After three straight weeks of region play, the No. 3-ranked T.R. Miller Tiger football will host the Clarke County Bulldogs in a non-region game this Friday.
Clarke County comes into the game with T.R. Miller with a 2-2 record. The Bulldogs most recently lost to Hillcrest 8-6 Friday night.
T.R. Miller is currently 4-0 overall after taking down Bayside Academy Friday night.
Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said, his team’s win over Bayside was a big win.
“It was a very exciting game,” Riggs said. “A lot of things we did really well on and we played really hard. There were a lot of things that we didn’t do well on. Bayside certainly did some things we had not prepared for and that certainly caused us some problems. We never did really get adjusted to their running game or their quarterback. Their quarterback is an outstanding player and he made some tremendous plays in the game. I was just glad for our bunch to hang in there. When they would score, we responded and that was good.”
Another good thing Riggs said about the game was for the Tigers’ kicking game.
“We made some big plays in the kicking game,” Riggs said. “There were a lot of kicking off and kickoff returns in the game. There was about 15 or 16 so that was a big portion of the game. I thought we really did a nice job with their kicking game. They always have a nice kicking game. Obviously in a game like that, you are just glad to get the win.”
As for the non-region game this week with Clarke County, T.R. Miller leads the overall series with Clarke County 30-3 after winning last year in Grove Hill 19-7.
“We have played them now for a long time,” Riggs said. “This Clarke County team is no different than the others we have played. They all have the same attributes. They all have had big defensive lineman and this year’s team has the best we have seen this year—Nos. 55, 56, 66 and 70— without a doubt. They are going to be very physical on defense and they always have outstanding running backs and they do again with Nos. 6 and 8. They also have a good quarterback in No. 3 Matthew Harvey. They are a typical team to me.”
One change Riggs noted from last year’s Bulldog team is a change of the offense.
“They changed their offense this year when they got a new coach,” Riggs said. “They are back in the Wing-T and they are doing that as well as some shotgun stuff. They are also playing aggressive defense. So, they are a team that is getting better and better as the games go by. They lost a close game to Hillcrest the other night. I think the real key for them this year is their defense. They have really shut people down. We have to find an answer to their defense and get our defense better after the other night (with Bayside). They are going to run the shotgun and the Wing-T, which is what we saw the other night.”
While this week is a non-region game for the Tigers, Riggs said he is proud of his team going 3-0 in region play during the first half of the season.
“Well, we have played three region games and we have won all three, so I am pretty happy about that,” Riggs said. “We have a very competitive region and we know we have some tough ones coming down here in the second half. We always know we have a tough road at the end of the year. Right now, our goal is to continue to improve to be a good team at the end of October when we play region games against Straughn and W.S. Neal and finish up with Sweet Water and the playoffs. We have some time to get better over the next three weeks and continue to improve.”
Game time is set for 7 p.m. Friday night at TRM.