WOODVILLE — In the first quarter, the Wilkinson County Christian Academy Rams sure did not play like the No. 1 overall seed in the MAIS Class A-AA State Playoffs Friday night against Greenville Christian School.

But once the second quarter got under way, the Rams dominated the visiting and 16th-seeded Saints in nearly every aspect. And that added up to a 60-30 victory in the opening round.

“Our biggest problem was we had trouble tackling,” WCCA head coach Christopher McGraw said. “They’ve got some good athletes. They’re not as fast as Trinity, but they’ve got some tall players.”

Greenville Christian’s passing game allowed the Saints to take a 16-14 lead over the Rams at the end of the first quarter. McGraw attributed that to two things – his team coming out flat and not making enough stops.

Then came quarter number two and the emergence of one Caleb Poole, as well as one of the best offensive lines in the state. Poole finished with 329 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. His touchdown runs were from 55, 14 and 89 yards.

McGraw said the play of the offensive line, led by seniors Luke Littleton, Tyler Butler and Sam Nicholas in the middle of that line, opened up big holes for not only Poole, but Steven Franks and Kyle Folds.

Franks finished with 86 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries while Kyle Folds had 11 carries for 60 yards and one touchdown.

“They’ve been doing it all year,” McGraw said. “Caleb ran hard. He followed his blocking well. He only had one carry of zero yards. To have back-to-back 300-yard games is rare. But he would say he’s getting those yards because of the offensive line.”

Poole threw the ball just three times, completing one of them for a 52-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Folds.

The Rams outscored the Saints 24-8 in the second quarter and 22-0 in the third quarter to take a commanding 60-24 advantage.

“They played a lot better (after the first quarter). We settled down a little bit,” McGraw said of his defense, which forced three turnovers.

WCCA (9-2) plays host to Prentiss Christian School next Friday at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals. Prentiss Christian, the No. 8 seed, defeated No. 9 seed Tunica Academy 42-22.