Penalty-laden night bounces Demopolis from playoffs
MOBILE — A personal foul call on a blocked punt attempt ended Demopolis’ last hope of a comeback in a 21-14 loss to St. Paul’s in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday.
St. Paul’s battled out of a 14-7 halftime hole to take the lead on a 17-yard touchdown run by Eugene Moseley. Christian Mosley then went over the top to Ostin McPherson to put the Saints up 21-14 with 4:12 to play in the contest.
The Tigers appeared poised to answer on the ensuing possession with consecutive strikes to Cortez Lewis that got Demopolis to the Saint 34. .
Jalen Thompson then played a ball off a carom to turn possession back over to the Saints. After the Tigers forced a quick stop, a Demopolis rush laid out on a blocked punt attempt, missed the ball and fell under the outstretched leg of the Saint punter. The end result of the play was a roughing the kicker call that drew the ire of the Demopolis sideline. The infraction was the 14th penalty of the night against the Tigers and allowed St. Paul’s to kneel three times to end the game.
“I think it says a lot about the character and class of our kids. There’s no quit in them in everything that they do,” St. Paul’s coach Steve Mask said. “We had to make a few adjustments at halftime. I thought our coaches did a good job and I’m just so proud of our players. Our players won this football game.”
After a scoreless third quarter by both teams, the Saints went 77 yards in six plays to cut it to 14-13 on a 10-yard run by McPherson. Lewis blocked the extra point for Demopolis.
“We got a downhill run going. You’ve got to be patient, get a downhill run going and move the chains. I thought that was big for us,” Mask said of his team’s second-half turnaround.
Bobby Taylor ignited the Tigers early by intercepting a pass on the first play from scrimmage. Demopolis then went 61 yards on five plays, grabbing a quick lead on a 30-yard touchdown strike from Tyler Oates to Lewis.
Moseley pulled the game even on the first play of the second quarter when he scored from two yards out to punctuate a 50-yard drive highlighted by a 45-yard pass to Stephen Fleming. Wilson Beaverstock added the point-after to knot it at 7.
Demopolis found the end zone again with 4:48 left in the opening half when Oates found Lewis for a 42-yard scoring pass.
Demopolis (7-4) finished the night with 14 penalties for 107 yards as opposed to three infraction for 30 yards against St. Paul’s.
McPherson led all rushers with 88 yards on 14 carries. Roderick Davis paced Demopolis with 83 yards on 20 carries. Lewis hauled in five passes for 102 yards. Demetrius Kemp had eight total tackles, a forced fumble and an interception for Demopolis. Charlie Parten recovered a fumble for the Tigers.