Tigers end season against Demopolis

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Its amazing how things can change in a year.

Last year, the Greenville Tigers were using their last game of the season as a tune-up for the first round of the AHSAA playoffs.

One year later, the Tigers are 1-8 and searching for their second win.

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"Improvement has been carrying over all season," said Alvin Briggs, coach of the Greenville Tigers.

"Hopefully it'll carry over into this week and make sure it will carry over into off-season workouts and we are going to get busy with that."

That win is not going to be easy to come by as they play host to Class 4A's Demopolis High School.

"Obviously they are a good football team," Briggs said. "They are 9-0. They've got some good kids up there. Went to the semi-finals last year before losing to the eventual state champion Trinity. But again, it's a team that I think we can beat if we play like we are capable of playing. Just like we were in the game against Troy last week, but we just shot ourselves in the foot in the second half. Hopefully we can spoil their perfect season and get some momentum for next season going into the off-season and into workouts."

The Demopolis Tigers are currently ranked in the Class 4A polls and have guaranteed themselves a berth into the playoffs.

They also demolished Livingstone High School last week to the tune of 71-0.

"They were sort of out manned from the beginning," said Doug Goodwin, coach of the Demopolis High Tigers. "We played real well defensively and our offense had some short scoring drives. We ran a kick back and they turned the ball over four times and we played most of our backup players from the third quarter on. We didn't mean to run it up on them."

But, Goodwin is surprised by Greenville's record.

"I don't really know much about them other than what I've seen on tape," Goodwin said. "I think they're pretty big and they have big speed, No. 4 (Isiah Mack), No. 11 (Devoski McMeans) and No. 12 (Hayden Duke) all run well. Their record isn't good but they haven't been beaten badly by anyone. We're looking for them to give us a real good game. It's hard for me to watch them on tape and see why there record isn't better than what it is."

Despite Demopolis's record, Briggs is confident about the match-ups.

"We match up well," Briggs said. "They are a good football team. I don't think they are going to be one of the better teams we've seen all season. Obviously they are good enough to be 9-0. they are not as good as any team that's in our region that are great teams. They aren't as good as the Troys the Stanhopes. We think we matchup well with them."

The Demopolis Tigers will extend their season into the AHSAA playoffs with a first round game against St. James.

For Greenville, Friday night will mark the end of their season as they turn their attention towards next fall. Kickoff for Friday night's game is set for 7 p.m. and will be played in Demopolis.