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The Demopolis Tigers entered the 2004 season with high expectations. They had won the last twenty regular season games but lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs the past two seasons to the eventual state champions. In 2002, they fell to UMS-Wright 17-0 and 33-27 last season to Trinity. Anything short of a title would be a disappointment in 2004.           The Tigers did run the tables in Class 4A and bring home the first state championship in school history in 2004. Not only that, they set numerous team and state records along the way with an offense that was unstoppable all season long.

Sumter County 0   0   0   0   0     Demopolis 21   20   14   7   62

Demopolis opened the season ranked No. 4 in ASWA preseason poll as they entertained Sumter County in week one. The Tigers opened up a 41-0 halftime lead and coasted to a 62-0 victory. Quarterback Devin Goodwin threw three touchdown passes and the defense held Sumter County to just 71 yards of total offense. Chad Schroeder returned a punt 39 yards for one score and caught a touchdown pass in a game that was decided very early.

Demopolis 26   7   13   7   53     Bibb County 0   0   0   0   0

The Tigers traveled to Centreville in week two to take on the Bibb County Choctaws. They built a 26-0 in the first quarter and coasted to a 53-0 victory on the young season. The defense came through again as they held the Choctaws to just 47 yards of total offense while the offense racked up 396 yards. Schroeder returned another punt 53 yards for a touchdown in the game and Goodwin threw three more touchdown passes.

Dallas County 0   0   0   0   0     Demopolis 15   21   33   0   69

Devin Goodwin completed 12-of-17 passes for 273 yards and five touchdowns as the Tigers rolled over Dallas County 69-0 at home. The defense got in on the act as they recorded a safety and Dontrell Miller returned an interception 19 yards for a score. They also limited the Hornets to just 44 yards of total offense. The Tigers used their high scoring offense to open up a 36-0 halftime lead and never looked back.

Demopolis            42     Northridge 0   0   0   0   0

Demopolis shutout Northridge in week four 42-0 as Goodwin threw for 177 yards and four touchdowns. Dustin Gracie rushed for 138 yards including a 67-yard run as the Tigers recorded win number four in Tuscaloosa.

Southside Selma 0   7   0   6   13     Demopolis 7   7   7   14   35

After outscoring their first four opponents by a combined 226-0, the Tigers struggled against Southside of Selma in a 35-13 win. With just four minutes remaining in the game the Tigers led just 21-13 before scoring two late touchdowns to put the game away. Gracie rushed for 126 yards and scored three touchdowns in the game to lead the offensive attack. The defense collected four interceptions.

Greensboro 0   0   0   0   0     Demopolis 21   20   7   14   62

The Tigers found their groove against an outmanned Greensboro team the next week in a 62-0 rout of the Raiders. Miller scored the first touchdown on a 20-yard interception return and the offense took over from there building a 41-0 halftime lead. Goodwin threw for 168 yards and four touchdowns while the defense held Greensboro to just 18 yards of total offense and three first downs for their fourth shutout in five games.

Demopolis 13   15   13   14   55     Jemison 8   0   0   8   16

After falling behind 8-7 in the first quarter, the Tigers rolled to a convincing 55-16 victory for win number seven at Jemison. The offense rolled up a season best 618 yards as Devin Goodwin passed for 303 yards and another three touchdowns. Gracie rushed for 123 yards on 14 carries and scored twice. Colby Roberts caught five passes for 126 yards and one score.

Demopolis 14   50   0   0   64     Greene County 0   0   6   6   12

Demopolis scored 50 second quarter points and rolled to a 64-0 halftime lead before defeating Greene County 64-12 the next week. They scored in a variety of ways as nine different players got in on the action.           Schroeder returned his third and fourth punts for touchdowns in the game and Miller returned another interception for a touchdown. Chris Wasson scooped up a fumble which was also returned for a touchdown by the Tiger defense.

Demopolis 14   30   14   13   71     Livingston 0   0   0   0   0

The Tigers traveled to Livingston to play the Other Tigers in week nine of the 2004 season. Once again the game was never in doubt as the visiting Tigers scored early and often. They jumped out to a 44-0 led by intermission and cruised to a 71-0 victory and their sixth shutout of the season. Schroeder returned another punt 83 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring. It was his fifth touchdown return of the season.           The defense was superb in limiting Livingston to just nine yards of total offense the entire game and collected another safety in the second quarter. Goodwin tossed four touchdown passes in the first half alone in the rout. The offense exploded for 25 first downs and 391 yards of total offense.

Greenville 0   7   0   0   7     Demopolis 14   24   14   12   64

Demopolis wrapped up their third consecutive undefeated regular season in fine fashion as the destroyed Greenville 64-7 at home. The defense put together another near perfect performance as they held the Greenville offense to minus nine yards on the evening and just two first downs. The only score for Greenville came on a 92-yard kickoff return following the Tigers opening touchdown. Gracie scored on runs of 59 and 37 while Goodwin tossed another two touchdown passes.

St. James 0   0   0   0   0     Demopolis 6   19   28   7   60

The Tigers opened the playoffs at home and destroyed a good St. James team 60-0. They rambled to a 34-0 halftime lead and cruised to the win. Goodwin completed 13-of-18 passes for 252 yards and tossed another four touchdown passes. Schroeder returned the second half kickoff 86 yards for a score and caught three touchdown passes on the night.             Once again the defense was magnificent as they totally shut down the St. James offense holding them to 135 yards of total offense and only two yards rushing. They also collected five interceptions to keep St. James away from their end zone.

