EXCEL — The No. 9-ranked T.R. Miller Tigers used the combination of an explosive offense and a dominating defense Friday night to get back on the winning track with a 42-0 shutout over the Excel Panthers.

With the win, the Tigers improved their overall record to 2-1 and 1-1 class 3A region 1, while the Panthers fell to 1-2 overall and to 0-2 in region play.

The Tigers racked up 505 total yards of offense in the win while holding the Panthers to only 182 yards and no points to claim the win.

Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said the win was a good win for his team, but they should be sitting at 3-0 right now instead of 2-1.

“I think we did a good job of No. 1, coming out early and doing some things well early,” Riggs said. “We blocked well early and made some plays down there in the passing game early. That abled us to get a big lead early in the first quarter.”

Riggs said the Panthers, under first year head coach Rusty Mason, are still learning their new spread offense.

“But you know, they (Excel) have some football players and they are kind of new in their offense right now,” Riggs said. “We did a good job of limiting the big plays from them tonight. I felt like if we could limit the big plays we would be successful. We did a few other things a lot better tonight, but we should have won last week.”

The Tigers jumped on the Panthers early and often in the win Friday night.

T.R. Miller scored on their first three offensive series of the games to take a 21-0 lead over Excel with 1:47 left in the first quarter.

While the Tiger offense was moving the ball and putting points on the board, the Tiger defense held the Panthers to two punts and an interception in that period of time and only allowed 13 rushing yards and 36 passing and four first downs in the first quarter.

All together, the Tigers allowed 182 yards to the Panthers with 92 on the ground (24 in the first half and 68 in the second) and 90 in the air (47 in the first half and 43 in the second).

“The spread is always hard to defend,” T.R. Miller defensive coordinator Chris Baxter said. “It starts with pressuring the quarterback. We lost containing the quarterback a few times, but every time we were able to contain the quarterback and keep him in the pocket, we were able to get a few interceptions. We got an interception from a defensive lineman, a linebacker got an interception, and two defensive backs got one. We had four turnovers and a score. It was a great night, but we still have got work to do.”

While the defense got the shutout, the Tiger offense put the points on the board.

Nine Tiger runners touched the ball in the win while five receivers caught the ball.

Leading the way for the Tigers rushing was Darrion Salter who had 92 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns.

Kieon Smith had a touchdown for the Tigers and had 34 yards on four carries. Jamal Spears added one touchdown and had 31 yards on three carries. McHenry Coleman also had a touchdown for the Tigers in the win and added 50 yards on eight carries.

Kyle McLellan had the final touchdown of the night for the Tigers as he intercepted a Panther pass and returned it six yards for a touchdown.

Tiger quarterback Kevin Davis finished 9-for-15 with 213 yards and two interceptions.

Leading the way receiving for the Tigers was Smith with three catches for 61 yards. Kameron Winn added three catches for 58 yards.

The shutout for the Tigers was their first this season and first since a 46-0 win over Montgomery Academy, the Tigers’ next opponent.

T.R. Miller will travel to Montgomery Academy next week. Montgomery Academy lost to No. 6 Bayside Friday night, 53-10. Game time is set for 7 p.m.