Good afternoon Brewton area sports fans!
As I sit here in the office on this Wednesday afternoon listening to rain hitting our tin roof (by the way, that sound is so refreshing), I thought I would blog a little bit.
We are just a little over nine weeks away from the start of the 2011 high school football season for our local teams W.S. Neal and T.R. Miller.
Here are some things to look forward to this fall:

T.R. Miller: The Tigers of Brewton are use to being known as one of the top teams in the state. With a rich tradition of six state championships, the Tigers last won a state championship in 2002. Last year the Tigers went 8-4 and lost in the second round of the state playoffs. The Tigers always seem to have the talent to compete for a title, but underachieving has become a recent problem in Brewton and talking to coach Riggs some over the summer, he has noticed that as well and says his team needs to win more games.
With the last championship in 2002, T.R. Miller has not reached the title game since that time. The Tigers have also been put out in the second round the last two years. Prior to going 13-1 in 2008 and reaching the semifinals, T.R. Miller went 5-6 in 2007 losing in the first round and went 10-2 in 2006 losing in the second round there. In 2003, 2004, and 2005, T.R. Miller advanced to the semifinals, but came up one game short of reaching the championship games.
While Rigg’s is not on the hot seat or anything in Brewton as he is one of the most successful coaches in the state, he’s got to deal with finding a running back and a quarterback.
The challenge in 2011 will be on the offensive side in the passing game, where T.R. Miller breaks in a new quarterback and needs to find a couple more playmaking options at receiver.
Gone is leading Tiger running back from the past two years Anthony Herbert who rushed for over 1,600 yards last year and had 26 touchdowns. Also gone is fullback Jaren Jackson and four-year starter at quarterback Wil Riggs. Riggs passed for over 1,400 yards last year and had 16 touchdowns.

W.S. Neal: The Eagles of East Brewton are coming off some down years on the football field. After going 10-2 in 2006, the Eagles are 10-31 in their last four seasons going 0-10 in 2010 and 2-8 in 2008 and 2009 and a 6-5 record in 2007.
Now, there is a new regime in East Brewton. New coach Doug Hoehn was hired and has a new coaching staff. The Eagles have the athletes to compete, but will the recent lack of success affect the Eagles if their happens to be some early losses on the schedule. From what I have seen out of the Eagles, there is a new attitude and the will to learn a new program and the thirst to win. The Eagles can only go up. I am not expecting them to compete for a title this year, but getting to four or five wins isn’t out of the question — and that’s a rebound after last year and improving on last year’s no-win season. With a new and improved coaching staff taking over this year and a lot of returning starters, the Eagles will be a better team in 2011.

While we are a little ways off from football, all star season will start locally Friday. I want to wish all our local teams the best of luck. I will do my best to get out and cover as many teams as I can. Teams are scattered here in Brewton and East Brewton, Andalusia, Opp, Monroeville, and Atmore and some on the same days and same times.
I am already going to say sorry to my wife and daughter for being so busy and to the players, coaches, and fans…I will try to make as many of your games as I can, but please understand, there are a lot of games and teams playing during this time and there is only one of me.
If you do not see me at a game and you are there, feel free to email me any stats, names and scores. I will do my best to update live from games I am at on my phone to update to my personal Facebook page and the Brewton Standard’s page along with our Twitter pages.
I want to thank you for your time today and hope you enjoyed reading today’s blog. If you ever have any sports questions or anything, feel free to message me at: sports@brewtonstandard.com and I will do my best to answer you.
Until we meet again here or out in the world of sports, God bless!