Following a 28-27 win over No. 3-ranked Sweet Water Friday night at home—their third straight close finish—the T.R. Miller Tigers enter the playoffs this Friday night against Abbeville.
The Tigers of Brewton enter the playoffs with a 9-1 record after rallying in the final seconds to defeat the Bulldogs.
“We didn’t win the game because we were a better team than Sweet Water or because we made a bunch of fantastic plays or anything. In the long run, we won the game because we were willing to hang on to the end of the game and never gave up,” Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said. “They did a lot of things that would have discouraged most teams. We were able to work through all that and we were able to keep the game close and win at the end. We got the touchdown to get within one touchdown of them and to know that if we were going to be able to score again, we were going to have to get them stopped. With a couple minutes left in the game, we did that and were able to drive down and win the game.”
Riggs said in these types of games, it is really not about defenses or play calling that wins games.
“It is the people who have a little toughness and character about them that they just refuse to quite and I think we have that,” Riggs said. “Going into the playoffs if you feel like you have that, that has to make you feel good. That was the third straight game that we played like that down to the wire. We know that in the playoffs you are going to play some close games, so hopefully that will bode well for us down the road.”
Abbeville comes into the playoffs with a 5-5 overall record and finished 4-3 in their region and took the No. 4 seed.
Abbeville and T.R. Miller have played six times with T.R. Miller owning a 6-0 record. The two schools have met four times in the playoffs—most recently in 2009 with the Tigers winning 35-6.
This is T.R. Miller’s 33rd time making the playoffs and they own a 29-3 record in first round games. T.R. Miller has made the playoffs 28 straight years. T.R. Miller’s last loss in the first round was in 2007 when they lost at Handley.
“They are a very talented team as far as skill people and both in the secondary and also as far as receivers, running backs and they have some big linemen,” Riggs said of Abbeville. “They are really short on depth and in talking to their coach, they have had a number of people injured over the year so they have lost some folks. He is having to play a lot of people of both sides of the ball and I think that has been part of their issue. But with the weather cooling off, it helps that some. They are a very capable team and what bothers me more than anything else is their ability to throw and catch the ball. They can make some plays so if you are not a good tackling team, they can really cause you some problems.”
Riggs has always said heading into the playoffs, he wants his team to be improving. So how does he feel about his 2012 team heading into round one?
“They are some things we need to improve on and some things that we are going to try and do better at,” he said. “With all the things that we have been through this year, it has toughened us a little bit. That is the quality of a good team. Also, with the emotional things, we will handle them hopefully. So that is a good thing heading into the playoffs. You can’t do the turnovers and give up the long runs and things that can get you beat. We just have to deny some of that. If we can do that and get on a roll here, that is what we would like to do. We have some tough folks to play, but we will just take it one week at a time.”
Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Brewton. If T.R. Miller wins round one, they will host Gordo or travel to Midfield in round two.
T.R. Miller High School’s first round playoff game against Abbeville will be played on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at Brewton Municipal Stadium. Games will open at 5:30 p.m. All spectators should remember that the AHSAA does not permit reserved seating for any playoff game.
All season tickets and complimentary ticket holders must purchase tickets. All tickets are $7 and the price is set by the AHSAA.
Tickets may be purchased at T.R. Miller High School.