By By Adam Robinson
sports editor
A game built up to be a hard-fought matchup between two undefeated and top-10 ranked teams did not disappoint Friday night as T.R. Miller edged Luverne 29-24.
With the win, the No. 1 Tigers of Brewton stayed undefeated with a 7-0 record and a 5-0 region record as No. 6 Luverne fell to 6-1 overall and to 4-1 in region play.
After fumbling on their offensive series and giving the ball to Luverne, the visiting Tigers struck on the board first and held a 6-0 lead after a missed extra point with 7:13 left in the first quarter.
From there, T.R. Miller took a 9-6 first quarter lead and led 23-6 right before the half until Luverne connected for a 51-yard bomb to cut the lead to 23-12 at the half.
T.R. Miller’s scores came on a 7-yard run from Jaren Jackson and kicker Wes Dickey connected for a 41-yard field goal to five the Tigers a 9-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Anthony Herbert, who finished with 125 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns, had touchdown runs of 17 and 51 to give T.R. Miller a 23-6 lead with 4:18 left in the first half.
After having their lead cut to 23-12 right before the half, T.R. Miller’s lead shrunk to 23-18 with 4:34 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers then got their final score of the night after Wil Riggs connected with Terez Lane for a 31-yard touchdown pass with 2:25 left in the third to put T.R. Miller up 29-18.
The Tigers held their 11-point lead at the end of the third quarter, before Luverne’s 10-play drive to score from 1 yard out to get within 29-24 with 10:00 left in the game.
After a Tiger punt, Lane intercepted a Luverne pass for a touchdown, but the return was called back after a T.R. Miller penalty.
After converting on a fourth-and-five at the Luverne 31-yard line, the Tigers of Brewton then failed to score and handed the ball back to Luverne at the Luverne 4-yard line 2:03 left in the game.
The Tiger defense held Luverne on four plays and took over at the 1-yard line with 43.7 seconds left to seal the win.
Tiger defensive coordinator Chris Baxter was proud of his defense late in the game.
Terez Lane said he was cramping up in the game and just did it for my team.
Lane had 66 yards receiving and 41 yard on the ground and two interceptions to help seal the win for the Tigers.
T.R. Miller will travel for the first time in four weeks next week to take on Straughn and help seal another region championship for the Tigers.