T.R. Miller (Brewton, Ala.) overcame recent misfortune Friday night to rout
Excel, 64-7, and become the first football team in Alabama history to record 600 victories.
The Tigers had entered the 2010 season with 599 victories, but had lost two heartbreakers: 35-34 in overtime to
Escambia County (Atmore) and 27-20 to
Bayside Academy (Daphne).
In addition, the school still is recovering from the death of principal Donnie Rotch, who died following a head-on car crash on Aug. 11. Nicknamed “Hoss,” Rotch had served as principal for the past 18 years after previously being the Tigers’ offensive line coach for almost 20 years. He also was the school’s head baseball coach for two decades.
In honor of their former principal, the football players are wearing the initials “DR” on their helmets.
T.R. Miller coach Jamie Riggs told MaxPreps, “It’s been very difficult at school. It’s like there’s a hole here and it hasn’t gone away.”
After losing a pair of heartbreakers, Riggs said the state-record 600th victory “feels OK. I’ve seen most of them and that’s the bad part,” he joked. Riggs, who will be 55 on Oct. 7, was a starting running back from 1970-73 and is in his 22nd year as head coach at his alma mater.
Senior running back
Anthony Herbert (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) led the Tigers with 108 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries. He was one of 14 players who had at least one carry during the historic victory. Senior linebacker
Horatio Matthews (6-2, 205) returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
The Tigers, who employed 58 players, rolled up 461 yards while giving up just 111.
“Hopefully, this will give us a lot of confidence (for the rest of the season),” Riggs said.
* On the flip side,
Enterprise (Ala.), which had won its first two games this year, also was seeking its 600th victory on Friday, but fell at Auburn, 57-44. Leading 31-14 late in the second quarter, the Wildcats yielded 43 unanswered points while sustaining their first defeat of the season.
Enterprise, too, had been suffering since a deadly tornado wiped out the school and killed eight students in 2007. Since then the school had been located at Enterprise State Community College. The football team had three different practice facilities and even was forced to use a paved parking lot at times. Sometimes players had to dress at a local church.
All that changed this fall, however, when a new $89 million school was opened in August.
The Wildcats will try to shake off the effects of their first loss and become the second Alabama team to post 600 victories when they play host to Central (Phenix City, Ala.) on Friday night.
