Demopolis shuts out Dallas County for unbeaten region record

October 23, 2015 Jeremy D. Smith AHSAA, Alabama, Demopolis, demopolis high school, DHS, prep sports, Tigers

10-23-2015 - Demopolis, Ala. - Demopolis' Cal Logan hauls in his first touchdown reception against Dallas County. — 10-23-2015 – Demopolis, Ala. – Demopolis’ Cal Logan hauls in his first touchdown reception against Dallas County.

Demopolis polished off a perfect Class 5A, Region 4 record Friday with a 41-0 shutout of Dallas County.

10-23-2015 - Demopolis, Ala. - Demopolis' Marcus Wright (26) causes the Dallas County quarterback to fumble. — 10-23-2015 – Demopolis, Ala. – Demopolis’ Marcus Wright (26) causes the Dallas County quarterback to fumble.

Despite the lopsided win, Demopolis found itself leading only 7-0 at halftime.

“They played hard tonight and they played hard on every film that we’ve seen,” Demopolis coach Stacy Luker said of Dallas County. “It took us a little while to get going and they had something to do with what was going on with us in the first half. I did think that after halftime, we had a little more intensity.”

The Tigers flashed tempo on their first drive, going 64 yards on six plays and capping it with a 14-yard touchdown run by Jay Craig.

From there, the Tigers punted twice and fumbled the ball away once.

10-23-2015 - Demopolis, Ala. - Demopolis' Travares Hall (36), Rahmeel Cook (middle) and Marcus Wright (26) bring down the Dallas County quarterback. — 10-23-2015 – Demopolis, Ala. – Demopolis’ Travares Hall (36), Rahmeel Cook (middle) and Marcus Wright (26) bring down the Dallas County quarterback.

“We mentally weren’t there at times. We didn’t execute well. We got caught without enough men on the field one time, without enough men on a punt one time. We were just mentally checked out. It’s hard to explain our mental lapses at this stage of the season. It’s really disappointing,” Luker said. “Our defense sets the tone for us. They came up big for us tonight with that shutout. I told Drew at halftime to just shut them out because I didn’t know if we’d get this thing going or not.”

The Tigers did get it going on the opening drive of the third quarter when Jamarcus Ezell went over the top to Cal Logan for a 24-yard strike, giving the senior tight end the first touchdown of his varsity career.

Ezell struck again with 3:28 to go in the third when he found tight end Tyler Jones for a 31-yard touchdown pass to stretch the lead to 21-0.

10-23-2015 - Demopolis, Ala. - Demopolis' Tyler Jones hauls in a touchdown catch against Dallas County. — 10-23-2015 – Demopolis, Ala. – Demopolis’ Tyler Jones hauls in a touchdown catch against Dallas County.

Drew Jones upped the advantage again with 8:10 left in the fourth when he scored on a 13-yard run before Keishaun Scott padded the lead with a 5-yard run.

William Wilkins took his only carry of the night 45 yards for a touchdown to cap the scoring.

Ezell ran for 65 yards on eight carries and completed 5 of 7 passes for 133 yards and a pair of scores. Craig paced the Tigers with 100 yards on 16 carries.

Defensively, Rahmeel Cook led the way with nine total tackles and a pair of forced fumbles. Erin White complemented his defensive line mate with eight tackles and a sack.

Demopolis (8-1, 7-0) travels to Auburn next week to take on the Class 7A foe for the first time in school history.