A big and tough task awaits the T.R. Miller Tiger football team Friday night, as they will head to Andalusia to open their 2014 season.
T.R. Miller head coach Jamie Riggs said he is not sure about his team right now after Friday’s Miller Night practice.
“I think Miller Night was great Friday night,” he said. “I think the run added some folks to the crowd. We had the volleyball games going on, the middle school football scrimmage, then our varsity practice. I think people enjoyed themselves and it was a great fundraiser for the cross country team. It was a special night for all the fans. As for our practice, it was a short practice. I really don’t know where we are right now. It is hard to tell because we have less time in pads these days. Also, it is early for us to be playing a game on August 22. We will learn more about ourselves when we play Andalusia Friday night and in the next few weeks.”
Riggs said Andalusia lost 10 seniors from last year’s team and he expects them to be good in 2014.
“They won a lot of games last year and have basically everybody back,” Riggs said. “We saw them in the spring and from last year, I expect them to go deep in the playoffs in class 4A. They have excellent talent. Their quarterback is No. 18, Robert Burkhardt. They have some good tailbacks in Nos. 21 (Derrick Dorsey) and No. 5 (Jamal Hourel). On defense, I am very impressed with their defensive line. They have excellent linemen. We are going to have to find a way to handle that and move the ball.”
Riggs said his team has the chance to be good this season, but early tests the first three weeks of the season could be big.
“This is a very big challenge for us and especially this early in the season,” Riggs said. “We are going to have to judge ourselves. We can be very good and lose to Andalusia. They have a good team. We can be a very good team and have a hard time winning our first three games (at Andalusia, home against Tallassee, and at Bayside Academy). We will know more about ourselves in these next two to three weeks.”
T.R. Miller and Andalusia have met on the field 50 times with Andalusia holding a 26-23-1 record over the Tigers.
In the 50 meetings, T.R. Miller has scored 830 points while Andalusia has scored 904.
The last meeting between the two teams was in 2011 when Andalusia rolled the Tigers 35-10.
The last time the two teams met in a season opener was the 1997 season when T.R. Miller defeated Andalusia easily by a score of 42-0.
Game time is set for 7 p.m. Friday in Andalusia.

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