T.R. Miller falls to Trinity on the road
Published 2:05 am Saturday, October 16, 2010
MONTGOMERY—With the game tied 20-20 at the end of the third quarter, the No. 9 Trinity Wildcats outscored No. 10 T.R. Miller 14-7 in the fourth quarter to claim a 34-27 win at Boykin Field.
The loss for the Tigers dropped them to 5-3 overall this season and 4-2 in region play.
“Well, we are used to playing tough down here like this,” T.R. Miller Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said. “But the bottom line is that they made more plays in the second half than we did. We couldn’t seem to get off the field on third downs and we didn’t make any third down conversions down here and ended up having to punt the ball a few times. That was the difference in the game was the plays they made that we didn’t.”
The Tigers racked up 395 total yards of offense in the loss with 257 rushing and 138 passing. The Tigers had 173 yards rushing in the first half and 79 passing but was held to 84 rushing in the second half and 59 passing.
Trinity totaled 452 total yards of offense, totaling 211 rushing and 241 passing. The Wildcats had 72 yards rushing in the first half and 176 passing while accumulating 139 rushing and 65 passing in the second half.
T.R. Miller failed to score on the first offensive drive after getting to the Wildcat 18-yard line. From there, Trinity went 10 plays to score and lead 7-0 with 3:47 left in the first quarter.
T.R. Miller got on the board with 2:41 left in the first quarter on a 3-yard run from Anthony Herbert and after a 7-7 first quarter, took a 14-7 lead with 7:22 in the second as Ryland Dixon caught a one-handed catch from Wil Riggs and went 33 yards for a touchdown.
Trinity tied the game right before halftime as they scored with 10.5 seconds left in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Trinity took a 17-14 lead when kicker Paul Pappanastos nailed a 44-yard field goal with just under eight minutes left in the quarter.
T.R. Miller then held a 20-17 lead with 3:34 left in the third as Riggs hooked up for a 19-yard pass to Jaren Jackson.
Another Pappanstos field goal, this one a 52-yarder, tied the game at 20-20 to end the third.
In the fourth quarter, Trinity got two touchdowns from Phillip Barrow to lead 34-20 with 2:54 left in the game, but T.R. Miller stormed back and went six plays to cut the deficit to 34-27 with 1:33 left.
After Trinity got the onside kick, the Wildcats ran three plays and the final seconds off the clock for the win.
Riggs said he was proud of the comeback late in the game after being down two scores.
“I had no doubt there at the end we could score,” Riggs said. “I told them when we scored, we needed to get the onside kick and make a run at this. I was not surprised that we did that. We have got some seniors playing really well right now and playing their tails off and that is what they need to do. If we do, some more good things will happen for us this year.”
Herbert led T.R. Miller rushing with 26 carries and 195 yards and one touchdown.
Riggs finished 11-for-16 for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Dixon led receiving with three catches for 58 yards and one score.
“We played as hard as we could play and we did a lot of good things tonight,” Riggs said. “Hopefully that will bode well for the future and we will finish the season strong.”
T.R. Miller will be back at home next week for homecoming in their final region game against Montgomery Catholic.
The Tigers will end the season Oct. 29 against cross-town rival W.S. Neal in the Battle of Murder Creek.