Demopolis races out to big lead, holds down Wildcats

Sat. September 08, 2012 at 12:25 a.m. | By Jeremy D. Smith

DEMOPOLIS | Demopolis High School forced a turnover on the first play from scrimmage and scarcely let up on its way to a 41-0 win over Citronelle on Friday night.

The Tigers limited the visiting Wildcats to 70 yards of total offense in the contest, surrendering only three first downs and forcing five turnovers.

Peyton Pearson recovered the fumble on the opening offensive snap, setting Demopolis up 12 yards from an early lead. Tucker Jones finished the put Demopolis up with a 2-yard touchdown run.

The Tigers needed only one snap on their ensuing possession for Jones to find Cortez Lewis for a 43-yard touchdown pass.

“We came out and played with a lot of intensity in the first half. We kind of played flat as a pancake in the second half,” Demopolis head coach Tom Causey said. “Did what we had to do to get a win tonight. It’s a region win and we’ll move on.”

The Tigers drove 62 yards on 11 plays to score on their next possession, culminating the drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Lewis.

Demopolis added to its lead early in the second quarter when Rodney Harper hauled in a 21-yard pass from Jones to cap a 75-yard drive that featured a 55-yard Roderick Davis run.

“He had a great night. He’s going to get better as he goes,” Causey said of Davis, who rushed for 173 yards on 17 carries in the first half before finishing the night with 217 yards on 26 rushes.

Demopolis’ final score of the first half came after Jones had a 25-yard touchdown jaunt negated by a penalty. One play later, Davis scored on a 30-yard run to leave the Tigers up 34-0 at half.

Demopolis added a late score with 1:54 to go in the game when Drew Jones punched the ball in from 4 yards out as the Tigers’ second unit used another Pearson fumble recovery and a pair of personal foul penalties to set up shop at the Citronelle 4.

Sebastian Hale later added an interception for the Tigers.

The teams combined for 22 penalties for 215 yards.

Demopolis (2-0) will host Saraland next week while Citronelle (1-1) hosts Selma.