Davis, Jones lead Tigers to 41-0 win

Roderick Davis turned in a memorable rushing performance and Tucker Jones accounted for four touchdowns for the second straight week to lead Demopolis to a 41-0 win over Citronelle Friday.

The Tigers limited the visiting Wildcats to 70 yards of total offense in the contest, surrendering only three first downs and forcing five turnovers.

Peyton Pearson recovered a fumble on the opening snap, setting Demopolis up 12 yards from an early lead. Jones put Demopolis up with a two-yard touchdown run.

The Tigers needed only one snap on their ensuing possession for Jones to find Cortez Lewis for a 43-yard touchdown pass.

“We came out and played with a lot of intensity in the first half. We kind of played flat as a pancake in the second half,” Demopolis head coach Tom Causey said. “Did what we had to do to get a win tonight. It’s a region win and we’ll move on.”

The Tigers drove 62 yards on 11 plays to score on their next possession, culminating the drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Lewis.

Demopolis added to its lead early in the second quarter when Rodney Harper hauled in a 21-yard pass from Jones to cap a 75-yard drive that featured a 55-yard Roderick Davis run.

“He had a great night. He’s going to get better as he goes,” Causey said of Davis, who rushed for 173 yards on 17 carries in the first half before finishing the night with 217 yards on 26 rushes.

Demopolis’ final score of the first half came after Jones had a 25-yard touchdown jaunt negated by a penalty. One play later, Davis scored on a 30-yard run to leave the Tigers up 34-0 at half.

Demopolis added a late score with 1:54 to go in the game when Drew Jones punched the ball in from four yards out as the Tigers’ second unit used another Pearson fumble recovery and a pair of personal foul penalties to set up shop at the Citronelle 4.

The Wildcats, who had just one first down in the opening half and only two after intermission, crossed midfield for the first time midway through the second quarter when Jason Williams scooped a fumble and ran it 30 yards to the Demopolis 16. The drive ended when Demopolis’ Mason Rogers intercepted a pass in the end zone.

Sebastian Hale later added an interception for the Tigers.

“We had six starters suspended for the first half for one thing. We never recovered from it,” Citronelle William Gardner said. “They’re a much better football team than us. They whipped us anyway. That’s not an excuse. They whipped us anyway. But we’ve got to be smart enough that we don’t have that kind of negative stuff to start the game.”

The teams combined for 22 penalties for 215 yards.

“They did a good job for the most part,” Causey said of how his players handled a game that got chippy early and included a Citronelle ejection late. “We had a couple stupid penalties, something we’ve got to erase. We can’t get in a big game. That costs us.”

Demopolis (2-0) will host Saraland next week while Citronelle (1-1) hosts Selma.