Jones accounts for four scores in Demopolis win
TUSCALOOSA – Demopolis (1-0) jumped up 28-0 in the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 49-7 thrashing of American Christian (0-1) Friday night.
The Patriots opted to gamble on 4th and 1 from its own 44 on the first possession of the game. Demopolis’ Peyton Pearson stuffed the ACA runner behind the line of scrimmage to set Demopolis up 43 yards away from paydirt.
“I’m thinking we’ve got to take some chances like that,” American Christian head coach John Causey said.
Seven plays later, Cortez Lewis put Demopolis up to stay when he caught an 11-yard pass from Tucker Jones for a touchdown. Leif Midgorden’s extra point put DHS up 7-0.
“That’s huge,” Demopolis head coach Tom Causey said of the stop his defense came up with on the game’s first possession. “We were fortunate enough to get a couple big plays and get a score right there. They gave us the opportunity to get a lot of points on the board in a hurry.”
Demopolis added to its lead just over two minutes later when Tyler Merriweather blocked an ACA punt that Demetrius Kemp recovered for a touchdown.
The Tigers upped the lead to 21-0 when Jones hit Tyler Oates for a 30-yard touchdown pass. After Tommy Wilson recovered a short kickoff for Demopolis, Roderick Davis scored on a 28-yard run to cap the first quarter scoring.
“He threw it really well tonight. I’m proud of the way he did that,” Causey said of Jones, who went 6 of 7 passing for 87 yards and three touchdowns to go along with a scoring run.
Demopolis added a second quarter score on a 28-yard run by Jones before ACA got on the board.
ACA’s bid for a touchdown just before half ended when Wilson picked off a pass eight yards deep in the end zone and took it the distance for a Demopolis touchdown. Brock Montgomery added the final score of the game on a 27-yard touchdown in the third quarter reception after DHS linebacker Tyrelle Barnett recovered a ball that Lane Hawkins jarred loose on the previous play.
Davis led Demopolis with 82 yards on 13 carries. Peyton Pearson led Demopolis with nine total tackles and two sacks. Barnett had two sacks and a fumble recovery. Merriweather had a fumble recovery and a blocked punt.
The Tigers amassed 149 yards rushing behind an offensive line that had been a question mark entering the game.
“I think we played well. I’ll know more tomorrow morning at 6 o’clock. I’m proud of the way they played and the effort they gave,” Causey said. “We had some missed assignments, I know that. But even on the missed assignments, we were making blocks.”
The Tigers host Citronelle next week.