Local players competing at next level

Published 9:09 am Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Former Demopolis running back DaMarcus James looks to lead Jacksonville State in 2014.

Former Demopolis running back DaMarcus James looks to lead Jacksonville State in 2014.

College football season kicked off around the country last weekend, and 22 players that played in Marengo County are on college rosters.

Demopolis has the most players at the next level with 11, followed by Linden with six and Sweet Water with five.

The players from Demopolis are as follows:

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•Hollis Bright – UWA

•Larry Cobb – Tuskegee

•Wiley Isaac – Stillman

•Steven Foster – South Alabama

•Martaze Jackson – UWA

•DaMarcus James – Jacksonville State

•Demetrius Kemp – Wake Forest

•Cortez Lewis – Wake Forest

•Tyler Merriweather – Georgia Tech

•Peyton Pearson – Mississippi College

•Taylor Polk – Troy

The players from Linden are as follows:

•Justin DeLaine – UWA

•T.J. Hinton – UWA

•Terris Lewis – Troy

•Tyler Davis – Alabama A&M

•Gerald Bruno – Jacksonville State

•Najee Bright – Alabama State

The players from Sweet Water are as follows:

•Jakoby Aldridge – Jacksonville State

•Demarcus Gamble – Tuskegee

•Chris Landrum – Jacksonville State

•Ty Morgan – UWA

•Derrick Tucker – Miles

Each week during the college football season, The Demopolis Times will run an update on how local players performed over the weekend.

For the first week of the season, a few former local players saw action.

On Friday, Jacksonville State took on the Michigan State Spartans, top-10 program in the country, and lost 45-7. Demopolis’ James finished with 18 yards rushing on three carries in the game. Sweet Water’s Landrum finished with two tackles.

In Georgia Tech’s 38-19 win over Wofford, Demopolis’ Merriweather recorded a tackle.

In Troy’s 48-10 loss to UAB, Linden’s Lewis recorded five tackles. Demopolis’ Polk started at long snapper for the Trojans.

Alabama State lost to Sam Houston State, but Linden’s Najee Bright recorded 8 tackles and had two pass breakups in the game.

Kemp, Cortez Lewis, Davis, Bruno and Aldridge did not participate in their teams’ games.

Other schools local players are playing, including UWA, Tuskegee, Stillman, South Alabama, Mississippi College and Miles open their season on Saturday, Sept. 6.