Pickens County remains undefeated

REFORM, Ala., - Patrick Plott has stood on the sidelines as head coach at both Aliceville and Pickens County and understands the county rivalry between the two programs.

Plott had his Pickens County squad prepared Friday night as they kept their unblemished record intact dispatching Aliceville 40-6.

"This is one of those games where you can drop all the records and what's been done before," Plott said. "We knew both teams would come in and get after each other. Our guys just came out focused and ready to play."

The Tornadoes (5-0) compiled 300 yards of offense on the night including 207 on the ground and scored on its first three possessions.

"I told them coming out that we needed to get off to a fast start," Plott said. "We hadn't started fast yet this year and we did get a fast start but then kind of spurted throughout the second and third quarter."

De'Marko Hall had a strong outing for Pickens County scoring three touchdowns three different ways. Hall scored on a 13-yard run, a 20-yard reception and a 70-yard interception return.

"I was just pumped up," Hall said. "I caught my first touchdown then played good defense on the next possession and scored another touchdown on the interception. I had an incredible night against a rivalry team."

Hall finished with three carries for 56 yards, made three catches for 41 yards as well as adding two interceptions and a fumble recovery on defense. He pushed his touchdown total to 21 already this season.

Jamarcus Brown paved the way for the Tornadoes on the ground carrying 11 times for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Devont'e Simon completed 6-of-14 passing for 93 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Pickens County began scoring right from the start jumping out to a quick 19-0 lead in the opening quarter. Simon hooked up with Lajuan Doss for 43-yard yards on the opening play of the game to set up his 2-yard touchdown run five plays later.

Later in the quarter, the Tornadoes stopped an Aliceville fake punt attempt at their own 20-yard line. Pickens County took advantage of the good field position in only one play when Simon connected with Hall on a 20-yard scoring strike to go up 13-0.

On the Yellow Jackets next possession, Hall again came up big picking off Chistopher Crowell and returning it 70-yard up the left sideline to go ahead 19-0 with 2:19 to play in the first quarter.

"I read the play from the beginning," Hall said. "I saw (the receiver sticking) so I planted my foot, got under the ball and took it to the house."

The game would remain that way until 25-seconds remained in the third quarter. Pinned at their own 9-yard line, Aliceville had a high shotgun snap that was recovered by Tornado defensive lineman Terrien Steele in the end zone for the touchdown. Dalton Perkins' extra point gave Pickens County a 26-0 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Another Yellow Jacket miscue on the next drive led to more points for Pickens County. The Tornadoes defense forced a three-and-out but a 7-yard punt gave Pickens County the ball at the 13-yard line.

Hall needed only one play to score from there racing on a toss sweep to the left across the goal line.

Hall's 43-yard run two possessions later led to the Tornadoes final touchdown. He setup a 4-yard touchdown dive by Brown three plays later to go up 40-0 with just under four minutes to play.

Aliceville's only points of the evening came on the ensuing kickoff when Demario Lanier broke loose for an 80-yard return.

The Yellow Jackets (2-3) finished with 273 yards of offense but were turned away in three different drives inside the 10-yard line and committed two turnovers for scores.

"I'm very proud of my defense," Plott said. "We preached it all week to our defense that we had to have a good game from them and they showed up tonight."

Crowell completed 12-of-34 passing for 168 yards and two interceptions for Aliceville. Lanier was his favorite target making four grabs for 38 yards while Gerald Sterling hauled in three passes for 66 yards.

Marquise Colvin was the Yellow Jackets leading rusher with four carries for 32 yards.