Thomasville 0   0   0   0   0     Demopolis 0   7   7   0   14

The 10-1 Thomasville Tigers came to Demopolis for a second round matchup with the Tigers from Demopolis. Thomasville was a high scoring team themselves but the Demopolis defense proved to be too much for their offense to handle. Demopolis shutout Thomasville for the first time in 107 games 14-0 to advance to the next round of the playoffs.           The first score came on a 26-yard pass from Goodwin to Roberts in the second quarter on a 95-yard drive. Gracie added a 63-yard run in the third quarter for all the points the Tigers needed on this evening. The win set up a rematch of last year's semi-finals between Trinity and Demopolis.

Demopolis 14   15   10   7   46     Trinity 7   0   0   0   7

The Trinity Wildcats had not lost a game in over two seasons. They last time they were defeated it came at the hands of Demopolis in the 2002 playoffs. It was a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 4 for the right to move on toward the Super Six in Birmingham.           Trinity jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before the Tigers came roaring back to take a commanding 29-7 halftime lead. Goodwin threw for 231 yards and four touchdown passes to led the Tigers to a 46-7 win over the Top ranked Wildcats. The defense did it's part by limiting Trinity to 104 yards of offense and collected their third safety of the season.

Demopolis 0   14   0   15   29     UMS-Wright 7   0   8   0   15

The win setup another epic battle against 13-0 UMS-Wright in the semi-finals. The Bulldogs had knocked the Tigers out of the playoffs in 2002 and were ranked N. 3 in the final ASWA rankings. Once again the Tigers fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter before rallying to grab a 14-7 halftime lead on two Goodwin touchdown passes. UMS-Wright took a 15-14 lead in the third quarter before the Tigers came back with 15 points in the last quarter in a 29-15 victory.           Goodwin accounted for all the touchdowns through the air as he tossed three to Roberts and one to Schroeder. His last touchdown pass set a new AHSAA record for scoring passes thrown in a season with 47. Jake Thompson of Russellville had set the old record just two seasons ago in 2002. The offense rolled up 474 yards while the defense held UMS-Wright to just 180 total yards.

Deshler 0   7   7   7   21     Demopolis 0   21   7   7   35

All that remained for the Tigers was to defeat the No. 2 team from Deshler. Demopolis took an unlikely path to the championship by defeating the No. 5, No. 1, No. 3 and No. 2 teams in successive weeks. If ever a title was deserved it was by these Tigers from Demopolis for just making it through that schedule of Class 4A teams.           Deshler had lost to Trinity the previous season in the championship game and returned in 2004 for a shot at the title. It was not to be as the Tigers, coached by Doug Goodwin won their first championship in school history and the first for their coach. His teams had lost in two previous trips to the title game while he was the head football coach at Lineville in 1996 and 1998.            The Demopolis Tigers defeated Deshler 35-21 in a game that matched two of the highest scoring offenses of all time. Deshler entered the game having scores 721 points in fourteen games while Demopolis topped that mark with 726 points of their own. Both were state records. In the end it was Demopolis that walked away with the all-time record by scoring 761 points in 2004.           Devin Goodwin was named the game's MVP as he tossed four touchdown passes and threw for 257 yards. Dusty Gracie caught five of those passes for 126 yards and two scores. Demopolis led 21-7 at the half as Deshler's only score came on a kickoff return following the Tiger's second score. In the second half, Demopolis matched Deshler touchdown for touchdown as the two teams went back and forth scoring.           Goodwin hit Gracie on a screen pass that covered 64 yards for the final touchdown of the evening and a 35-21 lead with under ten minutes to play. Deshler had the football one more time but turned it over on downs with just over two minutes left and the Tigers ran out the clock for a state championship.           Goodwin's 51 touchdown passes were a new state record. He completed 188-of-307 passes for 3,215 yards during the 2004 season. He also was good on 69-of-84 extra points.           Named to the ASWA all-state team were quarterback Devin Goodwin, defensive back Dontrell Miller, running back Dusty Grace, linemen Jason Hernandez and Ray Williams. Selected to the honorable mention team were receiver Chad Schroder, linebacker Seth Basinger and defensive back Vincent Jackson. Coach Doug Goodwin was also selected as the coach of the year.            While the 2004 Demopolis Tigers will always be remembered for having a high powered offense, the defense was pretty good too. When all was said and done in Class 4A, the Tigers had proven they were the best team that season with little doubt. Many seasons do not end this way, but in 2004 everything clicked for Coach Goodwin, his son Devin and the Demopolis Tigers. Demopolis 2004 8/27 62 Sumter County . . . . . 0 9/3 53 Bibb County . . . . . . . 0 9/10 69 Dallas County . . . . . 0 9/24 42 Northridge . . . . . . . . 0 10/1 35 Southside Selma . . . . 13 10/8 62 Greensboro . . . . . . . . 0 10/15 55 Jemison . . . . . . . . . . . 16 10/22 64 Greene County . . . . . 12 10/29 71 Livingston . . . . . . . . 0 11/5 64 Greenville . . . . . . . . 7 11/12 60 St. James * . . . . . . . 0 11/19 14 Thomasville * . . . . . 0 11/26 46 Trinity * . . . . . . . . . 7 12/3 29 UMS-Wright * . . . . . . 15 12/10 35 Deshler # . . . . . . . . . 21 761 15-0 91 * Playoff game # State championship game

Amazing Seasons, a series on the greatest seasons in high school football history


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