By By Adam Robinson – Sports Editor
Telvin Spears rushed for 82 yards on nine carries and score two touchdowns as the T.R. Miller Tigers had 247 yards of offense and defeated the Escambia County Blue Devils 28-14 Monday night at home to improve to 3-0 on the 2008 season.
Jaren Jackson had 79 yards rushing for the Tigers on 10 carries and added a touchdown and Anthony Herbert also added a touchdown for the Tigers.
Tiger quarterback Conner Denton, who was mistakenly called Becker in the Tigers 30-0 win over W.S. Neal last week, was 5-for-11 on the night with 75 yards passing.
Spears also led the Tigers in receiving with two catches totaling 34 yards. Dakota Shultz had a reception in the game for 15 yards and Herbert added two catches for 26 yards.
Escambia County took a 6-0 lead just 1:10 into the game as they went 70 yards on two plays. After a nine-yard loss on their first play, the Devils got a 79-yard pass play to go up 6-0 on the Tigers after the missed two-point conversion.
After a Tiger punt on their first possession and a Blue Devil punt, the Tigers wasted no time on their second offensive series as they went 48-yards in two plays to tie the game at 6-6 after a 45-yard touchdown run from Spears.
The Tigers benefited from an interception by Shultz and got an 11-yard touchdown run from Spears to go ahead 14-6 after a good two-point conversion from Herbert with 3:34 left in the second quarter.
The first half ended with the Tigers on top 14-6.
In the third quarter, the Tigers added a 1-yard touchdown from Herbert to go ahead 22-6 when Jackson added the two-point conversion.
With 3:36 left in the game, the Tigers added their last touchdown of the game when Jackson scored on a 22-yard run to go ahead 28-6.
Atmore added a late touchdown to cut the lead to 28-14, but the Tigers held on for the win.
The Tiger defense held the Blue Devils to just 48 total yards in the second half with eight rushing yards and 40 passing.
The Tigers have an open week this coming Monday and will be back in action on Monday, Sept. 29 at W.S. Neal at 6:30 p.m.