Demopolis ground attack grounds Falcons

Demopolis utilized its running back duo of A.J. Jackson and Antonio Besteder early and often Friday night as it piled up rushing yards on the way to a 47-6 Class 5A, Region 3 win over Central-Tuscaloosa.

“We knew they had a big, tall, physical receiver. We knew he might be a matchup problem,” Demopolis coach Brian Seymore said. “Everybody settled down. I think we started settling down and playing team defense. The way our offense kept the pressure on them, I think that was the difference.”

Demopolis regained the lead on a 6-yard touchdown run from Antonio Besteder and never looked back. Andrew Patterson hit Tyler Jones for a 34-yard touchdown strike on the last play of the first quarter for the 19-6 advantage.

The Tigers added to the lead in the second quarter when Patterson found DeDe Davis for a 23-yard touchdown pass. Jackson added a 12-yard scoring run for the 33-6 halftime lead.

Demopolis continued the pounding in the second half with a 2-yard touchdown run from Jackson and another from Besteder to cap the scoring.

“They’re both our one-two punch,” Seymore said of his tailback tandem. “We want to balance them out and get them equal carries. I think they’re really both hard-working kids. They both run the ball extremely physical. It starts up front with our offensive line.”

Demopolis amassed 406 yards of total offense while limiting Central to 160 yards. Jackson ran for 133 yards and three touchdowns while Besteder had 120 yards and two touchdowns on 20 rushes. Davis added 95 yards receiving on six catches. Javonta’ Leatherwood paced the Falcons with 63 yards on 19 carries.

Demopolis (2-1, 1-0) travels to Marbury next week while Central (0-3, 0-1) hosts Calera.