Demopolis may have its playoff destiny set, but head coach Tom Causey is not overlooking his team’s Thursday night affair with rival Thomasville.

“This is our rival. This is Thomasville,” Causey said. “You’re excited to play them. You want to play well going into the playoff. And to be playing against this caliber of team right here at the end of the season gives us the chance to find out where we’re at.”

In addition to the rivalry element, Thomasville comes into the game with extra motivation as its playoff future is not yet set.

The visiting Tigers will head into Demopolis less than a week after suffering a 39-20 loss to region foe Jackson.

That setback dropped Thomasville into a three-way tie atop Class 4A, Region 1. Prior to the defeat, Thomasville had won eight straight games and sat as the No. 1 team in Class 4A.

“Speed and dang good coaches,” Causey said of the assets that have led Jack Hankins’ Thomasville team to an 8-1 overall record.

“Their kids play extremely hard. Their offensive line has been together for two years.

“They are a Top 5 team for a reason.”

In terms of on-field execution, Causey’s group will be called upon to slow the downhill running game of Thomasville.

“They’ve got that Wing-T. They like to get down and pound you,” Causey said.

“You’ve got to play with low pads and stay low because they are big and they are physical and if you try to stand up with them, they will roll you out of there.”

While slowing Thomasville’s offense is a task in and of itself, the home Tigers will also find considerable resistance to their efforts of moving the ball.

“They attack the football,” Causey said.

“They’ve got great cover guys which allow their front seven to focus on stopping the run and not worry about the pass so much. They’ve got two linebackers that are as good as anybody we’ve seen.”

While Causey’s team is fresh off a 79-6 thwacking of Wilcox-Central, the DHS head coach did not believe getting the locker room focused would be an issue.

“You think (focus) comes naturally, you hope it does,” he said.

“I hope we don’t have to get them up to play Thomasville. This is a natural rivalry for us. They are going to come in here jacked up and ready to go.”