Demopolis Middle romps, Sweet Water caps season

Demopolis Middle School (6-0-1) used a punishing ground game and strong defensive effort to dispatch Sweet Water 24-0 Thursday night.

“That was a good team we played. They’re always well coached,” Demopolis coach Jeremy Silcox said.

The Tigers amassed 324 yards rushing on only 20 attempts in the win, running its way to a 16-0 lead before a drive just before halftime reached the Sweet Water 6 as the second quarter clock expired.

“I’m extremely proud of our offensive line,” Silcox noted.

Sweet Water controlled the clock in the second half, running 22 plays as compared to only three offensive snaps from by the Tigers.

“They’re a ball control team. They kept us from getting the ball much in the second half,” Silcox said.

The Bulldogs marched 40 yards on nine plays to open the third quarter before Peyton Stevenson picked off a Bulldog pass at his own 5 to to nullify the threat.

C.J. Sandridge took the ensuing snap over the right side, high-stepped his way through the tackle attempt of a trailing defender and bolted 95 yards for a touchdown run. Juan McClain added the conversion run to set the advantage at 24-0.

Sweet Water’s second possession of the half started at the Bulldog 15. Jonathan Farr’s team used 11 plays to cover 61 yards before Stevenson abbreviated the march again with his second interception of the night.

Demopolis opened the scoring on the final play of the first quarter when McClain scored from a yard out. Frederick Haywood punched in the conversion for the 8-0 lead.

Demopolis struck again with 4:41 left in the second quarter. Three snaps after Tyler Gamble had a 60-yard touchdown run called back on a holding infraction, the eighth grade tailback repeated his effort from 57 yards away. Haywood added the conversion plunge again for the 16-0 lead.

“We executed well. We were trying to get all the eighth graders in as much as we could because it was eighth grade night,” Silcox said.

Gamble led Demopolis with 111 yards on six carries. Sandridge had 95 yards on his only carry while McClain tallied 54 yards on seven runs.

Jadyn Landrum paced the Bulldogs with 68 yards on 13 carries.

Demopolis is set to travel to Selma Tuesday where it will face R.B. Hudson Middle School to wrap up the season.

“They’ll be the most athletic team we’ll play, probably, this year. I hope we’ll come out with some fire and hit them in the mouth early,” Silcox said.

The loss caps Sweet Water’s season with a week that featured two games in four days. The Bulldogs opened their week with a 40-22 win over Thomasville, marking the first time a Sweet Water middle school team has accomplished that feat in seven years.

“They got better. They came and worked and got better each week,” Farr said.

“We had a lot of guys that played multiple positions when we were trying to work through all of our injuries.”

Landrum led the Bulldogs that night as well, accumulating 257 yards and four touchdowns. Braiden Broussard added 189 yards and two scores in a game that was tied at 14 apiece at halftime.

“It’s going to be a great group with a lot of potential,” Farr said.