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WOODVILLE — River Oaks School’s duo of senior quarterback Jake Stanley and senior running back Nic Jones was too much for Wilkinson County Christian Academy’s defense to handle as the No. 9 seed Mustangs defeated the No. 8 seed Rams 50-38 last Friday night in the first round of the 2023 MAIS 8-Man Class 1A State Playoffs.

Stanley completed seven of 13 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns to go along with a pair of touchdown runs. Nic Jones had three touchdown runs and ran in a pair of two-point conversions for River Oaks (4-7).

Meanwhile, WCCA sophomore running back Charles Grezaffi was the Rams’ real offensive threat. He had 13 carries for 95 yards, with touchdown runs of 15 and one yard that were part of a back-and-forth first half between the two teams, and another one from eight yards out that allowed the home team to stay in the game in the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs had their way with the Rams, whether it be throwing or running the ball. They had 305 rushing yards to go with Stanley’s 158 passing yards for a total of 463 offensive yards. The Rams didn’t do too bad themselves running the ball as they had 30 total carries for 223 yards. However, junior quarterback Cole Partridge, who had nine carries for 59 yards, only threw six passes and completed just two of them for 31 yards. 

Neither team turned the ball over, but the Rams were undone by costly penalties. They were penalized 12 times for 92 yards while River Oaks had just two penalties for 15 yards.

Jack Orgeron had five carries for 57 yards and led the defense with 14 tackles. Grezaffi had 13 tackles and Gavin Davis, who had one catch for 26 yards on offense, had 12 tackles on defense.

While River Oaks advanced to take on No. 1 seed Calhoun Academy in the quarterfinals next Friday at 7 p.m., WCCA finished its season with an overall record of 3-8.