Casey Baynes and Trent Cochran-Gill celebrate a Tiger TD

By Michael Butler

T.R. Miller did it again. They beat Tallassee for the sixth time in six tries spoiling the Tigers’ homecoming 34-27 at J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium on Friday.

On a night when Emma Burnham was crowned queen and the Class of 97 was honored, Tallassee’s attempt at another last second comeback came up short. 
The purple and gold had a chance to tie it or send it to overtime with a 4th and 4 at the Miller 7, but Trent Cochran-Gill’s reception came up short of the first down by a chain link with 2:05 left.  The visitors then ran out the clock.

It was T.R. Miller that ended the season for the Tallassee seniors 20 years earlier in the second round of the playoffs in a 39-13 romp. The alumni that returned for a Friday morning pep rally and walked across the field prior to kickoff on Friday night called for redemption.

After Tallassee’s early 6-0 lead on Casey Baynes’ 12-yard scoring jaunt, Miller turned a Tallassee turnover into points with Michael Campbell’s 40 yard run.  The extra point gave the boys from Brewton the lead, which they would not relinquish.

Logan Goodman had a touchdown catch of 21 yards and two-point conversion to even things at 14-14, but a two-play 70-yard drive in the final seconds of the first half gave T.R. Miller a 20-14 advantage at the intermission.

Markevious Matthews had a career night with 228 rushing yards

Tallassee’s second half TDs came on a one-yard run by Baynes and a 13-yard sideline catch by Kalvin Levett. Markevious Matthews rushed for career high 228 yards on 19 carries, 170 in the second half, to earn the Bright House Networks Player of the Game award.

“We ain’t got it going in the right direction,” said a distraught coach Mike Battles, who reminded his team all week of Tallassee's winless record against Miller. “I thought our kids played hard, but we’re still doing some little things that are not good. We’re going to continue to not win ball games as long as we keep doing those things.”

THS had three first half turnovers after losing five fumbles a week ago. Tallassee had 365 total yards to T.R. Miller’s 356.

The Tigers (3-2) return to region play at Dadeville on Friday at 7:00 p.m. 1300 WTLS/106.5 FM will broadcast live beginning at 6:00. Audio will be simulcast on Bright House Networks cable television channel 97. A video webcast will be available on Tallassee Times TV: www.tallasseetv.com.  The broadcast is also available through the Tune-In App and followed by the "Scoreboard Show" until 11:00 p.m. 

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