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Quarterback is an important position in football. In addition to leadership the QB is responsible for making decision after decision that affects the well being off his team. He must be skilled and tough, because everyone loves to get a shot at the other team's QB. He must deal with snap counts, stunts, wet balls and many other factors. It takes more than just the ability to throw a ball. In the 23 years I have coached at Miller, I have been fortunate enough to have some good ones.
1989- Bryant Johnson- He was very skilled at running the option, I made a mistake with Bryant. I was so concerned about getting him hurt that I didn't let him use his talents to the full extent. I vowed to never make that mistake again.
1990- Shane Sasser- One of the best leaders we ever had. Shane was short, not particularly fast and an average passer. But the players believed in him and followed him. He played a great game in the State Championship game in Tuscumbia in 1990.
1991-92 Terence Samuel- He could do it all. A great runner, we hurt people running the option and sprinting to throw and letting him keep the ball. He threw for 5 TDs vs Monroe County in '92. He was a great QB in our one back set. He would be a terror in the spread offenses of today.
1993- Michael English- Injured in preseason practice his senior year, he missed the first part of the year. Michael was a tough runner and we should have run more option with him. He had excellent leadership skills and most importantly loved T.R. Miller football.
1994-John Hart- 6'1, 159 pounds of winner. He was a slow runner (the first thing we did every Monday was cover pass protection....John was getting away from anyone), but one of the most accurate passers we ever had. He always seemed to make a great throw in a big game to give us these big chunks of yardage. When the game was on the line, he wanted the ball in his hands. So did I.
1995-Scott Sasser- An excellent receiver as a junior, Scott quarterbacked one of our best teams as a senior. Became a really good passer, he was tough on bootlegs. In the monsoon that was the 1995 State Championship game, the weather kept us from passing. It was a shame because he would have burnt Alexandria with the pass.
1996- Jeff Wilson- Jeff threw the best screen pass of any of our QBs. He was a great competitor and he quarterbacked us to the semi final win over Neal in 1996, throwing a TD pass to Wes Bradley in the second half for the biggest play of the game.
1997 Heath Hanks- Heath was a good runner and excellent defensive back, but he lead us to the biggest upset win in all of my years at Miller-the1997 Neal game. We were battered and bruised but Heath's two TD passes downed the Eagles.
1998- Garrett Akridge- Garrett could throw and he and Jansen Samuel became quite a combination in '98. He gunned Neal down in the second half of the Miller-Neal game and lead us all the way to the state championship game.
1999- Robert English- The second brother combination to play QB for me here, Robert had a good year for us in 1999. He became a very accurate short passer and we changed our passing game to take advantage of that.
2000/2001-Patrick Byrne- A tremendous kicker, he went on to play QB at Memphis. He could do it all and lead us to the state championship in 2000. Pat had character, toughness and discipline. But most of all he wanted T.R. Miller to win.
2002/2003- Brad Lannom- Brad threw one of the prettiest and easiest to catch balls of all of our QBs. Extremely accurate, he had no fear and our players had ultimate confidence in him. In the state championship game of 2002 he completed 7 of 8 passes for 165 yards and and 2 TDs. He was money in a big game.
2004/2005- Jordan Cauley- Maybe the coolest of all of the quarterbacks, no one was a more accurate passer than Jordan. He threw for over 300 yards against Pike County his junior year and had tremendous ball skills. Pretty good for a guy who was a nose guard in middle school football.
2006- Baxley Raines- We changed offenses in 2006 and Baxley did a great job with it. Against #1 Thomasville he made a great onside kick and some tremendous passes in the fourth quarter to lead an incredible comeback. The post route to Tanner Shehan for the game winner was a cannon shot that shocked everyone in the stadium.
2007-John Mathieu- John had an injury riddled career but worked very hard to make himself a quarterback. Injured his hand as a senior and we eventually just put him on defense where he played very well for us and helped lead us into the semi finals.
2007-2010 Wil Riggs- We were short on QBs when Wil entered high school and when John was injured he had to play as a freshman. He played in more winning football games than any other QB in Miller history. A great scrambler and good passer he was a great weapon for us on boot passes and was a threat to run any time he dropped back to throw.
2011- Kevin Davis- Everyone knows Kevin can throw and he led us to a huge comeback victory of Atmore in his very first game as QB. He led us down the field with 1 minute left to go, hitting Ryan Hunt with a perfect pass on the goalline and then sneaking the ball across for the victory.
I wouldn't dare rank them or try and say who I thought was best. They were all different people, with different skills and strengths. They all had their great games and their tough days. But they all occupied the same job, lived with the same pressure and were looked up to by the young men in Brewton. I hoped they enjoyed their days as Miller QB and they look back on it with pride. I hope that the future Miller quarterbacks will attack the job with the same courage as those of the past. And that each one of them can feel the presence of all of the great Miller quarterbacks of the past every time they take a snap.
