Tigers fall as Wildcats post 27 unanswered

August 25, 2018August 25, 2018 Jeremy D. Smith AHSAA, county high, demopolis high school, football, prep sports, tchs, Tigers, tuscaloosa county high school, Wildcats

08-24-18 — Northport, Ala. — Demopolis’ Keyjun Gracie (5) reels in a pass from QB Peyton Stevenson as he crosses the goal line early in the first half of play against Tuscaloosa County High School. After leading for the first half, Demopolis fell to the Wildcats by a final of 27-13. (WAW | Stewart Gwin)

NORTHPORT, Ala. – Demopolis spent the first 24 minutes of the 2018 season appearing ready for a major road victory. For the next 24 minutes, the Tigers found themselves overmatched and largely without answers on the way to a 27-13 loss to Class 7A Tuscaloosa County.

Demopolis held a 13-0 lead at halftime before fumbling away the first snap of the third quarter. County High’s Austen Cosby came away with the ball, setting up a six-play drive that culminated with a 2-yard Damien Taylor touchdown run to narrow the deficit o 13-7. It did not take long for things to get much worse for the Tigers. Despite forcing and recovering a fumble at its own 19, Demopolis quickly started losing yardage on the ensuing possession. Wildcat defensive lineman Zion Thomas turned a blitzing opportunity into a pick-6 to tie the game Wilkes Pierce’s field goal put TCHS up to stay with 5:44 left in the third.

Demopolis flirted with a momentum turn again with 8:57 left in the contest as a bad snap on County High’s fourth and goal effort rolled on the turf. Taylor then scooped it up and plunged his way into the end zone to stretch the advantage to 20-13. The Wildcats later turned a Christian Lewis interception into a 10-yard Taylor TD run to cap the scoring.

While TCHS dominated the second half turnovers, Demopolis forced the Wildcats into miscues early in the game. C.J. Williams and A.J. Pruitt each forced fumbles that Demopolis recovered. The latter of those two fumbles set up a 17-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Stevenson to Keyjun Gracie with 1:10 left in the opening quarter.

Josh Mason later picked off a pass that lead to an 11-yard scoring strike from Stevenson to Trey Murdock with 4:59 remaining in the opening half.

Offense proved hard to come by for the Tigers, who tallied only 142 total yards on 61 snaps. Demopolis ran for 43 yards and threw for 99 while tallying 13 first downs. Tuscaloosa County countered with 321 yards on 77 plays.

Gracie paced the receiving corps with 57 yards and a touchdown on eight catches. A.J. Besteder led the Demopolis rushing attack with 30 yards on 15 carries. Woodrow Washington did most of the damage for TCHS, carrying the ball 21 times for 146 yards. Taylor had 53 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.

Demopolis (0-1) travels to Northridge next Friday night.

Share this: