W.S. Neal and T.R. Miller have met a total of 71 times with the Tigers of T.R. Miller owning a record of 50-21 over the Eagles of East Brewton.
T.R. Miller has scored a total of 1,531 points in their Battle of Murder Creek games while W.S. Neal has scored 905.
The two teams met last year in East Brewton and T.R. Miller earned a 28-0 win. The win avenged a 34-26 home loss to the Eagles in 2013.
The past two times W.S. Neal has defeated T.R. Miller, the Tigers have responded with shutout wins over W.S. Neal.
After losing 14-8 in overtime in 2007 in East Brewton, T.R. Miller earned a 55-0 win over W.S. Neal in 2008 in Brewton.
The 55-0 win for T.R. Miller in 2008 was the last time the game was played on Oct. 31- the same date of this year’s game. The game was also played on Oct. 31 in 1986 and T.R. Miller won 47-0.
The two teams have met three times in the playoffs and T.R. Miller owns a 3-0 in playoff games. The teams met in the playoffs in 1995, 1996, and 2003.
T.R. Miller’s Jamie Riggs is 24-4 against W.S. Neal during his tenure as head coach at T.R. Miller from 1989-2013. From 1989-2005, Riggs was 19-1 against W.S. Neal with the lone loss coming in the 1996 regular season.
Since then, in the past eight seasons, Riggs is 5-3.
W.S. Neal’s Doug Hoehn is 1-2 against T.R. Miller from 2011-2013.
WSN currently has the eighth best defense in class 4A as they have scored 314 total points (eight games) for an average of 39.3. The WSN defense is 11th best in 4A as they have allowed 125 points a game (eight games) for an average of 15.6
TRM is the eighth best offense in 3A (nine game) with 351 points cored for an average of 39.0. The Tigers defense is 15th best with a total of 153 points allowed for an average of 17.0.
WSN defeated Southside-Selma 55-8 while TRM defeated Excel 44-0.
With the wins, WSN improved to 6-2 overall and finished 4-2 in region play.
TRM improved to 8-1 overall and finished 5-1 in region play.
As for the playoffs, WSN claimed the No. 3 spot in the region and will travel to Northside while TRM took the No. 2 spot and will host Greensboro.
Riggs on WSN:
T.R. Miller head coach Jamie Riggs said W.S. Neal is playing good football in October.
Since losing back-to-back games to Clarke County and UMS-Wright, WSN is on a five-game winning streak since a homecoming win on Sept. 26. During that time, the Eagles have outscored their opponents 271-57.
“W.S. Neal is obviously on a roll,” Riggs said. “Basically they have blown away everybody in the month of October.”
Riggs said the first thing his team has to do is they are going to have to figure out how to stay in the game early.
“(WSN) has been having some fast starts on some people,” he said. “We have to figure out how to stay in the game and get the game to the fourth quarter. If we can do that, I think we have a chance. In the month of October, nobody has been able to get the game into the fourth quarter with them really. We have got to figure that out.”
Riggs noted the play of the Eagles’ offense and defense.
“They have great big play potential on offense,” Riggs said of WSN. “They have, to me, five or six really great players on defense. We have got to figure out how we are going to handle that. We have our work cut out for us. There is no doubt about that.”
So where does Riggs say his team is at right now going into the final regular season game of the season with the playoffs starting next week?
“We have made a little improvement with some things,” he said. “I think we will find out this week exactly where we are. All teams change over the course of the season. You hope you change for the better…and some don’t. We have improved a little bit, but it takes a test like this to know where you are.”
Hoehn on TRM:
W.S. Neal head coach Doug Hoehn said this year’s T.R. Miller team is a good one.
“They are a really solid football team this year,” he said. “They are probably the best TRM team I have seen since I have been here. They have 18 seniors that all play for them, so they have a lot of depth. They have about 65-68 players on the team, so they do have a lot of depth and that has been helping them this year.”
On offense, Hoehn called out TRM’s quarterback and running back.
“No. 10, Jones Manning, is their quarterback and he is a good game manager for them,” Hoehn said. “He makes smart decisions and he doesn’t hurt them. No. 22, McHenry Coleman, is probably the best running back that we have faced so far this year. I have been seeing video on that kid for four years now. I keep waiting for him to leave.”
Hoehn also mentioned TRM’s Hunter Brittain, Kyle Davis, and Ronald Young.
“They have a very good kicker in No. 35, Hunter Brittain,” he said. “He can kick a 40-yard field goal against you and that kind of puts pressure on your defense. No. 50, Kyle Davis, is a very good run stopper. He is another one I have been watching since I have been here and he is really improved each year. No. 59, Ronald Young, is a very quick nose guard. He is tough to deal with up front.”
Up front on the offensive line, Hoehn mentioned the play of two of TRM’s biggest players.
“They have two very good offensive tackles up front in Nos. 73 and 74,” Hoehn said. “James Peach and Fabion Jones are both big kids with good hips and good feet. The Peach kid is going to be the best offensive lineman we have gone against this year. We are going to have to really play our best.”