Demopolis looking for improvement against Dallas County

Demopolis (7-1) hasn’t played Dallas County (2-6) since 2007 and has never lost to the Hornets in 16 meetings.

That said, Demopolis coach Tom Causey is anything but comfortable as he readies to take his current team into competition against the program where he started his head coaching career.

“They’ve gotten so much better each week,” Causey said of the Hornets. “They scored 40 against Central Tuscaloosa. They’ve got some really good backs. Xavier Knight can fly.”

Dallas County’s ground-based attack on offense complements a defense that is developing under first-year head coach Marty Smith.

“They play fast and they play physical,” Causey said. “They’ve done a really good job of doing what they do and getting better at it.”

The Tigers enter the contest – which will be played at Memorial Stadium in Selma – riding a seven-game win streak. More importantly, Causey noted, the Tigers have displayed steady improvement on a weekly basis.

“We did a better job of taking care of the football with our (starters) and we got better with penalties,” Causey said of his team’s performance against Wilcox Central last week, citing improvements in two areas where the Tigers have struggled for much of the season. “We had 11 guys running to the ball on defense. We got a few (interceptions) this week, which is something we hadn’t been getting.”

The Tigers clinched the Class 5A, Region 4 championship last week and are set to close out region play this week.

The final regular season contest is set for Thursday, Oct. 30 at home against Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa.