Michael Davis epitomized the Demopolis effort against Shelby County Friday night. Yes. Damarcus James carried the ball 37 times for 243 yards and a pair of scores, proving as consistent and capable as he always is for the Tigers. But what Davis did cannot be adequately measured in statistics.

On offense, he touched the ball five times for 65 yards and two scores. But those numbers don’t bear out the sheer physicality that he brought to the offense. They don’t show that his insertion into the lineup fueled a sputtering offense. They don’t show the trio of players whose night he ruined on a 32-yard swing pass out of the backfield. They do nothing to speak to the plight of the linebacker who vaulted onto his back only to be slung to the ground with bad intentions.

Defensively, Davis was the stalwart at the heart of the unit. He recorded 10 total tackles and forced a fumble from his middle linebacker spot. But, impressive as they are, those figures don’t indicated anything about how Davis hit the whole and derailed opposing ball carriers before they could get going. They don’t speak to how his sideline-to-sideline play frustrated Shelby County. Those numbers don’t let on that he had to helped off the field with an injury at one point, only to step back on it and once again dominate the game with an unparalleled physical intensity.

Simply put, Michael Davis played like it was the last game of his life and he didn’t want it to be. And, largely because of him, it wasn’t.