Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots football program picked up their first ranked win of the season, taking down the 24^th ranked Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders for the first time since 2013. The Pats earn their first MSC win with a score of 18-14, moving to 1-1 in conference play and 4-2 overall while the Blue Raiders fall to 3-2 on the year and 1-1 in Mid-South competition.
 
Cumberlands defense held a Lindsey Wilson squad that has averaged 37 points per game to just 14 points, their fewest in any game this season. UC had a pair of interceptions in the first quarter from Jalen Yearby and Malik Thornton while Adam Caudle and Walker Dunn led the Patriots in tackling. Caudle finished the contest with a team season-high 14 tackles while Dunn added eight. The duo combined for 2 tackles for loss with Jamin Graham and Solomon Dupree adding 0.5 TFL as well.
 
UC's offense finished with 254 yards from scrimmage, 183 of those yards coming through the air. Drew Gregg performed well, throwing for 144 yards off 15-22 passing, and a touchdown. Trent Davis did a little bit of everything for the Pats today, finishing with 100 yards of total offense. The senior rushed for 43 yards, had 30 yards receiving, and completed a pass for 27 yards to Adam Foulk. Foulk led all wideouts with 85 yards while Cade Lamb caught four passes for 29 yards and a touchdown in his first game back from injury.
 
Coach Shan Housekeeper talked about his team today saying "Our guys came out and competed hard on both sides of the ball … They really bought in to what we were trying to do throughout the week, and it made a difference."
 
LWC won the toss and deferred, allowing the Patriots to take the opening drive of the afternoon. UC was forced to punt, and the Blue Raiders special team's unit blocked the kick, giving their offense great field position to begin with. The Pats defense came up huge as Jalen Yearby jumped a route and picked off the Lindsey Wilson quarterback to get the offense back on the field. After another quick punt by the Pats, UC earned their second interception of the game, this time from Malik Thornton who returned the INT 34 yards to the LWC 32-yardline. UC attempted a 43-yard field goal four plays later, that missed just right to keep the game scoreless headed to the second quarter.


 
Lindsey Wilson began the second quarter with a long drive capped off with a three-yard TD run to take the first lead of the game. The Patriots responded with a 14-play touchdown drive of their own, taking over seven minutes off the clock. Gregg started the drive with a completion to JB Carlisle out of the backfield for a first down followed by a QB keeper on third and short that moved the chains again. Gregg found Foulk for 13 yards and another first down before the Pats utilized a trick play that saw Trent Davis get a handoff that he then threw 27 yards to Foulk to move the Patriots into the redzone. UC remained perfect on the year at scoring in the redzone, as Gregg completed a pass to Cade Lamb in the endzone for a touchdown. UC then successfully completed the two-point attempt as Trace Thompson threw to Curtis Leflore Jr., to make it 8-7 with 4:43 remaining in the half.


 
The Patriots defense came back onto the field after a good rest and forced a quick three and out solidified by a four-yard tackle for loss from Walker Dunn on third and eight. Foulk went back to receive the punt, and made a couple LWC defenders miss, bringing it back 18 yards to the Cumberland 45-yardline with 2:55 on the clock. Gregg remained cool in the short-clock situation, completing five pass attempts to Lamb and Foulk for a combined 40 yards. Davis picked up seven yards on the ground to put the Patriots on the five-yardline with 29 seconds to play. The next play Gregg rolled out of the pocket and found Nick Stacey who was forced out of bounds on the one. This set up Davis, who took a pitch to the endzone for a Patriots touchdown, moving their lead to 15-7 with just four seconds to play in the half. Lindsey Wilson tried to answer right back as they returned the kickoff for a TD, but were called for holding, negating the score to keep it 15-7 into halftime.


 
The third quarter started with the Blue Raiders moving down the field and scoring to make it a one-point game. The Pats offense could not advance the chains and were forced to punt. UC's defense made a stand the next drive, led by Adam Caudle who tallied five tackles throughout the drive, eventually forcing a LWC punt that sailed into the endzone for a touchback.


 
The Pats got the ball on their own 20 yardline, and quickly moved the chains behind a 17-yard reception from Gregg to Davis. This marked the final play of the third quarter and gave UC momentum into the fourth. On third and eight, Gregg completed a pass to Ben Taylor for a huge first down. This set up Davis, who took back-to-back gains across the 50 into Lindsey Wilson territory. The running back duo of Carlisle and Davis continued to run behind their offensive line, who was getting a major push upfront. On second down and nine, Gregg connected with Foulk who made an incredible one-handed grab 20-yards downfield, moving the Pats into the redzone. This setup Job Matossian, who was called on for a 21-yard field goal, which sailed through the uprights to cap off the 16-play, 76- yard drive that burned 9:25 off the clock. UC's lead grew to 18-14 with just 6:40 left to play.


 
Cumberlands defense jogged onto the field after the LWC kick returner ran for 17 yards to start their drive on the LWC 32. The Blue Raiders picked up three first-downs and took advantage of a UC face-mask penalty to move into Cumberlands territory. They converted a fourth and one to keep their chances alive and move into the redzone with under two minutes to play. Zirkle and Caudle made a pair of solo tackles to force a third down and six on the UC 14. The defense followed this with a massive sack, this time from Solomon Dupree and Malachi Nalls to force a fourth and eight with less than a minute remaining. After a Lindsey Wilson timeout, both teams lined up for the biggest play of the game. The Pats forced LWC's QB out of the pocket, allowing Walker Dunn and Jamin Graham to drag him down behind the line of scrimmage to force the turnover on downs, and seal the game for UC.


 
The Patriots lined up in victory formation and took the victory 18-14 to earn their first win over Lindsey Wilson College in 11 years. Coach Housekeeper talked about his team's effort on the day saying "I was so proud of how we competed and how they stayed in the moment and did not get complacent … We sticked to the things that were creating success for us, and the outcome showed that."
 
Coach Housekeeper and the Pats will now look ahead to next week where they will make the trip to Montgomery, AL to take on Faulkner University. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 PM ET / 11 AM CT.
 
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