When the T.R. Miller Tigers take to the field Friday night at home against the Andalusia Bulldogs, they will be doing so with a disadvantage.
The disadvantage will be no prior notion of what the Bulldogs will bring to the table, as they will be under first-year head coach Trent Taylor.
Taylor, a graduate of Andalusia, comes to Bulldogs this season after spending the last 25 years as head coach of the Straughn Tigers. Taylor went 175-107 at the helm for the Tigers.
“We don’t know much about them,” TRM head coach Jamie Riggs said of Taylor and AHS. “We know a lot about Coach Taylor as we have played him several times down the years while he was at Straughn. You just try and prepare the best you can then when you get to the game, you make whatever necessary adjustments you need to make.”
Riggs said it is difficult to prepare for a team in the season opener, but more difficult when there is a new coach and no previous film to go on.
“It is just a little more difficult preparing for an opponent that you have seen on film versus one that you have not,” Riggs said. “We will just do the best we can. It is a little better in this situation, because at least we have played against him before. We also know he has some new staff members, so we really don’t know what to expect. You just hope you can make adjustments during the game.”
TRM is 24-28-1 against Andalusia all-time. The Tigers earned a 38-15 win over the Bulldogs last year on the road.
TRM is 8-2 all-time against Straughn with the most recent win being a 42-7 win in 2013. The two TRM losses were in 2002 and 2009 and both came at Straughn.
As for the Tigers of TRM, Riggs said they have become a little bit better at blocking and tackling, but it has just been slow.
“Right now we are just inexperienced at some things and that is what is making it slow,” he said. “The good news is there is plenty of room for improvement, so hopefully we can make those improvements.”
The game is scheduled to be played at Brewton Municipal Stadium—renovations complete or not—at 7 p.m.