Story by
The Lebanon Democrat, Tenn.
Phoenix roll past Patriots behind six rushing touchdowns
- Story byThe Lebanon Democrat, Tenn.
- Phoenix roll past Patriots behind six rushing touchdowns
WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. — Jake Parker rushed for three touchdowns and Cumberland's defense recorded seven sacks as the Phoenix scored 34 unanswered points to take control of a 48-21 victory over Cumberlands last Saturday.
Cumberland improved to 5-3 overall behind six rushing touchdowns, building a 34-7 halftime advantage and controlling possession throughout the contest.
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CU totaled 421 yards of offense on 75 plays, rushing for 249 yards and adding 172 through the air. The Phoenix picked up 30 first downs, converted 12 of 16 third-down opportunities and their lone fourth-down attempt, and scored touchdowns on all seven trips inside the red zone. Cumberland held the ball for 39:46 and punted just twice.
Parker completed 10 of 12 passes for 126 yards and rushed for 64 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries playing in just the first half. Watertown's Jordan Cason paced the ground attack with 80 yards on 18 attempts, while Lebanon's Jaylen Abston added 59 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Rashod Daniel contributed 24 yards and a score, and Luke Parker rushed for a touchdown while completing 4-of-5 passes for 46 yards and another score.
Kaiden Hatchett led the receivers with three catches for 49 yards, followed by Isaiah O'Neal with two receptions for 36 yards and Nate Stephens with two for 34. Devin Williams caught two passes for 19 yards and a touchdown.
Josh Jones led the Cumberland defense with seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. Lance Mathews registered three sacks for 23 yards among his four tackles, while Luke Mullinger also finished with four stops. Tavarius Pitts recorded a strip-sack, Eli Denton recovered a fumble, and Knox Watson added a sack and two quarterback hurries. The Phoenix finished with 11 tackles for loss and recovered two fumbles.
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Matthews was named Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts.
Cumberlands finished with 198 yards on 40 offensive plays, managing 65 rushing yards and 133 passing yards. The Patriots collected 11 first downs, converted 4 of 9 third downs and came up empty on their only fourth-down attempt. UC lost both of its fumbles and held possession for 19:49.
Drew Gregg completed 6 of 14 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown while adding a rushing score. Tanner Marsh threw for 32 yards and a touchdown on 2-of-3 passing. Jayden Clayton led the Patriots with 57 rushing yards, and Juan Bullard Jr. added 41 yards on nine carries. Ronye Watson caught two passes for 62 yards, while Carter Stewart scored on both of his receptions, totaling 40 yards. Ritt Tankersley led the defense with 18 tackles, followed by Khalil Mollay with nine and Zander Curry with seven.
Cumberlands struck first with a five-play, 71-yard opening drive, taking a 7-0 lead on Gregg's 1-yard touchdown run at the 11:56 mark of the first quarter. Cason answered with a 64-yard kickoff return to the UC 35, setting up Abston's 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game with 9:08 remaining. After a defensive stop, Jake Parker opened the next possession with a 27-yard run and finished the six-play, 62-yard march with a seven-yard touchdown run for a 14-7 advantage. Jones then forced a fumble that Denton recovered to give the Phoenix another possession late in the quarter.
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Cumberland turned that takeaway into points early in the second quarter, with Daniel scoring from 1 yard out at 12:51 to extend the lead to 20-7 after an unsuccessful two-point attempt.
Later, the Phoenix put together a 14-play, 92-yard drive that included completions of 16 and 18 yards to Stephens and a 24-yard connection with O'Neal. Jake Parker capped the possession with a 1-yard touchdown run with 42 seconds left. Pitts forced a fumble on the Patriots' ensuing possession, and Jones recovered to give CU another scoring opportunity. Parker followed with runs of 16 and 10 yards, scoring with 10 seconds remaining to send Cumberland into halftime ahead 34-7.
The Patriots capitalized on a Cumberland fumble early in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 34-14 on Gregg's 26-yard touchdown pass to Stewart with 13:17 remaining. Ladarius Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards, and the Phoenix responded with a 16-play, 54-yard touchdown drive that consumed 9:11. Cason carried eight times during the possession before Luke Parker finished it with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 3:58 mark, pushing the lead to 41-14.
Cumberland's defense opened the fourth quarter with sacks by Watson and the combination of Jeremy Willoughby and Jones to force a punt. The Phoenix then marched 85 yards on 12 plays, using a 36-yard completion from Luke Parker to Hatchett and a 15-yard run by Cason to move into scoring position. Parker connected with Williams for a three-yard touchdown with 5:26 remaining to extend the margin to 48-14. After CU forced a turnover on downs on the next possession, Cumberlands added a late score on Marsh's 14-yard touchdown pass to Stewart with 39 seconds left to account for the final margin.
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After three straight road games, the Phoenix will return to Nokes-Lasater Field this Saturday to host Lindsey Wilson at 1:30 p.m.
Cumberland 48, Cumberlands 21
Cumberland14|20|7|7—48
Cumberlands|7|0|7|7—21
First quarter
Cumberlands—Drew Gregg 1 run (Khalil Arman kick), 11:56.
Cumberland—Jaylen Abston 4 run (Jack Kantner kick), 9:08.
Cumberland—Jake Parker 7 run (Kantner kick), 3:54.
Second quarter
Cumberland—Rashod Daniel 1 run (run failed), 12:51.
Cumberland—Parker 1 run (Kantner kick), :42.
Cumberland—Parker 10 run (Kantner kick), :10.
Third quarter
Cumberlands—Carter Stewart 26 pass fromDrew Gregg (Arman kick), 13:17.
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Cumberland—Luke Parker 1 run (Kantner kick). 3:58.
Fourth quarter
Cumberland—Devin Williams 3 pass from Luke Parker (Kantner kick), 5:26.
Cumberlands—Stewart 14 pass from Tanner Marsh (Arman kick), :39.
Team statistics
|CU|UC
First downs|30|11
-Rushing|16|3
-Passing|10|6
-Penalty|4|2
Rushes-yards|58-249|23-65
Passing yards|172|133
-Comp.-Att.-Int.|14-17-0|8-17-0
Fumbles-lost|2-1|2-2
Penalties-yards|9-67|5-61
Punts-avg.|2-33.5|4-40.5
Individual statistics
RUSHING—Cumberland: Jordan Cason 18-80, Jake Parker 10-64, Jaylen Abston 11-59, Rashod Daniel 8-24, Luke Parker 8-11, Pierce Meacham 3-11. Cumberlands: Jayden Clayton 2-57, Juan Bullard Jr., 9-41, Tanner Marsh 3-4, Drew Gregg 9-(-37).
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PASSING—Cumberland: Jake Parker 10-12-0—126, Luke Parker 4-5-0—46. Cumberlands: Drew Gregg 6-14-0—101, Tanner Marsh 2-3-0—32.
RECEIVING—Kaiden Hatchett 3-49, Isaiah O'Neal 2-36, Nate Stephens 2-34, Devin Williams 2-19, Jarrius Rogers 2-17, Ladarius Smith 1-13, Jordan Cason 2-4. Cumberlands: Ronye Watson 2-62, Carter Stewart 2-40, Cade Lamb 1-19, Michael Petty 2-6, Chandler Shields 1-6.
