By By Adam Robinson- Sports Editor
Another down-to-the-wire non-region game for T.R. Miller. Another close win.
That describes the Tigers of T.R. Miller's 17-14 come-from-behind win over Clarke County Friday night in Grove Hill.
Trailing 14-9, the Tigers scored a game-winning touchdown with 1:28 left in the game and got the two-point conversion to claim a 17-14 lead over the Bulldogs, and then the Tiger defense stopped Tim Barnett and the Clarke County defense to seal the three-point win and stay undefeated on the season.
The No. 2 Tigers improved to 5-0, while Clarke County dropped to 1-4 for the season.
After holding a 2-0 halftime lead on a Bulldog safety on a bad punt snap that went through the back of the end zone, the game flip-flopped back and fourth with Clarke County scoring with 5:33 left in the game to claim a 14-9 lead after the two-point conversion.
From there, the Tiger offense took over at their own 25-yard line with 5:25 left in the game and used six plays to get to the Bulldog 5-yard line to set up a first-and-goal.
After a 2-yard gain by Matt Lane pushed the ball to the 3-yard line, Kenneth Fountain scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown from three yards out to put the Tigers up 15-14 with 1:28 left. A Wil Riggs-to-Fountain two-point conversion gave the Tigers a 17-14 lead with just 1:28 left to go in the game.
After a squib kick and a Bulldog return to the 47-yard line, Clarke County took over with 1:22 left in the game, but an illegal substitution penalty backed Clarke County up to their own 42-yard line.
From there, three rushes by Bulldog running back Tim Barnett and an incomplete pass out the Bulldogs at the Tigers 32-yard line with 44 seconds left in the game.
Barnett then picked up a first down for the Bulldogs at the Tigers' 29-yard line, but on first down with 15.8 seconds left, Tiger Bradley McCreary picked off a Bulldog pass and fell into the end zone to seal the victory as the Tigers ran out the clock for the three-point win.
After the defense held on for the Tigers, Fountain said he was happy about his game-winning touchdown.
The Tiger defense held the Bulldog offense to 292 yards of total offense and 11 first downs. Barnett, finished with 216 yards of total offense, all but 76 of the Bulldogs total, and had the only two Bulldog touchdowns.
Tiger defensive coordinator Chris Baxter had nothing but good things to say about his defense in the game.
While the Tigers were all playing for a win, they also had someone else on their mind -and on their wrists. Assistant head coach Marc Edge's mother Sue Edge was put in the hospital during the week with health problems, and the playes had her name written on their wrsits during the game.
Edge relayed thanks to his team and coaches for the hard-fought, come-from-behind win for his mom.
The Tigers got on the board early with a safety to claim a 2-0 lead with 10:01 left in the first quarter.
That would be the only points of the first half for either team.
Clarke County took a 6-2 lead with 1:33 left in the third quarter on an 8-yard pass reception from Walker to Barnett. The PAT was no good.
The Tigers took a 9-6 lead early in the fourth quarter on 49-yard pass reception from Terez Lane. Nick Dorso added the Pat for the three-point lead.
Clarke County then claimed a 14-9 lead with 5:33 left in the game, but the Tigers scored late to claim the 17-14 win and the defense held on.
T.R. Miller will be back in region play next week on the road against Calhoun.
Calhoun dropped to 1-4 on the season with a 57-6 loss at W.S. Neal Friday night.