Demopolis is once again on the verge of a perfect regular season.

After 10-0 campaigns in 2002, 2003, and 2004, the Greeneville Tigers are now all that stand in the way of a fourth straight undefeated Demopolis regular season. The 40 consecutive regular season wins would bring DHS within 10 wins of the all-time state record, shared by Andalusia and Verbena.

And on paper, Greenville might not be expected to “stand” in the way of the Tigers as much as gently step aside. The 5A Tigers are 1-8 on the season and are coming off of a 20-0 loss to Russell Co. Last season, Demopolis crushed Greeneville by a score of 64-7 on their way to the state championship.

But according to the DHS players, none of that–the winning streak, Greeneville’s record, the upcoming challenge of the playoffs–is on the Tigers’ minds as much as simply getting to ready to play the best game they can this Friday.

“We take it one game at a time,” says Tiger receiver Dwiuan White, the team’s second-leading scorer with 13 touchdowns on the season. “We just come to work every day in practice. We just want to stay focused.”

Staying focused apparently hasn’t been a problem for the Demopolis offense in recent weeks. After last week’s 55-0 win over Greene County, in which White scored on both a 52-yard end-around and a 69-yard punt return, the Tiger O is now averaging 46.2 points a game.

“Everybody’s just been on the same page,” White says of the offense’s success.

Not that the defense has lagged behind at all. The Tigers have allowed less than a field goal a game at 2.9 points-per-game and the shutout of Greene County was the team’s sixth of the season.

Part of that success has been junior Rob Quinney, who has made 56 tackles from his linebacker position in addition to handling Demopolis’s punting duties. The key to both the Tigers’ previous success on defense and their ability to stop the Greeneville attack Friday is preparation, he says.

“Each and every game, you have to be prepared. You can’t overlook anybody,” he says. “It’s not a matter of how good you are, it’s a matter of how well-prepared you are.”

They are ranked No. 1 in the state for a reason and that’s because they

haven’t lost a game since they won a state title. They execute well and got

skill people everywhere. I watched them against Jemison and Greene County,

and it looked like a track meet.