Demopolis game postponed until Friday

Published 5:43 pm Tuesday, October 29, 2013

UPDATED: The Demopolis-Hillcrest game, scheduled for Thursday night, has been pushed back to Friday at 7 p.m. due  to the threat of severe weather tonight.

Before Tuesday afternoon, the Demopolis Tigers were still in a fight for a spot in the playoffs, but an announcement by the Alabama High School Athletic Association put the minds of Demopolis fans at ease.

The AHSAA announced that Greenville High School, who was in a three-way tie with Demopolis and Selma, had to forfeit three region wins due to having an academically ineligible player participating.

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The forfeits drops Greenville’s record to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in the region, with the lone win being over Demopolis. They forfeited wins against Citronelle, Satsuma and Sumter Central. In addition to the forfeits, Greenville has been fined and placed on probation for one year.

Demopolis will travel to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (5-4, 4-3) on Friday to close out the regular season and get ready for the playoffs.

Tigers head coach Tom Causey said Hillcrest’s four losses all came to good opponents, and moving the ball won’t be easy.

“They lost to Hartselle, Bessemer City, Hoover and Tuscaloosa County, and all of those teams are dang good football teams,” he said. “Hillcrest is physical, they play great defense, and they make you earn everything against them. We have to move the chains and not give up the big play.”

Last season, the Patriots defeated Demopolis 21-13.

Causey said after the tough loss to Jackson last week, the mood in the locker room has been as expected.

“On Friday, it was somber, as it should have been,” he said. “We came back on Sunday and it was better, and Monday was back to business as usual. We’ve had some good practices this week, and I think we’ll keep going in that direction.”

None of the other matchups around the county have any bearing on the playoffs as each region’s top four seeds are set.

The Sweet Water Bulldogs (7-2, 7-0) will host T.R. Miller (9-0, 7-0) to close out the regular season.

The Bulldogs lost in a nailbiter last season in Brewton 28-27.

Sweet Water will be looking to continue their momentum heading into the Class 2A playoffs.

Three of the four Marengo County teams in Class 1A are heading to the playoffs this season.

Linden (7-2, 7-0) is the No. 1 seed after finishing their region season undefeated.

They will travel to Southern Choctaw High School (4-5, 3-4) for their regular season finale.

A.L. Johnson earned the No. 3 seed last week by defeating Marengo High School. The Eagles will face Sunshine High School to close out the regular season.

By dropping their game to A.L. Johnson, the Marengo Panthers will be the No. 4 seed heading into the playoffs next week. This week, the Panthers (5-4, 4-3) will travel to Excel.

The Panthers made the playoffs this year after losing 16 consecutive games coming into the season.

The season finale for the John Essex Hornets against Monroe County has been cancelled. With the forfeit, the Hornets will finish the season 0-10.

The only undefeated team in the county, the Marengo Academy Longhorns, will finish their regular season in Greensboro on Friday at Southern Academy.

The Longhorns are looking to cap off an undefeated season and continue their momentum into the playoffs.

The AISA playoff brackets are already set, and the Longhorns will host Chambers Academy (5-4, 3-3) in the first round. Since MA and Linden will both host in the first round, one of the two teams will play on Thursday, Nov. 7 and the other will play Friday, Nov. 8.