Tigers down Saints to move to 3-0 in region

Demoplis overcame a sluggish start to both halves and its first deficit of the year to down Selma 42-19 at Tiger Stadium Friday night.

09-21-2012 — Demopolis, Ala. — Tiger LB Wesley Anderson reaches for Selma quarterback Jesse Harris during Demopolis’ win over the visiting Saints. Anderson made the sack and caused a fumble on the play.

“You take it and you move on,” Demopolis High coach Tom Causey said following what he considered a lackluster performance on the part of his team. “But we took a step backward tonight. Give Selma credit. They came out with intensity. We played in bursts. We played late. That’s my fault.”

Selma quarterback Jesse Harris hit Jeromi Davis for a 49-yard touchdown pass on the game’s opening possession to give the Saints an early lead. The play marked the first time this season the Tigers have trailed in a game.

The Saints appeared poised to go up two scores before their second drive stalled in Tiger territory when Lane Hawkins and Wesley Anderson combined to snuff out a fake punt.

Demopolis responded with a 55-yard drive that spanned seven plays and ended with a Cortez Lewis five-yard touchdown run on 4th and goal. The Leif Midgorden kick tied the game with 2:13 to go in the first.

Demopolis took a lead it would never relinquish when Rodney Harper ran under a Tucker Jones pass in the end zone to complete a 32-yard play that was set up after Anderson forced a fumble on a sack and Rahmeel Cook dove on the loose ball.

The Tigers added to the lead with 1:08 to go in the half when Roderick Davis scored on a nine-yard run to push it to 21-7.

The Tigers found the end zone again with 3:09 to go in the third quarter when Jones dove in from seven yards out on the only play of a Tiger possession that was set up by a Brock Montgomery punt block.

09-21-2012 — Demopolis, Ala. — Tiger DL Timothy Bonner jars the ball loose from Saints’ QB Jesse Harris.

Demetrius Kemp scored the final two Demopolis touchdowns of the game, finding the first one on a 76-yard interception return in the third quarter and the latter on a six-yard run in the fourth.

“That play was a big play, no doubt,” Causey said of Kemp’s interception return. “We needed a non-offensive touchdown. But Selma has a lot of pride and a lot of character. They never quit playing. We had to play with them 48 minutes tonight.”

Selma rounded out its scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Deondis Mendenhall and a 52-yard scoring strike from Harris to Terrell Marshell.

Demopolis (4-0, 3-0) will travel to Thomasville next week.