ROANOKE‑T.R. Miller Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said in long playoff runs for T.R. Miller in the past, there was always a second round upset that happened to propel the Tigers to a deep run in the playoffs.
Facing No. 2 and undefeated Handley on the road on a frigid Friday night in the second round of the AHSAA class 3A playoffs, that upset came close to happening.
Down 14-0 after the first quarter and 21-6 at the half, the Tigers shutout Handley in the second half while scoring 13 points to cut the score to 21-19 with 6:24 left in the game.
Needing another defensive stop late in the game to allow the Tiger offense a chance to win the game late, Handley converted on a fourth-and-1 by inches to get a fresh set of downs and run the clock out for the two-point win.
“Sometimes when you lose a game you feel kind of empty, but I don’t feel empty right now,” T.R. Miller Tiger head coach Jamie Riggs said. “We played as hard and as well as we could play I think. They have a tremendous football team with a tremendous group of athletes. We did like we have done the last several weeks and we hung in there and played tough. I could not anything more than what they did tonight.”
Riggs said his team played tough against a “tremendous” Handley team.
“We knew they had got a little tired down there and we knew that in the third quarter if they got tired, we would have a chance,” Riggs said. “I am just really proud of everyone. The defense hung their tails all night long and the offense moved the ball and we blocked. They have a tremendous defense. No one has scored many points on them. I am just really proud of them. Character-wise, we showed a lot of character tonight and a lot of toughness. I think we represented Brewton and T.R. Miller pretty well tonight.”
The loss ended the season for the Tigers with a 9-3 record and saw their season end in the second round of the playoffs for the third year in a row.
Also with the loss, T.R. Miller dropped to 4-2 against Handley with two losses coming in the last two meetings with all games played at Handley.
In the game Friday night, Handley scored on the first two offensive possessions to hold a 14-0 lead with 5:28 left in the first quarter.
After turning the ball over to Handley on their second offensive possession, T.R. Miller’s defense held Handley to a punt and would go seven plays to get Darrion Salter’s first touchdown of the night to cut the score to 14-6 after a failed PAT with 9:08 left in the half.
Handley would get their final touchdown of the night with 2:15 left before the half to take a 21-6 lead into the locker rooms at the half as T.R. Miller’s final possession of the first half ended with an interception at the Handley 10-yard line.
In the second half, a reenergized Tiger team used a 14-play drive to start the third quarter as they went 66 yards to cut the Handley lead to 21-12 with 5:56 left in the third after a failed two-point conversion.
The Tiger defense held Handley on downs and took over at their own 34-yard line to start the fourth quarter. From there, T.R. Miller would go 11 plays to score with 6:24 left in the game and cut the lead to 21-19.
Needing one more stop in the game to get the offense back the ball, Handley would pick up four first downs with the fifth coming by inches to run out the time and get the win.
The Tigers had 158 yard of offense in the first half with 133 rushing and 25 in the second half. Handley had 250 yards of offense in the first half with 228 coming on the ground and 22 in the air.
Overall, the Tigers of Brewton finished with 300 yards of offense with 257 on the ground and 43 in the air while Handley had 352 yards of offense with 330 on the ground and 22 in the air.
Darrion Salter finished with 125 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Dominique Jackson finished with 73 yards on 15 carries. Kameron Coleman had the other Tiger touchdown with 23 yards on four carries.
Tiger quarterback Kevin Davis finished 5-for-18 with two interceptions and 43 yards passing.

Handley 21, T.R. Miller 19
At Handley

TRM- 0 6 6 7=19
HHS- 14 7 0 0=21

HHS-Hunter 16-yard run (Boyd kick)
HHS- Foster 14-yard pass reception from Kyles (Boyd kick)
TRM- Salter 15-yard run (kick failed)
HHS- Hunter 3-yard run (Boyd kick)
TRM- Salter 18-yard run (conversion failed)
TRM- K. Coleman 1-yard run (T. Salter kick)