Demopolis pounds Selma

Sat. September 22, 2012 at 12:55 a.m. | By Jeremy D. Smith

DEMOPOLIS | The No. 10-ranked Demopolis Tigers took an early blow from Class 5A, Region 3 foe Selma and responded with a string of 35 straight points on the way to a 42-19 win Friday night.

“You take it and you move on,” Demopolis coach Tom Causey said after what he considered a lackluster performance on the part of his team.

“But we took a step backward tonight. Give Selma credit. They came out with intensity. We played in bursts. We played late. That’s my fault.”

Quarterback Jesse Harris hit Jeromi Davis for a 49-yard touchdown pass on the game’s opening possession to give the Saints an early lead. The play marked the first time this season the Tigers have trailed in a  game.

The Saints appeared poised to go up by two scores before their second drive stalled in Tiger territory when Lane Hawkins and Wesley Anderson combined to snuff out a fake punt.

Demopolis responded with a 55-yard drive that spanned seven plays and ended with a Cortez Lewis 5-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-goal play. Leif Midgorden’s extra-point kick tied it at 7 with 2:13 left in the first quarter.

Demopolis took a lead it would never relinquish when Rodney Harper ran under a Tucker Jones pass in the end zone to complete a 32-yard play that was set up after Anderson forced a fumble on a sack and Rahmeel Cook recovered on the loose ball.

The Tigers made it 21-7 with 1:08 left in the half when Roderick Davis scored on a 9-yard run.

The Tigers found the end zone again with 3:09 to go in the third quarter when Jones scored on a 7-yard run after Brock Montgomery blocked a punt.

Demetrius Kemp scored the final two Demopolis touchdowns. Kemp’s first touchdown came on a 76-yard interception return in the third quarter and the second on a 6-yard run in the fourth.

“That play was a big play, no doubt,” Causey said of Kemp’s interception return. “We needed a non-offensive touchdown. But Selma has a lot of pride and a lot of character. They never quit playing. We had to play with them 48 minutes tonight.”

Selma rounded out its scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Deondis Mendenhall and a 52-yard scoring strike from Harris to Terrell Marshell.

Demopolis (4-0, 3-0) will travel to Thomasville next week.