By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
Matt Lane scored from three yards out with five minutes left and T.R. Miller's defense kept the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles out of the endzone in the waning moments to lead the Tigers to an 18-12 victory Monday in B team football at Brewton Municipal Stadium.
The win completed a season sweep for the Tigers over the Blue Eagles. T.R. Miller (3-1) notched a 14-8 victory at East Brewton last month.
In addition to scoring the game-winning touchdown, Lane rushed for 120 yards on just 10 carries.
Cortez Banks also hit triple digits in rushing and led T.R. Miller's ground game with 125 yards on 11 carries. Banks got 50 of those yards on the game's second play when he dashed down the right sideline for the game's first score.
W.S. Neal (1-2) also had an effective ground game led by Nate Sheffield's 82 yards on seven carries and Akeem Green's 75 yards on six attempts.
Sheffield and Green accounted for all the yards on a 75-yard march by the Blue Eagles early in the second quarter that tied the game.
Sheffield had runs of nine, 15 and 19 yards, while Green had a six-yard gain and a 26-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 6-6.
T.R. Miller was able to break that deadlock on its opening series of the second half when it went 62 yards on six plays. Banks put the Tigers back in front, 12-6, when he pulled away for a 39-yard touchdown run.
W.S. Neal quickly answered, as a 21-yard run by Sheffield and a 20-yard gain by quarterback Taylor Cash set up a three-yard touchdown run by Cash that tied the game again at 12-12.
The Tigers went eight plays for 65 yards on what proved to be the game-winning score.
While Lane had a big 30-yard run early in the drive, it was a 12-yard completion from John Mathieu to Cody Swain on fourth down at the W.S. Neal 21-yard line that kept the series alive. Two plays later Lane scored from three yards out and gave the Tigers an 18-12 lead.
W.S. Neal threatened to erase that deficit when a 13-yard run by Sheffield, a 19-yard pass from Cash to Donald Peacock and a 23-yard run by Cash took the ball to the T.R. Miller 12.
The drive lost some steam when Cash was sacked on first down back at the 24-yard line and threw an incompletion on second down.
Cash hit Sheffield on a 20-yard gain to the T.R. Miller four-yard line on third down, but a key false start penalty backed up the Blue Eagles five more yards. The Tigers preserved their win when Cash's fourth down pass fell incomplete.