This was supposed to be the game in which Jeannette's starters finally would get a chance to play four quarters. Once-beaten East Allegheny surely would give Jeannette a game last night -- at least for a while.

But all East Allegheny turned into was victim No. 8. The Wildcats had the yellow tape around themselves in the second half as Jeannette turned McKee Stadium into another mercy scene.

Jeannette walloped visiting East Allegheny, 77-6, in a WPIAL Class AA Interstate Conference game in front of a packed house.

Jeannette, the Post-Gazette's No. 1 Class AA team in the WPIAL and PIAA, is 8-0 and the Jayhawks have forced the mercy rule in all eight games. Under the rule, the clock runs continuously in the second half when a team gets ahead by 35 points or more. Eight games. Eight mercy victims.

"They're a complete team," said East Allegheny coach Dennis Edwards.

And everyone else has been completely overmatched. Jeannette has outscored its eight opponents, 471-25. The Jayhawks' performance last night raised their offensive average to an astounding 58.9 points a game.

"This is the craziest year I've ever been involved [with] in coaching, just because of the way things have been going for us," said Jeannette coach Ray Reitz.

If the mercy rule were allowed in the first half, it would have come into play early in the second quarter against East Allegheny as Jeannette led, 35-0. The Jayhawks were in front, 55-0, at halftime. And remember, this was an East Allegheny team that had won six games in a row.

But East Allegheny should not feel badly. Jeannette's first seven opponents endured the same misery. Jeannette's first-half statistics this season are astonishing. In the first half, the Jayhawks have outscored opponents, 339-6.

"We saw film on them and we knew they were a pretty good team," said Jeannette star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who accounted for 221 yards offense on just eight plays. "We just knew we had to take care of business."

Pryor completed 4 of 5 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns and rushed three times for 69 yards and a score. He and his teammates seemed to be a little more pumped about this game. They finally thought an opponent might give them a tussle.

In pregame warm-ups, things got a little dicey when some East Allegheny and Jeannette players got a little too close to each other near midfield.

"Our kids got a little jacked up because there was a lot of talking going on, and that was probably pretty good for us," Reitz said.

In other words, East Allegheny woke up the Class AA giant.

"We've never been this fired up before," Pryor said.

The first half was a study in quick strikes. Jeannette had seven offensive possessions in the first half and scored a touchdown on every one. The Jayhawks had two one-play scoring drives. They also had a pair of two-play scoring drives, a three-play drive and two five-play drives. That's seven touchdowns in 18 plays.

And just so the defense wouldn't get overshadowed, Moziah Harris returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the half.

The first-half offensive touchdowns were: Mike Matt 24-yard run, Pryor 56-yard run, Jordan Hall 70-yard pass from Pryor, James Derry 61-yard run, Hall 3-yard run, Derry 5-yard run and Hall 4-yard run.

Kenny Grant turned a short pass from Pryor into a 63-yard touchdown on Jeannette's second play of the second half. Justin Kettren added a 14-yard run and Mariell McGown a 28-yard run to close out the Jeannette scoring.

"We feel our kids stay focused pretty good, despite some of the things that were going on on the field," Reitz said. "We're not happy how many yards Ashby got, though."

East Allegheny's Monte Ashby finished with 127 yards on 23 carries, but had only 11 yards in the second half.

"We knew we were going to win tonight, but we didn't think it would be like this at all," Matt said.

East Allegheny's touchdown came on a 23-yard run by Trevor Morris in the fourth quarter.