A 9-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown by Kevin McElroy in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as No. 10 Demopolis held off host B.C. Rain 13-6 in round two of the Class 5A playoffs on Friday night.

McElroy rushed seven times for 41 yards and was 12-of-17 passing for 117 yards as the Tigers improved to 10-2. Nine of those completions were to Dalyn Jackson, who finished the night with 88 yards, while Keishawn Rowser added 78 yards on 19 carries for a touchdown.

‘’That’s as good of a high school game as you’ll see,” said Demopolis head coach Lance Tucker. “That’s what high school football is about in Alabama. Those guys (Rain) did an unbelievable job coaching across the field and their kids played their hearts out. But our kids did too, and we made one play.”

Rowser had several runs that kept the clock running and the Red Raider defense on the field for long stretches of the game.

“He made some great hard-nosed runs,” Tucker said of Rowser. “He probably didn’t have a lot of yards, but those six and seven-yard carries were tough and he kept the clock moving. It was just a great high school football game.”

For B.C. Rain (8-4), it was a heartbreaking end to a very solid season. Amari Yelding finished the night only 8-of-23 passing for 193 yards and an interception. Although he completed his first four passes, he only managed to go only 3-for-13 on the second half. Bryce Dowdlan had 57 yards on 19 carries and a score.

The Red Raiders were victimized by penalties, being flagged 10 times for 92 yards. One of those penalties caused a Dowdlan touchdown to be called back late in the game.

“This is a tough night right here,” said Rain head coach Lawrence Yelding, surrounded by his players, many of who were crying after the loss. “You never want it to end for those guys, but there’s going to be only one team hoisting that state championship trophy up.”

Demopolis was forced to punt on its first possession, and the Red Raiders appeared as if they were going to run the Tigers out of the stadium when they used only four plays to drive 69 yards to take a 6-0 lead. Dowdlan’s 4-yard touchdown run was set up by two big pass plays — one of 22 yards to Julius Rogers and 44 to Dowdlan.

Rain had a chance to add to the lead when it recovered a McElroy fumble at the Tiger 35 and drove deep into Demopolis territory. But the drive stalled and the Red Raiders turned the ball over on downs. The Tigers took over and ate up five and a half minutes off the clock before Rowser scored on a 15-yard touchdown run with 8:27 left in the half.

Both teams were engaged in a defensive slugfest for most of the second half. Good strong defensive play turned back promising drives, and after Amari Yelding was stopped a half-yard short of a first down early in the fourth quarter, Demopolis took over on downs and after a costly unsportsmanlike penalty against the Red Raiders put the ball on the 9, McElroy faked a handoff and rolled to his left untouched for a 9-yard touchdown run. The extra point made it 13-6.

Rain had one last chance to score on the ensuing possession, but an apparent Dowdlan 47-yard touchdown run was called back because of an illegal shift. The Red Raiders final possession, which came with 1:07 left in the game, ended with pass incompletions on third and fourth down as the Tiger fans went into a frenzy.

“I think both defenses bent, but they didn’t break,” said Tucker. “It was back and forth between the 20s and we were blessed at the end to make a play.”

Star of the game: McElroy. Besides scoring what would ultimately be the winning touchdown, he kept the Red Raider defense honest with some key passes, primarily to Jackson.

Play of the game: McElroy’s 9-yard touchdown run, which left Rain’s defense flat-footed.

By the numbers: 4, consecutive completions thrown by Amari Yelding in Rain’s first drive; 10, total first downs for B.C. Rain; 18, total number of first downs for Demopolis; 77, total number of rushing yards for B.C. Rain; 173, total number of rushing yards for Demopolis.

Stats: For Demopolis, Rowser had two receptions for 17 yards. For Rain, Julius Rogers caught five passes for 110 yards.

Coachspeak: “We had been running up the middle and I told him to take a chance and let’s keep it. He kept it and made a good play for us. We got lucky, and that’s a part of playoff football.” — Tucker on McElroy’s touchdown.

They said it: “It’s been a long four years for these guys. They had a lot of grit and determination that they’ve shown the last four years. It’s very impressive, and you just can’t help but to hope for the best of them.” — Yelding.

Up next: Demopolis hosts Eufaula in Round 3 of the playoffs. B.C. Rain’s season is over.