For the second straight week for the T.R. Miller Tiger football, it came down to plays being made in the second half.
In game one against Atmore, the Tigers made the plays in the second half and the result was a win. Friday night against Bayside Academy, the plays were not made and the result was a loss.
“It was a great game unfortunately we lost,” T.R. Miller Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said. “The difference is sooner or later we need to get off the field on defensive on third down and get them stopped. We never did that in the second half. That was disappointing that we could not do that. That just made a few more plays down there in the second half than we did. They made an onside kick and they just made the play. Our guy was there to make the play and there were a couple of other times in the game when they throw a pass and we don’t make the play. I think that will come and we will get that done.”
Riggs said the Admirals exploited the Tigers’ youth on defense.
“Those guys are getting better,” Riggs said. “After watching film, I was not so disappointed in what we did, we just have to get out there and make the plays—and we will.”
This week, the Tigers hope to get back on the winning side of the things as they will travel to Excel for their first road game of the season.
Riggs said the 2011 version of the Excel Panthers, who are 1-1 after losing to Washington County Friday night 43-18, will be a different team than the 2010 version.
“I don’t think that I have seen a team that is more different from one year to the next than Excel,” Riggs said. “They have gone to a spread offense so they are completely opposite and different than they were last year. They are throwing the ball a lot and last year they hardly threw the ball at all. So the personality of their team has changed.”
Riggs said it looks like the Panthers, who are under a new head coach Rusty Mason, have a lot of guys out playing football this year.
“They are really big on defense and probably one of the bigger groups we will see this year,” Riggs said. “They, from what I can tell from film, are getting better at what they do. We know that they have some good skill people they are doing this with. They try to get the ball to those folks and we have to understand this is a different Excel team than we played last year.”
Riggs said he hopes the Tigers have a good crowd at Excel Friday night.
“I know Excel will have a good crowd,” Riggs said. “They have a small stadium but they are loud there. Some of our guys have played middle school football over there when we used to play them and they are familiar with the field. It can be a very tough place to play so we need all the support we can get.”
Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Excel.