Demopolis thumps Central for Homecoming win
Demopolis (6-1, 5-0) used a strong defensive effort to ground Central-Tuscaloosa 42-12 Friday in a Class 5A, Region 4 win.
Demopolis opened the scoring with a 4-yard Jay Craig run with 8:08 left in the first before A.J. Collier turned in the first of his two interception return scores on the night. Collier picked a pass and rambled 74 yards for a touchdown for the 14-0 lead.
Jamarcus Ezell punched it in from seven yards out with 9:05 left in the second quarter to make it 20-0. Kendrell Walker responded for Central with an 85-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 20-6.
Drew Jones padded the lead again before half with a 21-yard run. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Ezell scored from nine yards out to cap a 99-yard drive. Collier stretched it to 42-6 with a 68-yard interception return touchdown.
“A.J. had a career tonight. He had a great game and two good returns,” Demopolis coach Stacy Luker said of Collier. “That first return was very pretty.”
“That was big time because you’re talking about a kid that’s probably going to carry the ball 26 times and you know he’s going to get you at least 100 yards per game,” Central coach Dennis Connor said. “So now they’re concentrating on the pass instead of stopping him.” The Falcons proved capable of moving the ball on the early drives but sputtered when Jones exited. Central rotated through three quarterbacks in the first half, finally settling on Stacey Hellem Jr., who engineered a scoring drive late.
Hellem threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Gibson to cap the scoring with 6:36 to play.
Rahmeel Cook finished with five tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery. R.J. Cox and Marcus Wright had six tackles. Collier finished with four tackles, a pass deflection and two interceptions returned for touchdowns.
Drew Jones had 92 yards on 16 carries.
Demopolis (6-1, 5-0) travels to Wilcox-Central next week while Central (3-4, 1-4) hosts Jemison.
SCORE BY QUARTER
CHS 0 0 6 6 12
DHS 1414 0 14 42
YARDSTICK
CENTRAL
FIRST DOWNS – 11
RUSH – 25-76
PASS – 12-29-141
TOTAL – 217
FUMBLES – 1/1
INTS – 2
PUNTS – 4/34.7
PENALTIES – 11-80
DEMOPOLIS
FIRST DOWNS – 16
RUSH – 53-316
PASS – 3-6-40
TOTAL – 356
FUMBLES – 1/0
INTS – 0
PUNTS – 3/27.3
PENALTIES – 10-105
SCORING SUMMARY
DHS – 1ST – 8:08 – JAY CRAIG 4 RUN (R.J. COX KICK) – 7-0
DHS – 1ST – 31.2 – A.J. COLLIER 74 INTERCEPTION RETURN (R.J. COX KICK) – 14-0
DHS – 2ND – 9:05 – JAMARCUS EZELL 7 RUN (KICK FAIL) – 20-0
CHS – 2ND – 8:51 – KENDRELL WALKER 85 KICK RETURN (KICK FAIL) – 20-6
DHS – 2ND – 2:30 – DREW JONES 21 RUN (KEISHAUN SCOTT RUN) – 28-6
DHS – 4TH – 11:53 – JAMARCUS EZELL 9 RUN (R.J. COX KICK) – 35-6
DHS – 4TH – 8:29 – A.J. COLLIER 68 INTERCEPTION RETURN (R.J. COX KICK) – 42-6
CHS – 4TH – 6:36 – T.J. GIBSON 39 PASS FORM STACEY HELLEM JR. (PASS FAIL) – 42-12