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Run game, defense set tone for Demopolis win

Jeremy D. Smith , , , , , ,
9-16-16 -- Calera, Ala. -- Demopolis' Logan McVay (5) breaks into the open for the Tigers' first touchdown against the Calera High School Eagles.
9-16-16 — Calera, Ala. — Demopolis’ Logan McVay (5) breaks into the open for the Tigers’ first touchdown against the Calera High School Eagles.

CALERA — Following a first half full of offensive miscues and opportunistic defensive plays, Demopolis (4-1, 3-0) wrested away control from Calera in suffocating fashion Friday en route to a 38-13 victory.

9-16-16 -- Calera, Ala. -- DHS Tigers RB A.J. Jackson runs in the open field against the Calera High School Eagles.
9-16-16 — Calera, Ala. — DHS Tigers RB A.J. Jackson runs in the open field against the Calera High School Eagles.

“We just challenged them to be physical, to close drives, to tackle better. They took our challenge. It was good Demopolis football for us,” Demopolis coach Stacy Luker.

With the score at 7-7 through the game’s first 24 minutes of play, Calera took its shot to open the second half when it attempted a surprise onside kick. Demopolis linebacker Russ Logan alertly fell on the ball at midfield. The Tigers then drove 50 yards on eight plays to score on a 15-yard A.J. Jackson run for the 14-7 lead.

After three meager Calera snaps, the Tigers drove 35 yards on five plays and scored on a 24-yard A.J. Besteder touchdown sprint to stretch it to 21-7.

9-16-16 -- Calera, Ala. -- Demopolis' William Wilkins (23) looks for runnning room against the Calera High School Eagles.
9-16-16 — Calera, Ala. — Demopolis’ William Wilkins (23) looks for running room against the Calera High School Eagles.

Calera then fumbled the ball at its own 39, setting the Tigers up for a six-play drive that culminated in a 28-yard field goal from Clay McVay, the first of his varsity career.

Besteder later added a 3-yard touchdown run before Logan McVay duplicated the feat to up the advantage to 38-7.

Calera got a Jalen Dozier kickoff return of 95 yards with 1:25 left to cap the scoring.

9-16-16 -- Calera, Ala. -- DHS Tigers RB A.J. Besteder (20) makes a cut to shed a tackler against the Calera High School Eagles.
9-16-16 — Calera, Ala. — DHS Tigers RB A.J. Besteder (20) makes a cut to shed a tackler against the Calera High School Eagles.

The Tigers struck first when Logan McVay took a third down run 76 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown and the 7-0 advantage. The Tigers then muffed a punt, to give Calera great field position at the Demopolis 26. Jermaine Ross sprinted in from the 3 to get the Eagles on the board.

The teams then began to swap turnovers with the Eagles forcing a Demopolis fumble at the CHS 8 and the Tiger defense countering with a trio of interceptions in the second half.

“We gave up an early touchdown after a turnover, but we bowed our neck on fourth down. They made some big plays. We made some minor adjustments with our alignment as we went along, but I thought we played well. I thought we played hard over there,” Luker said of his defense’s effort. “They were doing some things early, some passes on the inside of that zone. I think they made some adjustments to their drops, seeing the patterns, reading it. They did a great job. They really did. They’re very talented and they put us in a bind a little bit with their athleticism. They put us in space and got their kids the ball in space. I thought our kids did a great job with that. I thought our coaches made some adjustments to stop them.”

9-16-16 -- Calera, Ala. -- Demopolis' Logan McVay (5) dives into the endzone for the Tigers' last touchdown against the Calera High School Eagles.
9-16-16 — Calera, Ala. — Demopolis’ Logan McVay (5) dives into the end zone for the Tigers’ last touchdown against the Calera High School Eagles.

Logan McVay led all rushers with 124 yards on 15 carries to go along with two touchdowns. Besteder and Jackson each ran for 101 yards on the night as the Tiger ground attack tallied 366 yards on 59 carries.

Logan McVay, Alexander Besteder and Russ Logan each intercepted passes on defense. The Tigers got fumble recoveries from Khyrim Bryant and Xavier McShan. The Tigers limited Calera to 144 yards of total offense and forced five turnovers.

The win leaves Demopolis all alone atop Class 5A, Region 3. The Tigers have a bye week next Friday but return to action Sept. 30 to host region rival Dallas County.

“It feels good coming off a big win and to know that we’ve got a big game in two weeks,” Luker said. “That one in two weeks could put in a serious driver’s seat. We’re kicking on the door right now, we want to kick that son of a gun in for our region.”