The T.R. Miller Tigers dominated the Excel Panthers for the fifth straight year as they cruised to a 44-0 homecoming and Legacy Game win. The shutout win was the second straight for the Tigers’ defense this season and second over the Panthers in the five-game series.
TRM moved to 8-1 overall and finished 5-1 in region play with the win. Against Excel, TRM moved to 5-0 against the Panthers and has outscored Excel 266-27 in the series. Excel fell to 3-6 overall and finished 2-4 in region play.
“I thought we played well in the first half,” TRM head coach Jamie Riggs said of the win. “We didn’t turn the ball over and we made some nice plays throwing the ball. We pretty much stopped their running game for most of the first half. I was proud of that and I thought we did a good job of taking care of what we need to do in the second half.”
TRM jumped out to a 21-0 lead over Excel in the first quarter and led 35-0 at the half. The Tigers got a safety in the third quarter and outscored Excel 7-0 in the fourth quarter to get the win.
Jones Manning got TRM on the board first as he scampered for a 14-yard run with 8:01 left in the quarter. Chardian Johnson was perfect on all six PATS on the night.
TRM’s second touchdown came on a 2-yard run by Ahmaud Taylor with 4:06 left in the quarter. With 1:39 left in the first, Manning hooked up with Johnson for a 30-yard touchdown pass.
In the second quarter, McHenry Coleman scored both touchdowns on runs of 7 and 3 yards.
TRM’s final score came on 14-yard run from Kristian Smith with 10:34 left in the game.
TRM racked up 18 first down in the win to Excel’s six.
The Tigers rushed the ball 41 times for 250 yards and Manning was 6-for-10 passing with 122 yards. TRM totaled 372 yards of offense in the win.
Excel had 106 yards rushing on 34 carries and went 4-for-14 passing with one interception and 27 yards.
The Panthers totaled 133 yards in the loss.
Coleman had eight carries for 41 yards and two scores while Tamerick Jenkins had three carries for 32 yards.
Manning had two carries for 20 yards and one score while Taylor had 10 carries for 74 yards and one score.
Derrick Murray added two carries for seven yards and Michael Campbell had 12 carries for 47 yards. Smith added two for 16 yards and one score while Demarquis McMillan had two for 13 yards.
Murray had one catch for 20 yards while Terry Samuel had two for 50 yards. Johnson had one for 30 yards and one touchdown while Kellyn Winn had one for 15 yards. Taylor had one for seven yards.
TRM will host WSN next week in the annual Battle of Murder Creek game.