Opp stuns TRM
Published 11:23 pm Friday, October 3, 2014
BREWTON- With T.R. Miller leading 42-22 with 11:34 left in the game, the Opp Bobcats scored the final 29 points of the game to the stun the Tigers and grab at 51-42 region win.
The win improved the Opp Bobcats to 4-2 overall this season and 3-0 in region play while the No. 2-ranked Tigers fell to 6-1 overall and to 3-1 in region play. The loss was T.R. Miller’s first regular season loss in 17 games and first loss to Opp since the Bobcats won 10-7 in 1993.
The Bobcats torched the Tigers’ defense by racking up 463 total yards of offense with 460 coming on the ground on 32 carries.
Sophomore quarterback Orlando Lacey led the Bobcats with 214 yards rushing on 13 carries and had three rushing scores on the night. Lacey had four overall touchdowns as he picked up a loose ball on a kickoff return by the Tigers and scampered around 40 yards to help put the game away.
First year Opp head coach Brent Hill said he loves his kids and the win was a big win for the Opp Bobcat program.
“We were excited about the challenge, but I was not expecting a shootout like this,” Hill said. “I could not be more pleased. I love these kids. And when I say that, you got to realize that these kids lost a heartbreaker last week. I keep saying this, say what you want about us, but we are going to fight you. That is the biggest thing. We did not quit tonight and that is what I love about them.”
Hill said his team just made some big plays.
“And once again, I am grow about 60 years old by the time this is all over with,” Hill said. “I love these kids and they never quit. The thing is now, we have to be consistent. This is a big region win for us. We will see if we can finish it.”
T.R. Miller head coach Jamie Riggs said plain and simple that Opp just beat his team.
“They beat us,” Riggs said. “We ran out of gas there at the end and they beat us. I thought we played as hard as we could, but it was not enough. I give them the heads on that because they played great. I was proud of our guys. I thought we gave everything we could. It was just not enough tonight.
Opp wasted no time getting things started as Lacey went 76 yards on the first place from scrimmage to give Opp an early 6-0 lead with 11:41 left in the first quarter.
T.R. Miller would get on the board next and added a score right at the end of the quarter to take a 13-6 lead after one quarter of play. McHenry Coleman had T.R. Miller’s first score of the game on a 9-yard run while Jones Manning scored on an 11-yard run.
T.R. Miller built a 20-6 lead in the second quarter when Trae Walker scored on a 4-yard run with 5:30 left before the half.
With 2:55 left before the half, Opp’s Ty’Keenan White scored on a 5-yard run to cut T.R. Miller’s lead to 20-14 at the half.
In the third quarter, T.R. Miller outscored Opp 15-8 to build a 35-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
T.R. Miller’s Derrick Murray gave T.R. Miller a 27-14 lead with 7:09 left in the third quarter, but Lacey went 64 yards on a run with 6:35 left in the quarter to cut T.R. Miller’s lead to 27-22. Jones Manning scored his second touchdown of the night for TRM to put the Tigers up 35-22 with 3:11 left in the quarter.
T.R. Miller would hold the 13-point lead heading into the fourth.
In the fourth, T.R. Miller seemed to put the game out of reach with a 2-yard run by Ahmaud Taylor to give the Tigers a 42-22 lead.
But from there, even after fumbling the ball away late in the game, the Opp defense held T.R. Miller scoreless the remainder of the game while their offense scored 29 straight points.
Lacey cut T.R. Miller’s lead to 42-30 with 10:24 left to play after an 8-yard score. From there, Raheem Bonam used a 65-yard score to cut the lead to 42-36 with 7:27 left.
With 1:44 left, White scored on a 5-yard run and a two-point conversion gave Opp a 44-42 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Lacey picked up a TRM fumble and ran it back for a touchdown to put the Bobcats up 50-42 with 1:32 left in the game. Needing a successful PAT to put the game away, Opp got a good kick from Dalton Tidwell to take a nine-point lead. The kick was nullified by a penalty, but Tidwell would get injured on the play. That left Cale Pierce to put the game away and give Opp the nine-point lead.
Opp’s defense held late and the Bobcats went on to win the game.
Lacey finished with 214 yards rushing on 13 carries while Bonam added 124 on nine carries and had one touchdown. White tallied 35 yards on four carries and had two scores.
Lacey went 5-for-9 passing for 3 yards. Opp racked up 15 first downs.
T.R. Miller tallied 397 yards of offense with 294 coming on the ground on 60 carries. The Tigers had 20 first downs.
McHenry Coleman had 68 yards on 11 carries and had one score while Walker had 16 on five carries and one score. Manning finished with 27 yards on 10 carries and had two scores while Taylor had 113 yards on 21 carries and one score. Murray had 71 yards on 12 carries and one score.
Manning went 9-for-18 passing with 103 yards.
T.R. Miller had eight penalties for 70 yards and three fumbles, but lost one.
Opp had six penalties for 45 yards and had three fumbles and lost two.
T.R. Miller will travel to Geneva next Friday and Opp will host Excel. Both games will be region games and will begin at 7 p.m.
Opp- 6 8 8 29=51
TRM- 13 7 15 7=42