It was a one-sided evening in favor of the Brookhaven Academy Cougars on Friday night as they rolled to a 28-6 victory over the River Oaks Mustangs in the second round of the MAIS AA state playoffs.

Both sides of the ball for the Cougars came to play in major ways, but the bread and butter of the evening was the sensational passing game from senior quarterback Dawson Flowers who finished 11-of-21 for 261 yards and the four touchdowns on the evening.

The scoring began at the halfway point of the first quarter after a long drive down the field into Mustang territory that culminated with the first of many completions to Cade Brown for six.

“We worked our same routine at practice but did go a little more for the passing game with seven-on-seven practice,” said Flowers. “We have to continue to play smart.”

With the passing game taking front row in the success for the Cougars tonight they also dually controlled the clock and stretched the field. This game plan exhausted the Mustangs and allowed BA to control the pace of the game.

“I think we played really well tonight as receivers,” said senior wideout Justin Burt. “I give all credit to Coach Rushing, he teaches the fundamentals and arms you with what we need to do. We played smart from the offensive side and when the quarterback throws it, we have to catch it.”

Two more touchdown passes from Flowers to Brown and a 22-yard backside pass from Flowers to Nick Ogden were the Cougars other scores on the night. The second half was scoreless as both teams ran the ball and the clock in the last two periods.

“The offensive line played really well tonight, made a few mistakes but we overcame it,” said senior lineman Sawyer Bowlin. “Our defensive line showed up and showed out.”

Linebacker Gunar Brister led the Cougars with nine tackles and also grabbed an interception. Ogden chipped in eight tackles. Flowers and Brown both snagged an interception apiece and Noah Diamond made seven tackles.

The Cougars are on to the AA semifinals where they will travel Greenville next Friday for a matchup with the St. Joseph Fighting Irish. St. Joe is the defending state champions and beat Clinton Christian 26-20 on Friday night. Centreville Academy travels to play Sylva-Bay Academy in the other semifinal on Friday.

Story by Paden Phillips