ESPN 104.9 honors Kemp

Demopolis senior Demetrius Kemp receives a commemorative Player of the Week T-shirt from ESPN 104.9 Coaches Show co-host Rob Pearson Tuesday night at Batter Up Sports Grill.
Demopolis senior Demetrius Kemp receives a commemorative Player of the Week T-shirt from ESPN 104.9 Coaches Show co-host Rob Pearson Tuesday night at Batter Up Sports Grill.

The knock on Demetrius Kemp by some has been that his biggest games have not come in his team’s biggest games. That criticism seemed entirely unfounded Friday night when the Southern Miss commit showed exactly what he can do with or without the ball in a 49-16 win over Thomasville.

Kemp recorded 13 total tackles on the night and blocked a punt that set up a Demopolis touchdown.

Offensively, he hauled in two passes, both for touchdowns. On the first of those two end zone strikes, he outleaped a Thomasville defender to bring in a 35-yard jump ball. On the other one, he caught the ball short of the sticks on a third down play before turning on the gas for a 73-yard pitch-and-catch score. The play marked his second receiving score of more than 70 yards this season.

Kemp had another highlight reel play negated on an after-the-fact penalty when he scooped up a punt just three feet out of his own end zone and went 99 yards for a score.

The performance is just one indicator of why opposing coaches and players always have to know exactly where No. 1 is on the field at all times.

For his efforts, Kemp received ESPN 104.9 Player of the Week honors Tuesday. The show’s crew honored the senior at Batter Up in Demopolis Tuesday and presented him with a commemorative T-shirt.