Demopolis downs Sweet Water in Jamboree affair

Demopolis edged Sweet Water 20-14 Friday night in an exhibition contest, putting the final touches on the offseason for both squads.

The Tigers opened the contest hot, forcing a three-and-out on defense before covering 69 yards in five plays and scoring first.

Tyler Oates highlighted the drive with back-to-back runs that covered a total of 31 yards before going up top down the left boundary to find Ryan Schroeder for a 29-yard touchdown pass with 8:07 to play in the opening quarter.

The teams then traded possessions back and forth until Demopolis long snapper Wil Stephens ended the monotony by recovering a muffed punt at the Sweet Water 38.

A 26-yard pass to Cortez Lewis set up a 12-yard Roderick Davis sprint to paydirt, extending the Demopolis lead with 5:29 to go in the first half. Leif Midgorden added the extra point to put his team up 13-0.

“In the first half, I thought we were playing pretty well other than a few breakdowns,” Demopolis head coach Tom Causey said. “It’s hard to overcome a mishandled snap. It’s hard to overcome penalties. Those are things that we’ve got to clean up. We had way too many penalties tonight. We had some mishandled snaps. We’ve got to clean all that up.”

Sweet Water then embarked on a 10-play drive to milk nearly five minutes off the game clock before the Tigers forced a punt. Demopolis took over at its own 34 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game’s opening half.

Oates found Lewis for a 24-yard gain before hitting the Northern Illinois commit again for a 10-yard strike. The Tigers took a timeout with 1.6 seconds remaining on the game clock and their offense 32 yards away from the end zone.

On the final play of the half, Oates rolled left and lofted a Hail Mary try into the end zone where the caromed into the hands of Schroeder for the touchdown. Midgorden added the point-after for a 20-0 halftime lead.

“We got tired, I thought, the first half. But I think it had something to do with them beating the crap out of us,” Sweet Water head coach Stacy Luker said. “I told them at halftime, ‘We need to come be who we’re going to be. Just be who we are, or who we say we are.’ That’s what you saw in the third quarter. That’s who we’ve got to be.”

The starters for each team ran just one series in the second half as the Tigers saw their offensive unit run five plays before retiring to the sideline.

“Starting the second half, we came out flat when we should have been high,” Causey said. “We had a great kickoff return by Charlie Parten right there and we should have been able to take that thing in there and knock it in the end zone.”

Sweet Water’s starting offense proceeded to march down the field, covering 72 yards in 19 plays and draining some 10 minutes of game clock. Demarcus Gamble punched it in from a yard out with 11:30 to go in the fourth quarter to get the Bulldogs on the board and end the starters’ night on a high note.

“I’ll leave here with a little better taste in my mouth than I had at halftime. No excuse for that last touchdown they scored right before half. But it is a scrimmage game, we’re going to get better,” Luker said. “And I thought we competed pretty well.”

The Tigers second unit scuffled on offense as Sweet Water’s Markell Evans intercepted a pass and returned it to the DHS 14.

The second-team Demopolis defense pitched a goal line stand, halting the Sweet Water drive at the five.

The next Bulldog possession saw a personal foul penalty help move the team down to the DHS 12 before Xavier McIntosh scored on nine-yard run. The point-after from Tristian Weatherly again proved true to cap the scoring at 20-14.

Demopolis finished the night with 122 rushing yards on 25 attempts. Davis had 10 carries for 43 yards while Oates had 39 yards on six attempts.

Sweet Water capped the night with 57 runs for 159 yards. Aldridge ended the evening with 18 carries for 75 yards to lead all rushers. Gamble ran the ball 17 times for 46 yards.

Oates paced the passing game, completing nine of his 14 throws for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis led the way with 80 yards on five catches while Schroeder hauled in two grabs for 61 yards. Dayvon Branch had a 10-yard catch and Tripp Perry caught his only target for five yards.

Gamble contributed on defense for the Bulldogs, recording the only SWHS sack of the game. Kevin Wheeler and Seth Lewis each had a sack for the Tigers.

Demopolis is scheduled to open the regular season at home Friday night against American Christian Academy while Sweet Water hosts Thomasville.