Demopolis comeback falls short against Hillcrest

20141030 DHS vs Hillcrest-5308

Demopolis dug itself into a 20-point hole early and nearly clawed out while cutting the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter before succumbing in a 39-29 loss to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa.

“A loss is never any good,” Demopolis coach Tom Causey told his players after the game. “I’m dang proud of the way you fought. I’m dang proud of the way you competed. We had a bad start to this game and then you figured out you could play with these guys. You had an opportunity to roll over tonight. You had an opportunity to lay down. You didn’t do that and I’m darn proud of you.”

20141030 DHS vs Hillcrest-5576Brian Robinson Jr. all but iced the win for the Patriots with a 33-yard touchdown run with 2:46 to play.

The game’s final score came after a late flurry from Demopolis that saw the Tigers score on a 4-yard Rashad Lynch run before William Wilkins recovered an onside kick. Two plays later, Jamarcus Ezell went over the top to Antonio Mackins for a 52-yard strike and Demopolis knifed the deficit to 32-29.

Cahlil Ellis opened the scoring for Hillcrest, punching it in from two yards out with 10:43 to play in the opening quarter. Robinson, who finished the night with 147 yards on 22 carries, scored on a 3-yard run to up the lead to 13-0.

Darnell Webb later caught a 20-yard pass from Chad Wyatt to leave Hillcrest up 20-0.

20141030 DHS vs Hillcrest-5592“We executed well, especially early on,” Hillcrest coach Samuel Adams said. “We kind of hit a little lull in the middle part of the game there, partially because of the way they were changing up their fronts. It was tough sledding in the box there. Overall, I was real pleased with the way we played.”

Lynch got the Tigers on the board with 39.4 seconds left in the first half when he scored on a 5-yard run.

Hillcrest capitalized on a Demopolis turnover to open the third quarter, finding the end zone when Wyatt hit Webb for a 33-yard strike.

20141030 DHS vs Hillcrest-5795Lynch then took a bubble screen from Ezell 20 yards for a score and cut the Demopolis deficit to 26-14.

“I’m proud of our guys for fighting,” Causey said. “There’s obviously some things we can work on between now and next Friday to get better.”

Lynch led Demopolis with 99 yards on 16 carries. Mackins caught four passes for 97 yards.

Hillcrest (7-3) will host a first round Class 6A playoff game next week while Demopolis (8-2) hosts a Class 5A playoff contest.

20141030 DHS vs Hillcrest-5856