As the final seconds ticked off the clock Friday night at Midfield High School, the 2012 season for the T.R. Miller Tiger football team came to an end with another second round playoff loss.
The Tigers fell to Midfield 22-20 as Patriot Courtney Foy scored all 22 points against the Tigers. Foy rushed18 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns and kicked a 34-yard field goal. Foy was 5-for-6 passing with 84 yards.
While the loss was another tough second round loss to swallow for the Tigers, T.R. Miller head coach Jamie Riggs said he thought it was a great game.
“We played as hard as we could play and just did not make some plays down there at the end,” Riggs said. “Some weeks we have made those plays there at the end, but we just didn’t make them Friday night. But I could not ask for anymore out of our players or out of our coaching staff or anyone else. I think we could do everything we could do to try and win the game.”
The loss in the second round ended the season for the Tigers with a 10-2 record. T.R. Miller went 5-1 on the road and was 5-1 at home. It was the first 10-win season for T.R. Miller since going 10-2 in 2009.
T.R. Miler fell to 0-4 in last four second round games. Their last second round win was in 2008 when they went to semifinals.
After making six straight trips to at least the semifinals from 2000-2005 and making 11-out-of-12 trips from 1994-2005, the Tigers have only made it to the semifinals once after the 2005 season. The Tigers lost in the first round in 1999 and lost in the first round in 2007. In 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011, the Tigers have lost in the second round. T.R. Miller lost in round two last year to Handley 21-19, Trinity in 2010, Luverne in 2009 and Elmore County in 2006.
“The standard these days for most people to have a successful season is if you can win 10 games you have had a pretty doggone good year,” Riggs said. “In years ago before the playoffs, if you won eight games, it was a pretty good season. I think with the playoffs these days, any 10-win season you have to consider it to be a great year. I certainly thought this group really represented us well. They practiced well and they played hard on Friday nights. We all wish you could play a little bit longer, but overall I think this group did a really good job and I am very proud of them.”
The Tigers lose 15 seniors but have 11 juniors on the 2012 roster that are set to be seniors. Also, 23 sophomores who will be juniors and 10 freshmen who will be seniors.
“I have said before that these seniors were a slow-starting group and they were,” Riggs said of his 15 seniors on the team. “But I think when it was all said and gone, I don’t think they had a whole lot of ego about them. I think they were interested in their team and being successful. I think a lot of them will go on and do some really good things in the future.”
The Tigers scored 431 total points this year and allowed 210. T.R. Miller’s best quarter scoring was in the first quarter with 153 total points. The Tigers scored 116 points in the second quarter and 81 in both the third and the fourth quarters. T.R. Miller allowed 21 points in the first and allowed 36 in the second, 65 in the third and 88 in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers— who won the class 3A region 1 championship for the first time since 2008—started the year ranked No. 9 in the preseason before going up to No. 4 after week one and No. 3 after week two. T.R. Miller moved up to No. 2 from week four until suffering their first and only loss in the regular season and in the region and fell to No. 7 where they remained.
“I still think we still have a ways to go to be where I would like for us to be,” Riggs, who just finished his 24th year at T.R. Miller said. “I think that this year’s time set the tone for some things in the future and I really think that some things that went on this year are going to benefit us next fall. Time will only tell about that, but I think some things that happened this fall are going to really help us to get over the hump and play a little longer in the playoffs and play a deep run next year. That would obviously be nice, but I think we have really done some good things here for the future.”
Dominique Jackson led the Tigers in rushing this season and will be a senior next year. Jackson rushed for 1,551 yards on 166 carries and scored 19 touchdowns.
The Tigers will lose senior quarter Kevin Davis who was 55-for-102 with two interceptions, 890 yards and eight touchdowns.
Junior Kameron Coleman was the leading receiver for the Tigers and will be a senior next year. Coleman had 19 catches for 293 yards and three touchdowns.
“We will cleanup and fix up and turn things in over the next few days and take the Thanksgiving holidays off and get back to work next week,” Riggs said.
Riggs will enter his 25th year at T.R. Miller next year.
Riggs is 261-56 at T.R. Miller and is 273-75 overall in his 27 years of coaching with three coming at Opp High School.
See Saturday’s paper for a recap of the W.S. Neal football season.