The undefeated T.R. Miller Tiger football team will get back in region play this week when they host the Cottage Hill Warriors Friday night at home for their 2012 homecoming game.
T.R. Miller improved to 5-0 overall Friday night with a 19-7 win over Clarke County.
Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said for the most part his Tigers did a couple of things well in the game, but there were some negative things also.
“We defended the pass well I thought and we hung in there really tough,” Riggs said. “That pretty much covers all the good stuff. We did not defend their running game and we certainly did not block as well as we have blocked at times, but Clarke County had a lot to do with that though. They, by far, have the best defense we have seen all year so far. We did do a few things better in the second half. Basically in the first half they controlled the ball the whole half. In the second half, we kind of flipped that, especially in the fourth quarter, we controlled the ball and kept it away from them.”
With the Tigers standing at 5-0 through the midpoint of the season, Riggs said there are things his Tigers need to improve on in the second half of the season.
“I think we certainly, just from a standpoint on things we have to improve on, we need to improve on covering kicks,” he said. “I think offensively, we need to be consistent in the offensive line. In the second half, we need to do a better job of throwing and catching the ball than we have done. Defensively, we just need to get tough and defend the run a little better. Hopefully if we do that, we can improve some. Everything else, we have done adequate or a good job at times. We need to improve on those other things to beat the better teams.”
As for this week against Cottage Hill, the Warriors come into the game with the Tigers with an 0-4 record and a region record of 0-3. Cottage Hill has been outscored this season 181-17. Cottage Hill lost Friday night to Mobile Christian 54-3.
T.R. Miller is 2-0 all time against Cottage Hill winning the last meeting between the two teams 46-21 on the road during the 2009 season.
“They have good size and some good skill people but they are struggling right now,” Riggs said. “But we expect their best game Friday. We need to have a good week of practice and we need to really play with a little more urgency than we did Friday night. I don’t think any of us were pleased with our performance Friday night. We were pleased with our performance to win the game, but we have to do some things better and we have to do that now.”
Game time is set for 7 p.m. Friday with homecoming activities planned throughout the day.