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It's Miller-Neal time again and like many people around this community I have seen quite a few of them. The first one I can remember attending was 1964 at the old Rotary Field which was located where the Brewton Elementary School sits today. Both teams were very good that year and everyone was looking forward to the game. We lost to Neal 7-0. I remember only two things.....we lost our great player Mike Sasser to an injury and it rained like crazy in the second half. The first time I saw Miller beat Neal was 1966 at Brewton Municipal Stadium. We played a freshman QB (Bucky Phillippi) and we faked a punt by running some kind of statue of liberty play. We lost in '67 and '68 before winning 51-0 in 1969 on a very cold night. When I was in high school we lost three years in a row ( we had problems with Calvin Culliver as did most everyone else) but managed to win 35-6 in my senior year (1973) in East Brewton. It was a big win because we had not beaten them many times. I remember the excitement of winning the game and the school pride we had....it was like everyone in Brewton beat Neal and not just the football team. I missed a few games when I first started coaching, but always had to hustle back and find out the score. I have a unique perspective on the game. I have been a fan, a player, an assistant coach, and a head coach in the Miller-Neal game, as well as having two sons play in the game. Every year I get asked some of the same questions and I have mostly given the same answers. So here is my take on the game....
1) It is the biggest game of the year...every year. Regardless of playoffs or anything else. We work our team the entire year in hopes that we will be good enough to beat Neal that last week.
2) We want to beat Neal because they are Neal. They want to beat us because we are Miller. We don't need another reason. Neither do they. People will talk about how bad one team wants to beat the other because we won last year or they beat us the two years before. But the truth is I don't think anything like that could make us want to beat them any more.
3) This game is very unique because both schools are so close together. We see each other all the time. We shop at the same stores in town. We work at the same places. Miller guys have married Neal girls and Neal guys have married Miller girls. Some of the children went to Neal and some of them went to Miller. We have brothers and sisters who live in the same house but one goes to Miller and one goes to Neal. Many years ago I tried to get a kid to come out for football one time and he told me he wanted to but his Mother would not let him. I asked why his Mother would not let him and he said it was because she was a Neal fan. It is a very unique game.
4) We are fortunate that we have such a great rivalry. Many guys play high school football and never get to play in a big game. Many never have a rival. We are lucky to have a Miller Neal rivalry. The day of the game is like a holiday in our community. Everyone dresses in their colors and declares their side. It is great.
Regardless of who wins, we should feel fortunate that we have the game. After the game on Friday everyone who ever played in the game or went to school at one of the two schools will be trying to find out the score. And we will be a little happier or a little sadder with the outcome. But I know that somewhere along way from Brewton, some ex Miller Tiger will go to work with his red jersey on...read the Brewton Standard on line about the game... about 2:30 he will be remembering what the pep rally is like and about 7:00 he will be just a little nervous and just a little lonesome about not being there. For some reason, that stuff never seems to leave you.
Recently I was having a discussion with a few of my players. I was basically telling them that they should relish their time to play that it would be gone before they knew it. "I wish I could play just one more play," I said. "I wish I could run the ball just one more time." One of them laughed and asked, "What team would you want to run against if you had one more carry?"
I just smiled and walked away.
