By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
The best way to sum up the season for the T.R. Miller Tigers B team season might be three and Andalusia.
The Tigers (3-2) may have beaten everybody else on their schedule, but they ended their season with their second loss to the Bulldogs Monday with a 20-8 setback on a rainy night at Brewton Municipal Stadium.
Monday's game could be called one of missed opportunities, especially for T.R. Miller. The Tigers defense created a pair of turnovers in the first half when Garrett Robinson picked off a pass from Andalusia quarterback Brent Shiver near midfield in the first quarter. Later in the half T.R. Miller's Devin Nicholson recovered a fumble at the T.R. Miller 43-yard line. The Tigers failed to score off both Andalusia miscues.
The same could not be said of Andalusia. The Bulldogs recovered a T.R. Miller fumble at the Tigers 17-yard line in the opening quarter. Two plays later Andalusia running back Shane Dorsey cut through the T.R. Miller defense for a nine-yard touchdown run. The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 8-0 when Shiver ran in the two-point conversion with 3:53 left in the opening quarter.
It took T.R. Miller just one play to answer when Cortez Banks broke loose on a 65-yard touchdown run. Banks pulled the Tigers even at 8-8 when he ran in the conversion.
Another turnover by the Tigers set up Andalusia's second and what turned out to be the winning score later in the first half when T.R. Miller fumbled the ball away at its own two-yard line.
For a moment, it looked as if the Tigers might be able to dodge the bullet. The Bulldogs were backed up five yards on a delay of game penalty and two running plays netted just a yard. On third-and-goal from the six, Shiver broke left and ran into the endzone for the score. The Tigers kept it a 14-8 deficit when they stopped Dorsey on a conversion run with 3:33 left in the half.
T.R. Miller's defense continued to have its back against the wall most of the second half. The Tigers offense was unable to cross midfield and Andalusia spent most of the half in T.R. Miller territory.
The Tigers were able to keep it a one-score lead when they stopped the Bulldogs on downs just inside the T.R. Miller five-yard line on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
Andalusia kept the Tigers pinned deep in their own territory and the Bulldogs' offense capitalized on the ensuing series when Smith scored from 30 yards out with 2:07 left to make it 20-8. It stayed at that margin when Shiver's conversion pass fell incomplete.
If that score did not finish off the Tigers, a lost fumble by the T.R. Miller offense three plays later did.