MONROEVILLE — Demopolis (3-4, 3-1) put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season Friday night when it dropped regional foe Monroe County, 62-21.

“They came out with intensity tonight even though it was a real flat atmosphere,” DHS head coach Tom Causey said. “Everything was set up for us to have a let down.”

Demopolis started the scoring when senior quarterback Rick Boone hooked up with senior A-back Shelby Speegle on a 31-yard scoring strike. The visiting Tigers had previously found paydirt on two plays before penalties that drew the ire of the Demopolis sideline negated the gains.

“I want to credit our kids, but I want to tell you our coaches did a great job with that,” Causey said of his teams’ ability to remain collected following the calls.

The Tigers’ next score came on a 20-yard touchdown run by sophomore sensation DaMarcus James. Demopolis went up 21-0 on a 47-yard touchdown pass to junior Larry Cobb.

“They really overcompensated for the run,” Causey said of a Monroe County team that allowed Boone to go 5-for-8 for 152 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Despite a couple of early penalties, Demopolis got strong play from its offensive line as it chewed up 490 yards of MCHS turf.

“We’re still real young up front. We’ve still got a long way to go up there,” Causey said. “But those guys are getting better every week.”

The line, which took its share of criticism early in the season, turned in a strong effort while helping the DHS ground game to 338 yards.

“We don’t listen to that crap,” senior center Morgan Lecroy said of early-season criticism endured by the unit. “We listen to our coaches and we just believe in each other.”

Boone added an eight-yard touchdown run to push the score to 28-0 before MCHS answered with a 73-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit back to three possessions.

James responded with a 19-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession.

Demopolis’ final possession of the first half was the only one on which it didn’t score as it turned the ball over on a fumble.

Two plays later, junior Darnell Hammond, who was filling in for a cramping Greg Irvin, picked off an MCHS pass and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown behind a convoy of blockers.

“It felt good, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. I had 10 guys blocking for me,” Hammond said.

After the game, Causey praised Hammond’s effort in practice throughout the week, citing it as reason for his insertion into the lineup.

“Our coaches tell us you have to go hard in practice because you never know when our (starters) are going to go down,” Hammond said.

His score sent the visiting team to halftime with a 42-7 lead. Junior Anthony Hardy pushed the lead to 49-7 on the first play of the third quarter on a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Hardy recovered a fumble three plays later to hand Demopolis possession. The junior then capped that possession with a 34-yard touchdown run. Sophomore Ben Pettus capped the DHS scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run.

James led the way on the ground with 193 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Sophomore defensive back Rusty Palmer recorded seven tackles and forced a fumble while Irvin recorded six and knocked one ball loose. Tremaine Sanders and Martez Jackson each recovered fumbles in the game.

Demopolis plays next Friday night in the final regular season home game in Memorial Stadium. DHS will host Greenville in a region clash with significant playoff implications.