Demopolis drops Helena 28-6 in key region win
Despite the statistical dominance, Demopolis found itself in a tight contest until a pair of late touchdowns separated the Tigers en route to a 28-6 region win over Helena.
Demopolis had 14 first downs in the first half as compared to two chain-moving plays from a Helena offense that had managed only 26 yards to that point. The Tigers led off a Jay Craig 3-yard run that capped a 14-play, 89-yard drive.
“We were a little bit frustrated. We missed some scoring opportunities,” Demopolis coach Stacy Luker said of his team’s first half performance. “I told them at halftime we were to blame. We missed two field goals. I thought special teams hurt us because we had two punt opportunities we didn’t catch. We just didn’t close those drives out.”
Two plays into the second half, Demopolis coughed up the ball at its own 42. Helena used a 31-yard pass to set up an 18-yard scoring run from Devan Walker to cut it to 7-6.
Demopolis responded with a 13-play, 56-yard drive that resulted in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Jamarcus Ezell to Drew Jones to stretch it to 14-6.
“We came out and turned it over and they stuck it in but I thought we showed some resiliency,” Luker said. “We came back and drove that thing down the field.”
Demopolis scored again with 7:57 to go in the fourth quarter when Craig capped an 81-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Demopolis capped the scoring with a 12-play drive that covered 66 yards and ended with a 3-yard Keishaun Scott run.
Demopolis amassed 488 yards of total offense including 127 through the air while accumulating 25 first downs. Helena managed 158 yards and seven first downs.
“I’m so proud of what we did defensively,” Luker said. “If I was giving a game ball out, I’d give it to Drew Luker and that defensive staff and our players on that side of the ball. They did a great job tonight.”
Craig had 197 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Scott had 76 yards on 12 carries while Ezell had 78 on nine runs.
Khyrim Bryant led the defense with six tackles. A.J. Collier had an interception while Rahmeel Cook had a sack.
The win leave Demopolis (4-0, 3-0) all alone atop Class 5A, Region 4. The Tigers host No. 1 Jackson next Friday night.
SCORE BY QUARTER
HHS 0 0 6 0 6
DHS 0 7 7 14 28
SCORING SUMMARY
DHS – 2ND – 6:27 – JAY CRAIG 3 RUN (R.J. COX KICK) – 7-0
HHS – 3RD – 9:28 – DEVAN WALKER 18 RUN (KICK FAIL) – 7-6
DHS – 3RD – 4:10 – DREW JONES 7 PASS FROM JAMARCUS EZELL (R.J. COX KICK) – 14-6
DHS – 4TH – 7:57 – JAY CRAIG 5 RUN (R.J. COX KICK) – 21-6
DHS – 4TH – 3:28 – KEISHAUN SCOTT 3 RUN (R.J. COX KICK) – 28-6
YARDSTICK
HELENA
FIRST DOWNS – 7
RUSHING – 12-49
PASSING – 7-21-109
TOTAL – 158
FUMBLES – 0/0
INTS – 1
PENALTIES – 4-16.5
PUNTS/AVG. – 5/43.0
DEMOPOLIS
FIRST DOWNS – 25
RUSHING – 54-361
PASSING – 12-16-127
TOTAL – 488
FUMBLES – 3/1
INTS – 0
PENALTIES – 4-20
PUNTS – 1-29
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
JAY CRAIG – 26 CARRIES FOR 197 YARDS AND TWO TOUCHDOWNS
JAMARCUS EZELL – 9 CARRIES FOR 78 YARDS
KEISHAUN SCOTT – 12 CARRIES FOR 76 YARDS AND A TOUCHDOWN