A chance to win the region championship will possibly be on the line Friday night at Straughn when the T.R. Miller Tigers will take on the Tigers of Straughn.
Straughn is currently 5-2 overall and to 4-1 in region play with the lone loss coming to Bayside Academy 27-17. The Tigers defeated Excel Friday night 47-14.
T.R. Miller is 7-0 overall this season and 5-0 in region play. The Tigers took down Selma 48-18 Friday.
Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said he thought his team did a good job with the trip to Selma Friday.
“It is always important to take care of that,” Riggs said. “I thought we improved in some things we have been working on. I am still not pleased with some aspects of our offense. Hopefully that will get better in a little bit and it better. We have three tough, tough games left to play this year in the regular season.”
T.R. Miller and Straughn have met eight times with the Tigers of Brewton holding a 6-2 record. In the last meeting between the two teams in Straughn, Straughn defeated T.R. Miller 28-21 in 2009.
T.R. Miller is 4-0 against Straughn at home and is 2-2 on the road.
“We have played them eight times and it is a tough place to play at over there,” Riggs said. “It is a small stadium and they just seem to play extra hard over there. I don’t know what it is, but they just play great. We have that aspect in itself to deal with and they are a very well-coached team. Their option attack is difficult to deal with and their quarterback (No. 14 Chase Short) is outstanding. They have some big offensive linemen that do a good job. They are just good in what they do.”
Defensively, Riggs said he was impressed with how hard Straughn plays on defense. “They are wide-open on defense every play and that is what you want a good defensive team to be,” he said. “They certainly do that. It is what makes them good. They are not overly big on defense, but do have some big people they put in. They just play so hard all the time and when they do that, they just get off the blocks so well. We have a great challenge in front of us. They also have a great kicker. So we really have a great challenge in front of us. I hope that all the work and preparation we have done will give us a chance to meet that challenge Friday night. If we don’t, it will be a long night over there in Covington County.”
T.R. Miller last won the region championship in 2008. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Straughn.