SCORING SUMMARY:

Demopolis, with the top-ranked scoring offense and top-ranked scoring defense in the state had both on display in their first round playoff game, and St. James was the unfortunate victim as the Tigers scored 7 touchdowns in less than two quarters while shutting out their eighth of eleven opponents, 60 - 0.

The first drive set the tone for the the Trojans night as a penalty and a sack were the results of the first two plays.  Chad Schroeder, who garnered more than 150 all purpose yards on only 3 pass receptions and 3 kick returns, toted his first punt 16 yards to the Trojan 28.  The Tigers overcame a penalty, and on the seventh play of the drive, Dusty Gracie scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 12 yard run.  Quarterback Devin Goodwin converted the extra point, and Demopolis was up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.  St. James was forced to punt again, but managed to stop the Tigers for one of the few times during the evening.  Demopolis had a 4th and 9 from the Trojan 13, and a pass attempt on a fake field goal was well overthrown.  The Trojans converted their initial first down of the evening on a Matt Ward completion from Tyler Murphy, but two plays later Goodwin intercepted a pass at the St. James 40.  Four plays later, on the first play of the second quarter, Goodwin connected on the first of his four touchdown passes to Schroeder, the first of his four touchdowns.  A two point conversion run failed, but the Tigers had doubled the lead to 12.

St. James again failed to convert any first downs, and Demopolis benefitted from another short field.  On the third play of a 59 yard drive, Gracie carried the ball into the endzone from 32 yards for an apparent touchdown, but a holding penalty negated the score.  However, on the next play, Goodwin found a wide open Colby Roberts down the middle and past the secondary for an easy 45 yard touchdown catch and run.  The Tigers finally converted for extra points on a scrambling halfback pass from Clarke Kerby to Bart Pettus, and the lead was quickly up to 20 still early in the second quarter.

The Trojans finally forced some negative field position on the Tigers, 80 yards worth, but Demopolis overcame another penalty with two fantastic catches by Kerby of 24 yards and Dontrell Miller of 25 yards.  The Miller catch moved the ball down to the 9 yard line, and Rod Jones scored the first of his two touchdowns on the next play.  Goodwin finally converted an extra point kick, and the score was 27 - 0 late in the first half.

St. James may have had the nail put in the coffin on the ensuing drive.  An offside penalty on 4th and less than 6 gave the Trojan offense a chance for a short yardage first down gain.  However, the play was stopped in the backfield, and Demopolis seized the opportunity to add more points.  Despite losing 9 yards on the first play on a botched reverse, Goodwin completed passes of 14 to Miller, 17 to Roberts, and a 12 yarder to Schroeder for a back-breaking touchdown and a 34 point lead just before halftime.

Demopolis continued at full speed on the first play of the third quarter, as the Trojans' only kickoff of the night was fielded by Schroeder at the 15, and he ran straight up the middle of the muck 85 yards virtually untouched for a quick touchdown.  Goodwin's third consecutive extra point boosted the lead to 41 - 0 early in the third quarter.

A Trojan interception set up a two play Tiger drive.  Gracie raun twice, for 7 yards and 28 yards for his second touchdown and a 47 - 0 lead.

St. James advanced to midfield on their next drive, but the punt was shanked out of bounds for 3 yards and Demopolis was driving again for a score.  However, the Trojan defenders stripped the ball away from William Burrell at the Trojan 7 and fell on the resulting fumble, Demopolis' only turnover, at the Trojan 2, stopping a Tiger drive.

However, on the next play, Demopolis intercepted again at the 25, and two plays later Goodwin tossed a 25 yarder to Schroeder for another touchdown and a 53 - 0 lead with still 15 minutes to go in the game.  Tyler Murphy connected on one of his two big plays of the game on the next Trojan drive, a 25 yard pass to Matt Burke, but the drive stalled soon thereafter.

Demopolis took over on their own 32 with backup quarterback Miller taking over.  He advanced his own fumble on first down 7 yards, and after a penalty and an incomplete pass, he broke loose on a 45 yard scramble and was one tackle away from a long touchdown.  However, two plays later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Jones carried for 15 yards on what would be the last touchdown of the game.  Goodwin's kick gave Demopolis their 60th point and tied the record for the most points given up in one game by a Trojan team (1979-Marbury).

There were few scoring threats in the fourth quarter.  The Trojans punted once and tossed another interception, and the Tigers turned the ball over twice on fourth down attempts.  St. James took over on their own 33 with 1:13 remaining desperate to at least score.  Murphy found Matt Ward for a 53 yard completion on first down and St. James had a chance with the ball on the Demopolis 14.  The first string defense rushed in to protect their shutout, and after a 6 yard run by Murphy on first down, the longest Trojan rush of the night, two more plays netted minus two yards.  With 13 seconds remaining, Graham Sutter was called on to try a 27 yard field goal, but it was blocked by an onrusher and the only Trojan scoring threat was scuttled as the 2004 season came to a humbling end despite unquestionable Trojan effort.

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GAME ELEVEN SIDELINE STATISTICS: 

ST. JAMES      RUSHING   20 attempts  minus 11 yards  0 TDs 

                        34   Hoover       3 /  4             19   Newton        1 / 2              30   Ward         1 / - 4
                        22   Alter           1 / - 5             9   Murphy      14 / - 8

                        PASSING   12 completions  26 attempts  5 INTs  145 yards  0 TDs  (2 sacks of, 15 yards)

                          9   Murphy       12 - 24 - 4    145 yards   (2 sacks, - 15 yards)
                          2   Thompson     0 -   1 - 1
                        30   Ward             0 -   1 - 0

                        RECEIVING

                        30   Ward            3 / 63          88   Burke             1 / 25           34   Hoover     3 / 20
                        22   Alter             2 / 15            2   Thompson      2 / 14             5   Cowden    1 /   8

                        TOTAL YARDS:   134

                        KICKS:  XP  0 / 0                 FG  0 / 1  (27 blocked)
                        2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                        KICKOFFS:  1  (45)                                                PUNTS:  7  (35,23,39,42,26,3,36)
                        KO RETURNS:  8  (15,15,3,14,22,12,11,11)            PUNT RETURNS:   0
                        FIRST DOWNS:   6    (5 passing, 1 penalty)
                        FUMBLES:  1, lost 0
                        TURNOVER MARGIN:   - 4
                        PENALTIES:  4 / 30 yards
                        TIME OF POSSESSION:  19:10

DEMOPOLIS   RUSHING   49 attempts  290 yards  4 TDs (5.92 yards per carry)
                        PASSING    13 completions  19 attempts   0 INTs  242 yards  4 TDs  (no sacks of)
                        TOTAL YARDS:  532