Tigers snag 60-59 win in double-OT thriller

TUSCALOOSA — Tyler Oates rolled to his left and dropped a pass in the hands of Demetrius Kemp for the decisive conversion play that gave Demopolis a 60-59 double-overtime win over Hillcrest Friday.

“I’m standing over there while we’re playing defense thinking about what we’re going to run. I really came up with that off the top of my head,” Demopolis coach Tom Causey said of the play call that won the game. “The play was run before, but they did us a favor by calling timeout. It was the same play we ran against Carver in 08. It was a 2-point play out of a different formation. Somebody was fixing to win and, fortunately, we did.”

The Tigers put themselves in position for the win as Roderick Davis crossed the goal line from two yards out on fourth down for his fifth touchdown of the night.

Hillcrest took a touchdown advantage in the second overtime when Riley Nix scored from two yards out to put the Patriots up.

The Patriots capped the first overtime with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Nix to Cahlil Ellis. The Keanu Geuler extra point tied the game at 52 all.

Demopolis opened the overtime period with a 3-yard scoring run from Davis that led to a Leif Midgorden extra point.

Hillcrest missed a 53-yard field goal at the end of regulation that would have avoided the extra play.

Demopolis forced the overtime with a 27-yard kick from Midgorden with 22.5 seconds left that came after a 75-yard kickoff return by Kemp.

“We finally made that 2-minute drive at the end of the game. We’ve been doing it in the first half all year long. But we kind of fell short at the end against Greenville and Jackson on 2-minute drives,” Causey said.

Moments earlier, Kemp blocked an extra point kick to leave it at 45-42 after Nix hooked up with Jertavious Sanders on a 26-yard touchdown pass.

The pitch and catch wiped out what remained of a 42-17 second half lead for Demopolis.

“We were down 42-17 right at the end of the third quarter. We kept our composure and never gave up,” Hillcrest coach Scott Martin said. “We were able to get back in the football game and made big plays when we had to. We just weren’t able to get off the field at the end of the game. Give credit to both teams. Both teams executed and played as hard as they could. It’s a shame someone had to lose.”

On the Patriots’ previous possession, Sanders caught a ball underneath and went 88 yards for a score. Nix then connected with Caleb Campbell to cut the Demopolis deficit to 42-39.

Campbell scored on a 13-yard touchdown catch from Nix with 10:28 to play in the fourth that cut the Demopolis score to 42-31.

Hillcrest began its march back into the game with 2:34 left in the third when Darnell Webb caught a 16-yard touchdown pass to make it 42-24.

Demopolis opened the second half with a flurry. Cortez Lewis forced and recovered a fumble at the Hillcrest 19. Three plays later, Kemp punched it in from a yard out to make it 28-17.

After four Patriot snaps, Kemp recovered a fumble at the Patriot 43. Oates cashed in on the opportunity with a 13-yard touchdown run to push it to 35-17.

Tyler Perkins scooped up a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Eight plays later, Davis scored from two yards out to make it 42-17 with 4:47 left in the third.

“The early second half turnovers are what put us behind the 8-ball,” Martin said. “We had three turnovers before we ever got out of the locker room in the second half. That allowed them to build a big lead.”

Demopolis opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 76-yard Davis TD run. Davis later scored on a 5-yard run. Lewis hauled in a 4-yard pass for a touchdown with 3.5 seconds left in the opening half to send the Tigers to the locker room with a 21-17 lead.

Hillcrest got its first half points off a 25-yard Gueler kick, a 3-yard Ellis run and a 38-yard Webb catch.

Nix completed 22 of his 29 passes for 457 and six touchdowns in addition to running for 66 yards and a score on 11 carries.

Sanders had four catches for 176 yards for the Patriots while Webb had 148 yards on seven snags. Ellis led his team on the ground with 110 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Davis had 31 carries for 198 yards and five scores for Demopolis.

Logan McVay led the defense with nine total tackles for Demopolis. Kemp had seven total stops, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick to go along with an offensive output that included 113 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown on 11 catches. Rahmeel Cook had seven total tackles and a fumble recovery for the Tigers.

The teams combined for 1,184 yards of total offense.

Demopolis (7-3) is scheduled to St. Paul’s next week in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

Hillcrest (5-5) will take on Clay-Chalkville.