Last-second INT seals Demopolis win over Calera
Sophomore corner C.J. Williams watched the ball bounce around in his hands momentarily before clamping down on it as he fell to the ground in the end zone. The catch was the biggest of his young career and represented the interception that effectively handed Demopolis a 21-17 win over Calera with 1.4 seconds left on the clock.
“We put three guys deep, played man under. We told the safety to knock it down and he does,” Demopolis coach Brian Seymore said. “Fortunately, C.J. is laying on the ground. We’re blessed that he made the pick and we were able to go to victory.”
Demopolis clung to a 21-17 lead as Calera pushed the ball down the field after taking over at its own 24 with 59 seconds remaining in the contest. Eagle signal-caller Cornelius Brown hit William Ray for a 22-yard gain to move it to the Calera 46. After spiking the ball to stop the clock, Brown found William Smith for 12 yards to get into Tiger territory at the 42.
Brown dropped back on the next snap but had little time to survey the field as Tavion Brown blew up the pocket and took down the Calera QB for the sack, forcing the final Eagle timeout.
Brown’s heave down the sideline on the next snap caromed off the hands of Dylan Killingsworth and appeared to fall harmlessly to the ground before a penalty flag quickly followed its descent. The pass interference call moved the ball to the Demopolis 30 with 16 seconds to play. Two snaps later, Brown chucked it to the back right corner of the end zone where Williams’s focused heroics nullified the threat and brought an uproar from the raucous homecoming crowd.
“Our kids showed a little character right there at the end. We needed a game like this to grow on. We needed to face adversity like this,” Seymore said. “I’m just proud that the community and the alumni that came back had a chance to see us win.”
Demopolis largely moved the ball at will in the first half but found itself plagued with turnovers. The Eagles proved ready to capitalize. Orlando Harris picked off a pass to end the first Demopolis possession before returning a Tiger fumble 63 yards for a touchdown on the ensuing drive.
“We moved the ball really good, just couldn’t finish some drives. The turnover bug got us again a little bit and put us in some tough situations,” Seymore said. “We felt like we had a pretty good call on the speed option and kind of got the pitch a little bit behind and they scooped and scored.”
Demopolis worked its way onto the scoreboard early in the second quarter when it capped a 16-play, 82-yard drive with a 13-yard scoring pass from Andrew Patterson to Jeremy Jackson on 4th and 5. The PAT attempt failed, leaving Calera up 7-6.
Demopolis took the lead with 4:50 to go before half when A.J. Jackson punched it in from 14 yards out. Antonio Besteder added the conversion run to set the advantage at 14-7.
Calera’s attempt to get points on the board before the half traversed 57 yards to the Demopolis 11 before the clock appeared to expire ahead of Brown’s attempt to spike the ball. A conference by the officials resulted in adding 0.9 seconds to the game clock, allowing Zachary Ford to connect on a 28-yard field goal to cut it to 14-10.
Demopolis made the most of its first possession of the third quarter when it covered 79 yards in 12 plays and watched A.J. Jackson scored on a 12-yard run for the 21-10 advantage. Demopolis snuffed the ensuing Calera drive and looked poised to take full control of the contest when a muffed punt bounced free at the Demopolis 16. Calera pounced on the opportunity. Three plays later, Brown hit DeCorean Mickens on a dump off and the Eagle tailback ran it 16 yards for the touchdown. Ford’s kick proved to set the final margin.
Demopolis amassed 338 yards of total offense, led by Besteder’s 19 rushes for 104 yards. A.J. Jackson added 97 yards on 28 totes. DeDe Davis caught nine passes for 65 yards. Russ Logan also intercepted a pass in the game for the Tigers.
With the win, Demopolis sits alone atop Class 5A, Region 3. Demopolis (4-1, 3-0) is off next week and returns to Class 5A, Region 3 Friday, Oct. 7 when it travels to Dallas County.
