By By Adam Robinson
sports editor
After hearing so much about the tough Leeds defense in the much-anticipated Champions Challenge game Saturday at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, preseason No. 3 T.R. Miller rolled to a 27-7 win over No. 1 and defending class 3A state champion Leeds.
Leeds, who went 15-0 last season and shutout eight of their 15 opponents en route to taking the crown, gave up only 26 points in the regular season in 2008 while shutting out their first four opponents. In the playoffs, Leeds gave up 40 points for a season total of 66.
On Saturday the roles were reversed as T.R. Miller scored one point more in one game, 27, than Leeds gave up the whole regular season last year and scored 21 points in the first half.
Riggs said that it felt great to get that first score.
Junior Tiger quarterback Wil Riggs, who was 10-for-13 with 115 yards passing and two touchdowns was glad to take home the Challenge trophy.
Senior defensive player Johntae Brown, who had eight total tackles (three solo, five assists) and four for a loss, carried the trophy towards the T.R. Miller crowd’s side of the stadium and the trophy off the field.
The Tiger defense has three interceptions in the game against 2008 class 3A state championship game MVP quarterback Rush Perkins and held Leeds to only seven points.
Leeds got the ball first in the game and went a quick three-and-out as the Tiger defense sacked the Leeds’ offense for negative players after an opening six yard run.
After a 33-yard punt, T.R. Miller took over on their own 40-yard line at the 9:45 mark and used nine plays to get a five yard touchdown run from Anthony Herbert to go up 7-0 over Leeds after a Wes Dickey extra point with 4:10 left in the first quarter.
Herbert had 39 yards on the 59-yard drive as he rushed six times.
Herbert went on to have 130 yards in the game on 23 carries and two of the four Tiger touchdowns.
Dickey converted three of his four PATs in his first game as a kicker.
The Tigers then held Leeds on four plays on their next drive before using a five-play drive to go ahead 14-0 with 52.3 seconds left in the first quarter after a Corey Rilling two-yard pass reception touchdown from Riggs.
Lane had a 20-yard catch on the drive and a 9-yard run on the drive.
Leeds finally picked up their first first down on their third series, but the Tiger defense held and Wil Riggs found Lane for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 5:42 left before the half to put the Tigers up 21-0 in the game.
Leeds answered with a 10-play drive to get their lone touchdown of the game with 1:18 left in the second quarter to cut the Tiger lead to 21-7 at the half.
Neither team scored in the third quarter and the Tigers added their last score of the game with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter to put the final nail in the coffin as Herbert scored from five yards out to put T.R. Miller up 27-7 and get the 20-point win.
As for the win over Leeds setting the tone for the rest of the season?
Stats: T.R. Miller 27, leeds 7
At Cramton Bowl, Montgomery
Leeds    0    7    0    0    -7
TRM    14    7    0    6    -27
T.R. Miller- Herbert 5-yard run (Dickey kick)
T.R. Miller-Rilling 2-yard pass reception from Riggs (Dickey kick)
T.R. Miller-Lane 16-yard pass reception from Riggs (Dickey kick)
Leeds-Perkins 2-yard run (Glass kick)
T.R. Miller-Herbert 5-yard run (kick failed)
First Downs: TRM-16, Leeds 14
Total yards: T.R. Miller 263 (148 rushing, 115 passing), Leeds 248 (132 rushing, 116 passing)
Individual rushing: TRM- Herbert 23-130 2 TD, J. Jackson 2-16, Lane 1-9, Rilling 1-(-2), Ikner 1-(-1), Riggs, 1-(-4)
Leeds- Perkins 17-69 1 TD, Rogers 6-43, Johnson 3-11, Sanders 2-4, Forsythe 4-3, Falkner 1-0
Individual passing: TRM- Riggs 10-13-0, 115 yd. 2 TD, Leeds-Perkins 7-13-3, 116 yards
Individual receiving: TRM- Lane 5-83 1 TD, J. Jackson 3-25, Ikner 1-5, Rilling 1-2 1 TD, Leeds-Watts 2-40, Smith 2-25, Rose 1-25, Chasteen 1-16, Falkner 1-10
Individual punting: TRM-Lane 3-83, 27.7 avg., Leeds-Blaylock 3-77, 25.7 avg.
Penalties: TRM 14-90, Leeds 16-116