In another T.R. Miller and Escambia County classic to start the season, the Blue Devils edged out the Tigers of Brewton in overtime with a 35-34 win.

“It was a great game,” T.R. Miller Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said. “We could have very easily won the game. We did not contain their quarterback in the first half and in the second half, especially, we could not get off the field.”

Trailing 27-19 with 2:08 left in the game, the Tigers used a 47-yard pass from senior quarterback Wil Riggs to Conner Denton down the Tiger sideline to setup the Tigers at the Atmore 8-yard line. The Tigers used two plays to score on a Riggs sneak and a two-point conversion tied the game a 27-27 with 49.2 seconds left.

Atmore then used an eight-play drive to get to the Tiger 17-yard line before quarterback Rico Stallworth fumbled as time expired and the game went into overtime.

Atmore won the toss and deferred to go on defense to give T.R. Miller the ball first.

Two plays later, Herbert scored his fourth touchdown of the night to put T.R. Miller on top 34-27 after Davis’ kick. Escambia County then used three plays to get to the Tiger 1-yard line where Stallworth scored to cut the lead to 34-33 T.R. Miller.

Escambia County first year head coach Mark Heaton chose to go for a two-point conversion and the win and Stallworth snaked his way and dove over the goal line for the win 35-34.

“We gave them the third down here as he just kept breaking the tackles,” Riggs said. “We just could not get him on the ground and we did not get him on the ground down there at the end. In the second half on offense, we didn’t do a very good job of moving the ball in the third quarter. We made some mistakes and were a little sloppy. Overall, it was a heck of a game and we could have very easily made the play and won the game. It is a game of inches.”

Riggs said he was proud of the way his team fought back at the end to tie the game and help force overtime.

“I knew we would,” Riggs said of fighting back. “You just play it until the end and play as hard as you can play it. Next week we will get to do it again.”

Herbert led T.R. Miller rushing with 23 carries and 108 yards and four touchdowns.

Riggs was 8-for-13 passing with 128 yards and Denton led T.R. Miller receiving with his one catch for 47 yards.

T.R. Miller racked up 282 total yards of offense with 154 on the ground and

128 in the air. T.R. Miller had 185 total yards in the first half with 106 rushing and 79 passing while accumulating only 97 total yards in the second half with 48 rushing and 49 passing.

Atmore racked up 449 total yards of offense with 151 on the ground and 198 passing. Stallworth finished with 169 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Next week the Tigers start region play with a road trip to Bayside Academy.

“Well we knew when the season started we had five tough road games,” Riggs said. “Here is one of them and we have another one next week. So we will have to suck it up and see if we can correct some things and play a good game next week. Congratulations to Atmore. They played a terrific game and played their hearts out the entire time.”

The win was the new ECHS coach Mark Heaton.

“I knew when we made it to overtime that we were going for two,” Heaton said. “I knew what play we were going to run, and we were ready to go once we scored.”