Demopolis demolishes ACA

Sat. September 01, 2012 at 12:37 a.m. | By Jeremy D. Smith

Demopolis High’s Roderick Davis (6) breaks free from American Christian Academy’s Stevie Jones (3) and Shawn Blackburn (47). Davis rushed for 82 yards on 13 carries. (Photo by Michael Clements)

TUSCALOOSA | Demopolis High School hung 28 points on the board in the first quarter en route to a 49-7 win over Class 3A American Christian Academy on Friday night.

The Patriots opted to gamble on fourth-and-1 from its own 44 on the first possession of the game. Demopolis’ Peyton Pearson stuffed the ACA runner behind the line of scrimmage to set Demopolis up 43 yards away from paydirt.

“I’m thinking we’ve got to take some chances like that,” American Christian head coach John Causey said of the decision. “Maybe looking back on it, maybe those might have not been the right chances to take. Looking back, there’s probably a lot of mistakes you’ll find. It’s our first game. Coaches make mistakes. Players make mistakes.”

Seven plays later, Cortez Lewis put Demopolis up to stay when he caught an 11-yard pass from Tucker Jones for a touchdown. Leif Midgorden’s extra point put DHS up 7-0.

“That’s huge,” Demopolis head coach Tom Causey said of the stop his defense came up with on the game’s first possession. “We were fortunate enough to get a couple big plays and get a score right there. They gave us the opportunity to get a lot of points on the board in a hurry.”

Demopolis added to its leadabout two minutes later when Tyler Merriweather blocked an ACA punt that Demetrius Kemp recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.

The Tigers upped the lead to 21-0 when Jones hit Tyler Oates for a 30-yard touchdown pass. After Tommy Wilson recovered a short kickoff for Demopolis, Roderick Davis scored on a 28-yard run to cap the scoring in the first quarter.

Demopolis added a second-quarter score on a 28-yard run by Jones before ACA got on the board with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Austin Mohlenbrok to John Roberts.

ACA’s bid for a touchdown just before the half ended when Wilson picked off a pass eight yards deep in the end zone and took it the distance for a Demopolis touchdown. Brock Montgomery added the final score of the game on a 27-yard touchdown reception after DHS linebacker Tyrelle Barnett recovered a ball that Lane Hawkins jarred loose on the previous play.

Demopolis held American Christian Academy to 146 yards total offense on 51 plays. The Tigers countered with 149 yards rushing and 87 more through the air.

Davis led all rushers game with 82 yards on 13 carries. Parker Dare led ACA with 47 yards on his only carry.

American Christian (0-1) takes on Greene County next week while Demopolis (1-0) hosts Citronelle.