-- It wasn't Strong Vincent's sharpest game of the season, but the Colonels' 35-14 victory over Meadville on Friday was enough to move them to 11-0 and advance them to the D-10 Class AAA title game.

Vincent was in control the whole way, but at one point during the third quarter, the Bulldogs drew to within 28-14 on DeAirius Goodrum's 3-yard TD run late in the third quarter.

It marked only the second time all season that any team had been within 14 points of Vincent going into the fourth quarter of a game. In their first matchup of the season, Vincent led Cathedral Prep 20-14 in the fourth quarter before pulling away for a 40-14 victory.

The Colonels are ranked first in the state by Pennsylvania Football News and second in the state by the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

-- Darrell Brooks had another big game for Vincent, piling up 158 yards on 13 rushes. He broke the first play of the game for a 75-yard TD run. He later added a short TD run. Brooks has 1,299 yards this season on 99 carries.

-- One positive sign for Vincent came from its kicking game. Shane Hurlbert made all five of his extra-point kicks Friday.

-- Meadville's Jon Roncolato deserves credit for toughing out Friday's game against Vincent. Roncolato injured his knee late during the regular season and was expected to miss the rest of the season. However, Roncolato defied the odds by returning for the Friday's playoff game.

Roncolato didn't only come back; he excelled. He ran nine times for a team-high 77 yards.

-- One difference between the Prep team that lost to Vincent during the regular season and the Prep team that will face Vincent next week is clear: Shyquawn Pullium's play.

Pullium, a quarterback, had another big game Friday, rushing for 157 yards and three touchdowns and passing for 127 yards and three TDs in Prep's 45-21 win over Grove City in the Class AAA semifinals.

It was the second big game in a row for Pullium, who passed for three TDs and ran for another last week in a regular-season finale against Central Tech.

That's two consecutive three-TD passing games for Pullium, who started the season as a running back. Pullium rushed for 312 yards in a Week 3 victory over DuBois and then faced Vincent. The Colonels shut him down, limiting him to zero yards on seven carries.

Since then, Pullium has taken over the starting quarterback job and has passed for 537 yards and eight touchdowns without throwing an interception. He has run for almost 900 yards.

-- Pullium wasn't shy about giving Strong Vincent bulletin board material Friday after Prep's win. Here's what he said: “We want to play Vincent again and beat them this time and just let them know we’re coming for them."

We're sure the Colonels know.

-- The WPIAL playoffs featured a few games of local interest Friday. Both Gateway and McKeesport -- two teams McDowell played this season -- advanced to the District 7 Class AAAA semifinals Friday. Gateway, the No. 1 team in the state, beat Shaler 24-0. McKeesport beat Pittsburgh Central Catholic 28-6.

McDowell lost to Gateway 30-18 and McKeesport 19-13 during the regular season.

-- Vincent fans might be interested in knowing that Thomas Jefferson continued to win. On Friday, TJ beat Hopewell 35-16 to advance to the WPIAL semifinals. Thomas Jefferson, which has been ranked atop the Class AAA state rankings all season, along with Strong Vincent, eliminated the Colonels in the PIAA semifinals last season.

-- Keenan Ellison had perhaps the most impressive performance of the District 10 season Friday. The Saegertown running back rushed 20 times for 346 yards in the Panthers' 49-27 victory over Sharpsville. He scored six touchdowns on runs of 67, 80, 3, 56 and 53 yards. He also returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.

-- Iroquois' season ended with a 28-14 loss to Mercer in the District 10 Class A quarterfinals Friday, but the Braves turned in a solid performance against the heavily favored Mustangs.

Mercer led 21-14 in the fourth quarter and Iroquois had driven deep into Mustangs territory before a Mercer interception ended the drive.

Mercer had a big size advantage, allowing the Mustangs to outgain the Braves 207-79 on the ground. Mercer limited 1,000-yard back Zach Poulson to 19 yards on eight carries.

-- One big bright spot for Iroquois was the passing game. Iroquois outpassed Mercer 109-0. Jake Szoszorek connected with Jeff Harvey for TD passes or 31 and 8 yards. Harvey finished with five catches for 86 yards.

-- Iroquois coach Mike Mischler has never missed the District 10 playoffs as a high school head coach. Mischler, who led Cathedral Prep to a state title in 2000, made the playoffs all seven years with the Ramblers. He has led the Braves to the postseason in each of his three years at Iroquois. However, the Braves are 0-for-3 in those appearances.

-- Farrell, which suffered a heartbreaking, last-second playoff loss to Mercyhurst Prep last season, has established itself as a threat to win this year's Class A title. The Steelers used their superior speed to outgain Union City 314-71 overall and 252-43 on the ground.

-- The Class A semifinals break down this way: Mercer will face Linesville, and Farrell will take on Saegertown. Linesville (9-2) handed Mercer (10-1) its only loss, 28-21 during Week 4.

In other regular-season matchups featuring Class A playoff teams, Linesville lost to Farrell 27-0 and Saegertown 41-35 in overtime. Mercer beat Farrell 20-0.

-- Class AA opens play today with four quarterfinals. Fairview takes on Sharon at noon. Then at 7 p.m., it's Wilmington vs. Girard, North East vs. Slippery Rock and General McLane vs. Greenville.

-- We ran three reader polls Friday night on our Friday Night Highlights live blog.

First, we asked where readers were when they were on the blog. Here are the results:
Outside Erie County: 30 percent
In Erie County: 30 percent
Outside the state: 23 percent
In the City of Erie: 18 percent
(Numbers are rounded)

Second, we asked who would win the Strong Vincent-Cathedral Prep rematch. The results:
Vincent by more than 7: 71 percent
Vincent by 7 or less: 18 percent
Prep by seven or less: 12 percent
Prep by 7 or more: 0 percent

Finally, we asked how many Region 4 teams would win Class AA playoff games Saturday. The results:
Two: 75 percent
Three: 25 percent
Four: 0 percent
One: 0 percent

-- Join us later today for live blog coverage from PIAA girls soccer and D-10 Class AA football. Then come back Sunday morning for the Saturday Morning Quarterback -- Sunday Update.