DEMOPOLIS &8212; In nine years of coaching experience at the high school level, DHS top man Tom Causey had never experienced what he did during Tuesday&8217;s team practice.

That is the major thing Causey learned about his team and his staff of assistants this week. In his stead, assistant coaches Joey Browder, Kyle Williams, Russell Bedingfield and Ben Ramer ran Tuesday&8217;s team workout.

Browder reported that the team responded well, despite the absence of Causey.

The team&8217;s effort and coaches&8217; ability to respond in the pinch prevented the program from losing a valuable day of practice time.

The session opened with group-specific work before gradually moving toward full-team workouts.

The offense received a bit of a boost with senior wide receiver Brian Taylor&8217;s return to practice. Taylor missed the previous week&8217;s work due to a camp at Southern Mississippi.

Additionally, the running back corps was bolstered by the return of Demarcus James, who reportedly looked good during his first showing of the summer.

While the team is still awaiting its first look at incumbent first string running back Shantrell Braxton, coaches have been encouraged by the work of James, Anthony Hardy and incoming freshman Jerry Campbell.