Football season once again ended in the first round of playoffs for Demopolis High School as the Tigers fell to the Elmore High School Panthers in a game that had the crowd on their feet until the last play.
Both teams earned two touchdowns in the second quarter, which was all the scoring there was in regulation. To break the 14-14 tie, each team was given the ball and four downs at the 10 yard line in overtime.
Neither team could score in the first overtime. In the second overtime, the Panthers earned 6 points on a passing play and kicked for the PAT.
Tigers running back Jamarcus Davis ran the ball into the endzone on their first play in the second overtime, and Head Coach Ricky Woods decided to go for 2 points. Quarterback JW McAlpine tried to run the ball into the endzone but was stopped a yard short, ending the game and the season. The final score was 21-20.
For what it’s worth, the Tigers generated 358 yards on offense compared to the Panthers' 206 yards. Most of the Tigers’ yards were on the ground, with Davis accounting for 121 of the 308 rushing yards and one touchdown on 28 carries.
The Panthers generated 28 rushing yards and 178 yards in the air.
Turnovers and untimely penalties plagued the Tigers, as they have for the last two games of the regular season. Two significant drives deep in Panther territory were stalled by turnovers and penalties, including a tackle well out of bounds late in the game, worked against the Tigers.
The Panthers, who had not won a playoff game since 2011, were also vexed by turnovers, which led to a game that literally went down to the last play.
Demopolis High School will continue its search for a permanent head football coach. Woods stepped out of retirement to lead the Tigers after Lance Tucker left in June, but he told WINL radio Friday that while he “might help out” a team, he did not “want to be a head coach anymore.”
Woods thanked Demopolis for “allowing us to be a part of our kids’ lives,” and he said the young men “are a credit to their parents.”
Brad Fisher is Associate Publisher of the Black Belt News Network and Selma Sun. He can be reached at bfisher@kingfisher-media.com.
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