Tigers look to get back on task against Selma

A week after getting stunned by Saraland with a 24-10 region loss, Demopolis will look to regroup against Selma Friday night.

While the Tigers have taken five in a row from Selma in the Tom Causey era, the Demopolis head coach cautions that the 2013 Saints are not to be taken lightly.

“Coach (Leroy) Miles has been there four years. You could see a physical difference in their bodies a year after he had been there and now you really see that they are running his system. He’s got coaches in place that are doing a good job,” Causey said of Selma. “The guys believe in what they’re doing. The guys that are playing football at Selma High are football players. They’re not basketball players playing football. They’re football players. They’ve improved each and every year.”

Selma suffered a week two setback to Jackson, but rebounded with a 35-0 shredding of Citronelle last week to push its record to 2-1.

The Saints employ a talented set of skill players highlighted by a pair of 6-2 receivers in Kadarius Brown and Earnest Gunn. The latter of that tandem also mans a cornerback spot and picked off two passes last week against Citronelle in addition to hauling in a touchdown pass.

The Saints employ Adam Bruno at the tailback spot, a 6-0, 180-pound runner Causey compares to Saraland stud Leander Burrowes, who ran for 153 yards against the Tigers a week ago.

“He’s a lot like the running back we saw last week. He’s going to pound it up in there,” Causey said of Bruno.

Calling the shots for the offense is junior quarterback Jesse Boggs.

“Jesse has been there two or three years as a starter. He understands their offense and does a good job with it,” Causey said.

That set of skill players has the luxury of an offensive line that includes a pair of 340-pounders in Aaron Milhouse and Mark Garrett.

“They’re big. They’ve always been big. Their big right tackle is a mountain of a man,” Causey said of Garrett. “He’s 6-4, 340. He does a good job with his feet and runs real well.”

And aside from the athletes the Saints utilize, the scheme they employ already gave Demopolis fits a week ago.

“Very similar to Saraland. They are I, downhill, big offensive linemen, big tailback. They run up in there and then play action pass off of it,” Causey said.

Defensively, the Saints run a 4-2-5 set similar to that used by Demopolis. SHS is also known to frequently dial up pressure.

“They base out of a 4-2-5. It’s a pressure package. Against Citronelle, they blitzed somebody every down,” Causey said. “They’re trying to force the offense’s hand to do what they want them to do now and they live with the results. Last Friday night against Citronelle, it worked to their advantage. The week before against Jackson, it didn’t so much.”

Still, as impressive as Selma’s athletes are and as effective as its scheme has enabled it to be, Causey reiterated that success for Demopolis this Friday night and every Friday night comes down to his players believing in the system and handling their assignments.

“We’ve got to do our job. We’ve got to trust the plan we’re running,” Causey said, noting that some of his players went off task last week against Saraland. “I talked to our guys about that Friday night after the game.”

The Tigers’ seventh-year head coach took solace Saturday in hearing that University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban had similar feelings about his own team. “Saturday you hear Coach Saban say it in the A&M game. It’s so true,” Causey said. “I don’t think we’re doing it to be individuals. Some of our guys are (doing their own thing) because they’re trying to win, but what they don’t understand is that it doesn’t fit what we’re doing. So we have to be able to do our job and do to the best of our ability what we’re called to do. We will get that corrected.”