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Miller pulls off upset of Tigers
In yet another game that will go into the record book as a classic, the Thomasville High School Tigers let a nine point lead over Region 1 rival T. R. Miller slip away from them in the last six minutes of their game last Friday, October 6 losing to Miller 28-23. The game, which was played at D. F. Anderson Field, pitted the then number one ranked Thomasville Tigers against the number two ranked T. R. Miller Tigers. As such it was expected to be a very hotly contested game. Without a doubt it lived up to its billing as both teams left the playing surface Friday pretty much spent and those watching the game were treated to a great high school football game. Disappointingly for the Thomasville Tigers the joy of playing in a classic like this one was at least for the moment swallowed up by the agony of defeat. "I thought we played extremely hard and with a lot of courage and desire," Thomasville Head Coach Jack Hankins said. "Unfortunately Miller made a few more plays than we did and we came up just a little short. We will learn from this experience and hopefully get better as the season goes on."
After stopping Thomasville on their first offensive series, Miller added to their lead with 9:04 to play in the second quarter scoring on a four yard run that culminated a 61-yard drive. Once again the extra-point was good and Miller led 14-0. It looked for a moment as though Miller was going to put the game away in the first quarter when, following the recovery of a Thomasville fumble at their 36-yard line, they connected on a sixty yard pass that appeared to be a sure touchdown. But in a perfect example of never give up, Thomasville defensive back Alex Buford chased down the Miller tight end and stripped the ball from him just before he reached the goal line sending the pigskin out of the back of the end zone for a touch back. With new life and a momentum change, Thomasville then began a drive at their 20 that led to their first points of the game when Jake Overstreet hooked up with Daril Jackson on a 25 yard touchdown pass with 3:03 left in the second quarter. Henrique Aguiar's extra-point was good and Thomasville had cut the Miller lead to 14-7. Playing with more fire the Thomasville defense stopped Miller on three straight downs forcing them to punt giving Thomasville another chance to score with 1:25 left in the second quarter. Thomasville took full advantage of the opportunity when on the first play of the series Jake Overstreet combined with Daril Jackson again on a 60 yard scoring strike with 1:04 to play before intermission. Aguiar's extra-point try hit the uprights but Thomasville had cut into the lead again with Miller on top at the half 14-13. It appeared Thomasville was going to take up where they left off as the third quarter got underway. Following the opening kickoff that they returned to the 25, the Tigers from T-town moved the ball into Miller territory only to see an interception at the Miller three yard line end the threat with 10:14 left in the third. Not to be denied the Thomasville offense, taking their cue from their defense that was stuffing the Miller offense on every series, got on the scoreboard again with 5:07 to play in the third quarter when Aguair was perfect on a 22 yard field goal giving Thomasville the lead 16-14. Defense was the name of the game from that point on to the 6:11 mark of the fourth quarter when Thomasville added to their lead on a 10 yard Jake Overstreet run and another Aguiar extra-point putting the score at 23-14. It was at that point, with Thomasville seemingly in the driver's seat, that the Miller offense which had basically been shut down for two quarters, found a way to get back in the game scoring on a 15 yard screen pass with 3:00 remaining in the fourth quarter. The touchdown cut the Thomasville lead to 23-21 and set the stage for what was to come next. With the game pretty much riding on it Miller executed a perfect on-sides kick literally getting the ball to take a late bounce that sent it sailing over the Thomasville receivers into the hands of a waiting Miller kick cover man at the Thomasville 36 yard line. Now with everything seemingly going their way Miller turned a second down 10 play into the points they needed scoring on a 36-yard pass with 2:42 remaining in the game. The extra-point was good giving Miller the lead at 28-23. A last ditch effort by Thomasville ended near mid-field when a Miller safety intercepted a pass closing the book on the game. In the losing effort the Thomasville offense, which out gained Miller 340 to 284, was led in rushing by Roya Campbell with 82 yards on 13 carries. Following him was Jake Overstreet with 65 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and Delvonte Harris with 61 yards on 10 carries. In the air Jake Overstreet was 4 for 13 for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Daril Jackson led the Thomasville receivers with three catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns while Delvonte Harris had one catch for 23 yards. Over on defense Alex Buford and Jarrell Watters led the team with 10 tackles each followed by Mitchell Cowan and Katrell Watters with nine a piece. Also on defense James Jones picked up a sack white Cowan and James White each recorded a 1/2 sack. As the old saying goes, 'there is no rest for the weary' as Thomasville must put the T. R. Miller game behind them and prepare for a critical game this week with Escambia County. "We must get re-focused quickly," Tiger Coach Jack Hankins said. "We have a very big, fast and athletic Escambia County team coming to Thomasville Friday to play us. A win in the game will go a long way in deciding which of the two teams will be the number two seed in the region." The game which will be Thomasville's homecoming is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Anderson Field on Friday, October 13.
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