Defense helped the T.R. Miller Tigers win a 46-0 decision at home Friday night against region opponent Montgomery Academy.

The Tigers improved to 2-2 overall and to 2-1 in region play, while the Eagles from Montgomery fell to 0-4 overall and to 0-3 in region play.

The Tigers defense held Montgomery Academy to 20 total yards of offense Friday night with nine rushing yards and 11 passing. Montgomery Academy had -1 total yards in the first half (none passing) and had 10 yards rushing in the second half with 11 passing while the Tigers of Brewton racked up 384 total yards of offense with 280 on the ground and 104 passing.

“Well, it was nice to win,” T.R. Miller Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said. “We made some plays on defense down there early and got some turnovers. We had two interceptions in the first half and one fumble recovery. They have got some good players and some good linemen. They are just so young with their backs and different things it is just so difficult for them to execute on offense right now because of that. In a couple of years they will be a good football team. I have great respect for them for what they have done in the past and how hard they have played. They will ready to go in a couple of years.”

Tiger defensive coordinator Chris Baxter was proud of his defensive squad.

“I thought we came out and played very aggressive there in the first quarter,” Baxter said. “We just got after their tail a little bit. In the third quarter, we kind of pumped them up at halftime and encourage them to come out in the second half like they started the first half and not lose their intensity there in the second half and finish the job. And they did.”

Riggs said the Tiger defense is getting better at some things on that side of the ball.

“Hopefully it will show up when we watch the film,” Riggs said. “In the last few weeks we have improved some things and we are gradually working at it. The bad thing is we have some awful tough people to play and over the next month we will find out exactly where we are.”

While the Tiger defense was keeping MA off the board and with few yards, the Tiger defense racked up the yards and lit up the scoreboard, earning 21 points in the first quarter and leading 27-0 at the half before scoring 12 points in the third quarter and seven in the fourth.

Anthony Herbert had four touchdowns for T.R. Miller and 82 yards on 15 carries while Eric Maye was the leading rusher with 105 yards on 13 carries. Randy Davis had a touchdown run of two yards in the win.

Conner Denton stepped in at quarterback after starter Wil Riggs was recovering from thumb surgery and Kevin Davis, who stepped in for Riggs last week, suffered a broken wrist against Excel.

Denton was a perfect 4-for-4 with 79 yards passing and one touchdown. Riggs played a few snaps and was 1-for-4 with a 25-yard touchdown pass on his first pass of the game.

Kameron Coleman led the receivers with three catches for 68 yards and one touchdown and Ricky Curry had one touchdown reception for 25 yards from Riggs.

“I have a lot of respect for Conner,” Riggs said. “Anything you ask him to do he will do. He always has a good attitude about it. He did a great job tonight of running the offense and that is what we were wanting him to do. Wil could have played more tonight, but I wanted him to just get him a few snaps. So it worked out well.”

Twelve Tigers saw action running the ball and several other young Tigers got their second week of action at the varsity level.

“I am just glad we got to play a few more people,” Riggs said. “I have got some guys that need to step up and give us some depth. We are trying to get them to practice a little harder and come on and help us out down the road. Eventually, when you have things occurring with injuries, you are going to need them. We are getting ready for this run we are fixing to have to make.”

T.R. Miller will travel to Andalusia next week for a non-region game.