The University of the Cumberlands football team (#6; 3-0; 0-0) hosted the Bethel College Wildcats on Saturday as the Patriots came away with the “W” 28-17. Cumberlands out gained the Wildcats 436 to 300 total yards.

“We won but we can play better,” said Patriot head man John Bland. “Bethel had a good physical team and really battled out there. This is a good learning experience for the guys and hopefully in the future we will have learned from our mistakes and not turn the ball over.”

Coming into today’s game, Cumberlands held 6 top ten records in the NAIA including five #1 rankings for field goals (1.00), rushing offense per game (491), total offense yards per game (629), scoring offense per game (64), and Pass Efficiency (236.4).

As the game kicked off, the Patriot defense came out strong on the first possession of the game as they held the Wildcats to a quick three and out. On the 9th play of the first possession for the Patriots, Coheleach Holmes (Hixson, GA) capped off a 65 yard drive with a 16 yard touchdown run. With a PAT from Andrew Carr (Paducah, KY) the Patriots went up quickly 7-0. That would be the only score in the first as both teams “D” held their own.

In the second, the Patriots wasted little time adding another six to the scoreboard as Jay Bright (Fayetteville, GA) hooked up with Willie Gibson (Abbeville, GA) on a 73 yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter. Bethel would take the goose egg off the board with a 25 yard field goal by Sean Fraser. Neither team would score again as they closed the first half of play with the Patriots leading, 14-3.
In the third, Cumberlands put together 9 plays for 66 yards to score 6. The score would come off a one yard touchdown fumble recovery by All-Conference offensive lineman Justin Norman (McDonough, GA) in the end-zone. With the extra point, the Patriots led 21-3.

The beginning of the fourth saw yet another Patriot TD as Fred Byers Jr. (College Park, GA) took a 5 yard run in to the end zone to give Cumberlands 28 on the board. Bethel hung around as they took control of the final minutes of the game scoring two touchdowns, but the damage had already been done as Cumberlands took their third win of the season, 28-17.

For the Patriots running attack, Cohleach Holmes led the way with 16 carries for 134 yards and one touchdown. Holmes also had a big 71 yard run to give the Patriots some breathing room as they were backed up in their own end-zone. Another key player in the running game was Justin Pritchett who had 4 carries for 40 yards. QB Jay Bright ran for 68 yards and completed 2 of his 7 passes for 85 yards and 1 TD on the day. Bright’s touchdown came on a 73 yard strike to Julius Moore.
For the defense, the opposing quarterback felt pressure on almost every play as Cumberlands “D” prevailed recording 7 sacks for a total loss of 41 yards. The Patriot linebackers of P.J. Hughes (Macon, GA), Cameron Brooks (Jonesboro, GA), and Johnathan Yeary (New Market, TN) were all over the field today. Hughes had 13 tackles, while Brooks had 11 and Yeary had 9.

“The defense has stepped up all season long for us and the defensive line is probably our most talented group on the team,” said Bland. “I am proud of their play today.”