela Stadium.

The final score was also the halftime score.

"That is a great team," Knoch coach Mike King said. "They try to come out and jump on you as soon as possible.

"Once they get on a roll, they're hard to stop."

Because West Allegheny had a 35-point lead at halftime, the mercy rule kicked in and the clock ran continuously in the second half. The Indians played second and third stringers the entire second half.

Starting quarterback Greg Marshall threw for 179 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters. He found Rob Giles from 42 yards out, Scott Ruperto from 15 and Josh Shelton from 16.

The Indians completed 10 total passes to seven different receivers on the night.

"They were stacking the box and the passes were there," said West Allegheny coach Bob Palko. "There's a fine line behind working on some things and embarrassing or showing up an opponent.

"We did want to work on the pass a bit and we never try to show up anybody. These first-round games can be interesting situations. Take care of business early and get out without any injuries. We did that," he added.

The game started positively enough for the Knights (3-7). Joel Berger returned the opening kickoff 36 yards and a pass interference penalty on the first play from scrimmage gave Knoch a first down at the Indians 45-yard line.

West Allegheny's defense stiffened at that point and forced a punt before the Indians marched 66 yards in six plays the other way. Shelton's 40-yard run off an option pitch set up Dorin Dickerson for a 7-yard scoring run.

"We had a kid leave his lane on the kick return and we got that corrected," Palko said. "The interference penalty was our kid trying to make an aggressive play.

"I don't have a problem with taking a penalty like that. It's the foolish personal fouls and stuff we try to stay away from," he added.

Dickerson scored on a 29-yard run on the Indians' second possession. Dickerson has 23 touchdowns - 17 rushing, six receiving - this season.

Knoch trailed 34-0 when it put together a nine-play, 76-yard drive for its lone points of the night. David Bergamasco got loose for a 36-yard run and Curtis Compton caught a 19-yard pass from Jordan Shoop to set up Shoop's 9-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Hollihan.

"Experience is everything in high school football and this was a good experience for our kids," King said. "These are the WPIAL playoffs, the Western Pennsylvania playoffs.

"This is some of the best high school football in the country, in the world. We were a part of it and we were excited to be here," he added.

West Allegheny rolled up 315 yards of their game total of 382 in the first half.

Shoop threw for 114 yards and Bergamasco had 114 all-purpose yards for the Knights - 59 rushing, 39 receiving, 16 on a kickoff return.

"David got loose down the seam for that 39-yard pass," King said. "I was happy to see that, happy for him because he plays so hard all the time."

The game was played in muddy conditions, but neither team suffered a turnover. The start of the game was delayed 15 minutes by lightning.

West Allegheny plays Hampton - a 54-7 winner over Yough - in the second round next Friday. Hampton running back Steve Paskorz rushed for more than 200 yards Friday to go over the 2,000-yard mark for the season.