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Tigers win varsity matchup
In the varsity portion Thomasville Tigers edged the home standing Demopolis Tigers 14 - 13. The junior varsity segment went the opposite way with Demopolis shutting out Thomasville 13 - 0. In the varsity portion of the game neither team could manage much offense in the first quarter with turnovers plaguing both squads. It eventually was turnovers that directly or indirectly led to both teams' first scores. Demopolis got on the scoreboard first when a linebacker picked off an errant Thomasville pass and raced 22 yards for a touchdown. The extra-point was good and with 8:07 remaining in the first quarter Demopolis was on top 7 - 0. It looked for a minute like Thomasville was on track to tie the game up a couple of minutes later when they recovered a mishandled pitch taking over at the Demopolis 19. Unfortunately, after advancing it to the three yard line Thomasville fumbled in right back snuffing out the Tigers' first real threat. Thomasville was able to turn another Demopolis turnover into points as the clock neared the midway point of the second quarter when they picked up a fumble at the Demopolis 15 yard line and advanced it to the two yard line. From there Roya Campbell barreled in for the Tiger touchdown. Harrison Lewis added the extra-point and the score was knotted at 7 - 7 with 7:42 remaining in the second quarter. Demopolis broke the tie late in the quarter when they connected on a 42 yard pass play for a touchdown. The extrapoint try sailed wide left but the boys from the River City had regained the lead at 13 - 7 with: 36 remaining before intermission. In the second half, after the Thomasville defense had held Demopolis to three and out on their first possession, the Thomasville offense went to work driving the ball 59 yards to pay dirt. The touchdown came with 9:59 to play when quarterback Daniel Rogers hooked up with tight end Kenny Sanders on a 20 yard strike. The play had been set up on a 32 yard pass from Rogers to wide out Tysean Thompson that put the ball on the 20 yard line. Harrison Lewis added his second extra-point and Thomasville had taken the lead for good at 14 - 13. From that point on both teams began to substitute freely giving their junior varsities the spot light for the remainder of the game. Demopolis took charge in this portion of the night's action scoring twice on two long runs, one in the third quarter and once in the fourth. They added an extra-point following the first score but missed their second one making the final 13 - 0. In the varsity portion the Thomasville offense recorded seven first downs and picked up 125 total yards of offense with 44 yards coming on the ground on 19 rushing attempts and 79 coming through the air. Rushing leaders for Thomasville were Roya Campbell with 34 yards on nine carries, Alex Buford with 13 yards on two carries and James White with seven yards on two carries. In the passing category Daniel Rogers was 5 for 11 with a touchdown and one interception. On the receiving end of Rogers' passes Tysean Thompson had two catches for 43 yards, Delvonte Harris two catches for 16 yards and Kenny Sanders one catch for 20 yards. Harrison Lewis was a perfect two of two on extra points. Over on defense Thomasville held Demopolis to three first downs and 119 total yards of offense with 60 yards coming on the ground on 21 rushing attempts and 59 through the air with the quarterback connecting on two of four passes. In evaluating his team's performance in the pre-season jamboree Thomasville Coach Jack Hankins had mixed feelings. "I felt like we gave a lot of effort throughout the game and played with the kind of intensity we should," Coach Hankins said. "I thought our defense ran to the ball well and was aggressive all night particularly up front. I was also proud of our offense for mounting what proved to be the go ahead drive on our first possession of the second half. That's what a good team should do." On the other side of the coin Hankins found plenty to be dissatisfied with. "Our offense missed a lot of blocking assignments and had too many turnovers," the Tiger Skipper said. "As for the defense we missed a lot of tackles and had three totally unnecessary penalties that gave Demopolis extra opportunities." As the Tigers look ahead to their opener against Sweet Water this week, Hankins is concerned about the mistakes his Tigers made in the jamboree. "We can not afford to have the turnovers, penalties and missed assignments that we had in the jamboree in our game this week," he said. "We all know that Sweet Water will be putting a well coached, talented and experienced ball club on the field against us. They will be well prepared as usual and will be very physical on both sides of the ball." The Bulldogs who are the defending 1A State Champions and pre-season ranked number one as this season begins will be hosting the number two ranked 4A Tigers at Nolan Atkins Stadium on Thursday, August 30 with kickoff set for 7:00 PM. The game is being televised as part of the AHSAA Challenge of Champions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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