Bowling Green, KY – Damon Byrnes-Mitchell captures has shine on both defense and special teams and his effort on Saturday night earned him the Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors, conference officials announced Monday.  This marks the third time in the sophomore's career that he has garnered this distinction.

The Clearwater, FL native was all over the field make a team-high 11 tackles, including seven solo tackles against Pikeville.  Byrnes-Mitchell also recorded a force fumble, fumble recovery, and block field goal in the game.  The seven solo tackles are a career-high, surpassing his previous career-high of six, which he had against Lindsey Wilson on November 13, 2021.  It was also the second time in his career that the sophomore notched double-digit tackles in a game.

In addition to the tackles, Byrnes-Mitchell made a pair of critical plays for the Patriots defense.  The first game late in the third quarter with UC leading 17-13 UPike completed a 47-yard pass downfield, however, Byrnes-Mitchell chase down Bralin Barton forced a fumble and recovered it to give Cumberlands possession and halt a Bears scoring opportunity.  It was his first forced fumble and recovery on the season.

Later in the game, Byrnes-Mitchell stepped up with a huge special teams play.  Leading 17-16 late in the fourth quarter, Pikeville drove 45-yards up field to set-up the go-ahead 40-yard field goal with under two minutes remaining.  As the attempt was happening Byrnes-Mitchell came around the rightside of the line and blocked the field goal keeping the Patriots in front.

It was his third block in as many weeks as the previous two weeks, the sophomore blocked a punt, which resulted in Cumberlands touchdowns.  Byrnes-Mitchell is having a breakout season with a career-high 40 tackles as he is averaging 5.7 tackles per game.

The Patriots will return to the field Saturday, October 22, when they travel up I75 to face 12^th-ranked Georgetown.  Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.