Demopolis hangs 49 on Thomasville in win
Despite not having a single first down in the opening half, Demopolis rolled its way to a 49-16 win over rival Thomasville Friday night.
Thomasville took the opening kickoff 70 yards to set up a drive that resulted in a Michael White 29-yard field goal.
The hot Thomasville start continued two series later when Dana Lockhart sacked DHS quarterback Tyler Oates just one play before Jalen Johnson caught a fumbled ball in the air and took it 41 yards to the Demopolis 2. Zavier Mapp then punched the ball into the end zone for the 9-0 Thomasville lead.
“We started fast and we started quick. We just couldn’t sustain,” Thomasville coach Jack Hankins said. “Demopolis did a good job. They were better than us tonight. We’ve got to take this and learn from it. This is a non-region game. That’s why we play somebody like this, to get better for the playoffs.”
“Our kids responded. Our defense did a great job the first half to keep it to nine points,” Demopolis coach Tom Causey said.
Roderick Davis got the home Tigers back in the game on the first play of the ensuing possession when he went 81 yards for a touchdown.
“Our offense came back. I’d just gotten it out of my mouth on the boundary that we needed a big play. I was, at the time, thinking first down. They were in man coverage and our offensive line did a fantastic job down there and our receivers did a great job blocking and Roderick scores to get us right back in the game,” Causey said of the run.
Peyton Pearson brought down the Thomasville punter at his own 13 following a bobbled snap, setting up a 13-yard Davis scoring run on the first play of a Tiger drive with 6:58 to go in the second quarter.
Pearson got in on the action again when he recovered a Thomasville punt that was blocked by Demetrius Kemp. One play later, Drew Jones caught a dump-off pass out of the backfield and plowed his way in for a seven-yard score.
Demopolis threw the final haymaker of he half with 13.9 seconds to go when Davis went 90 yards for a score to cap a two-play drive.
“Cortez Lewis made a really big time block to spring him on the long run for the score. If Cortez doesn’t fly across the field right there, the kid catches him,” Causey said of the back-breaking play.
DHS got its first true drive going to open the second half as it went 89 yards on seven plays, capping the march with a 35-yard touchdown strike from Tyler Oates to Kemp.
“They were playing a defense that was feast or famine,” Causey said. “We were fortunate at times to hit the big plays and everybody did their job.”
After a Lockhart interception in the end zone stalled the next Demopolis possession, DHS struck gold on an inside strike from Oates to Kemp who then took the ball 73 yards for a score.
Demopolis then entered its reserves into the game and found success once more when backup quarterback Tripp Perry went 33 yards untouched up the middle for a score.
Thomasville ended the scoring on a one-yard run by Mapp that snapped a string of 49 straight points by Demopolis.
Kemp had 107 yards and two scores on two catches to go along with 13 total tackles on defense and a blocked punt on special teams. Davis ended his evening with 242 yards rushing and three scores on 13 carries. Pearson finished with 13 total tackles and a fumble recovery for Demopolis.
DHS rolled up 488 yards of offense on only 35 snaps.
“Last week I said I felt like the Selma game was our week one. You usually make your best improvement between week one and week two. I know we are in week five, but we hadn’t really done a whole lot in the first three weeks,” Causey said. “I expected us to be better tonight and we were. I expect us to be better next week and we’re going to have to be.”
Demopolis (4-1) is set to host Greenville next week while Thomasville (2-3) plays at Escambia County.
