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The T.R. Miller Tigers came off their ’69 championship season with huge holes to fill. The 1970 team included several seniors who had not played the year before and there was not a lot of playing experience on the team. Led by tight end Mac Phillippi and defensive end Travis Ballard, the team won its first four games before being upset at Georgiana, snapping Miller’s 15 game win streak. Injuries hurt down the stretch and the 22-16 loss to Neal in the finale ended the season at 6-3. Coach Mack Wood began his sixth and final season in Brewton with a returning QB in Marshall Craver and some talent in RB Brad Byrne. After a tough second week loss to a good Jackson team, the team lost back to back games against Georgiana and Andalusia for the second year in a row. Against Neal, Miller came out passing behind Craver and got off to a fast start, but Neal had too much speed and power and knocked off the Tigers 37-14 in the second half. Miller ended with a 6-4 mark in ’71. It was Coach Mack Wood’s last game at Miller, leaving two months later to go to Charles Henderson High School in Troy.
Mack Wood was replaced by Coach Larry Rampey, a spirited young defensive minded coach from Walter Wellborn in Anniston. Rampey put the ’72 Tigers to work on the track and in the weight room like never before in the off season. He built the confidence of the team and improved the Tigers defense behind defensive tackle Kenny Coale and linebacker Bill Stokes. Miller won the first six games and were ranked #2 in the state before losing to a tough Andalusia team on the road 21-7. The Tigers would go on to shut out five teams, but offense was a struggle as the team scored more than 20 points only vs. Evergreen and Niceville. A win in the last game would give the Tigers its second playoff berth in school history but Miller lost to Neal for the sixth year in a row 22-6.
In February of 1973 Coach Larry Rampey was killed in a car accident off I-85 near Tuskegee. His death was tough on the Miller football program and Superintendent Dale Garner turned to a popular seven year assistant coach named Frank Cotten to head up the football team. Cotton’s motivational techniques were his strength and Miller’s emotions were high entering the 1973 season. Cotten’s first team was an undersized group that over achieved. Installing a new veer offense Cotten’s troops won the first seven games and were ranked #2 in the state again. On October 19, 1973 Miller hosted a once tied 7th ranked Andalusia team destined for the state finals. The Tigers lost linebacker/running back Alan Baker to a first half injury and got down 14-0. But senior linebacker Charlie Fouts intercepted a pass and ran it back for a TD in the second half to close the gap to 14-8. But Miller could not muster another score and lost to the Bulldogs in a great defensive struggle. When Miller routed Neal 35-6 for their first win against the Eagles in 7 years the Tigers had their second playoff berth. Miller dispatched Mortimer Jordan 35-12 in the first round of the 3A playoffs in Brewton. The following week the Tigers traveled to Birmingham for the semi finals and lost a hard fought 10-0 battle to eventual state champion John Carroll. But the 10-2 campaign was the second most wins in school history.
Frank Cotten’s second team looked as strong as his first. Led by tackle Mike Ryland and runner Darnell Culliver, Miller beat Greenville, Monroe County and Jackson before losing to eventual state champion Atmore 18-7. A late season loss to Andalusia cost the Tigers a playoff spot. Cotten’s 1975 squad would suffer the school’s first losing season since 1963. Miller lost 5 games by a TD or less and ended up 3-6 going into the finale vs a 6-2 Neal squad. But the Tigers went to East Brewton and upset Neal 8-0 behind the running of Bernard Folmar and a determined defense led by David Fouts, the fourth Fouts brother to star for Miller. The 1976 team was expected to be improved but the Tigers exceed all expectations. In the second year of region play, Miller beat Neal 21-15 to become the region champions and make the playoffs for the third time. The following week the Tigers lost to Jackson but the 8-3 mark meant Miller had won at least 8 games in four of the five previous years.
In 1977 the T.R. Miller football team used the running of Randall Mallard and Reggie Brown in an explosive option offense to win nine of ten games. The Tigers lost only to Atmore, but in the region format of the day only the champion made the playoffs. Miller had to settle for a 9-1 record and a 20-9 victory over W.S. Neal. There was great anticipation of the 1978 football season. Miller returned star linebacker Dowe Aughtman, junior back Walter Broughton and star quarterback Walter Lewis all whom would eventually play professional football. In the fourth game of the season, 3A Miller edged out 4A Atmore 24-12 before a huge crowd at Brewton Municipal Stadium. The Tigers would lose to Opp late in the year but would be region champions again. In a classic playoff game, the Tigers went to Robertsdale and held on for a 15-14 victory. Dowe Aughtman saved the game late when he made an open field tackle on a Bear running back who had snared a pass near the goalline. It was Miller’s fourth playoff victory in school history. The Tigers would lose to eventual champion Eufaula the next week but the team had won 10 games for third time. Every school in the country was recruiting senior quarterback Walter Lewis in 1979 before the shifty QB decided to go to Alabama. Miller got off to a fast start winning the first five games. But an injury to Lewis hampered the Tigers at midseason and Miller was upset by Evergreen 16-14. The loss cost Miller the region championship and a playoff berth as the team ended at 7-2.
The 1970’s were a good period for the T.R. Miller football program. The Tigers averaged almost eight wins per year and played some exciting football. They won seven games or more in 7 of the 10 seasons and had only one losing year. Frank Cotten gave the team some stability as coach and established a consistency of success that the program would become famous for in the years to come.
