Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots came out of the gate hot and did not let up, scoring in every quarter, leading to a 52-20 blowout victory over the University of Pikeville Bears. UC moves to 2-0 on the year and have now won their last four home openers in a row. All three phases of the ball played well as the offense scored five touchdowns, the defense earned four interceptions with a pick-six, and the special team's unit nailed all three field goals and five PAT's.
 
Offensively, the Pats totaled 358 yards with 218 coming on the ground.  Trace Thompson started his first game as a Patriot, going 11-20 for 107 yards and a touchdown. Trent Davis made his presence known with 117 total yards and a rushing and receiving touchdown. JB Carlisle added 76 yards rushing and two touchdowns, the second straight game with multiple touchdowns for Carlisle. Elijah Howard, DK Edwards, and Jalavis Wilson added over 20 receiving yards while Cade Lamb had a 14-yard touchdown reception or his first TD as a Patriot.
 
UC's defense held the Bears to just 100 yards rushing and notched four interceptions. Adam Caudle led the way with a team-high six tackles and a pick-six to set the tone early. Damon Byrnes-Mitchell, Major Newman, and Michael West each earned their first INT's of the season while Walker Dunn, Hunter Zirkle, and Solomon Dupree added five tackles and a combined 3.5 tackles for loss.
 
Job Matossian was dominant in the kicking game, hitting three field goals from 47, 41, and 34 yards while also going a perfect 5-5 on PAT's. His 47-yard FG tied his own record for longest made field goal in program history.
 
Both teams were forced to punt in their opening drives of the night before the Pats earned their first first-down off a 20-yard reception from Thompson to Wilson. Another completion, this time to Howard pushed the Pats into Bears territory before Carlisle took a handoff 30 yards to the house to get the Pats on the board first. A successful two-point conversion to Curtis Leflore Jr. put the Pats on top 8-0. The score would not stay that way for long, as the second play of the following drive, Adam Caudle picked off UPIKE's pass and returned it 24 yards into the endzone for a 15-0 Patriot lead after just seven minutes of play.
 
 
Another solid defensive effort from UC halted Pikeville's next drive, giving the Pats possession on their own 40 yardline behind a 13-yard punt return out of Adam Foulk. Cumberlands marched down the field with Davis getting the ball five out of six plays. The RB gained 33 yards on his first two runs to move the Pats into the redzone before finishing the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run. This lifted the Pats lead to 22-0 with just under three minutes left in the half.
 
 
UPIKE put together a solid drive to get on the board just before the quarter finished to bring the score to 22-7. After a Cumberlands punt, the Patriots called on their defense to make another play, and they did just that. Hunter Zirkle and Malik Thronton combined for a big tackle in the Bears backfield, forcing a 3^rd and 19. The next play, more pressure to the quarterback forced a bad throw that saw Byrnes-Mitchell take away from the Bears and return 40 yards all the way to the Pikeville 35. Thompson and the Pats offense took full advantage of this, getting into the redzone after a 14-yard pass to Edwards. Carlisle followed with a powerful 10-yard run into the endzone for his second score of the day. A Matossian extra point brought the score to 29-7 with 8:27 left to play in the half.
 
 
 After another quick defensive stop from UC, Cumberlands called on Matossian from 47 yards out and he answered the call, tying his own school record of the longest field goal in program history. The Bears tried to gain momentum the following possession, but failed a fourth down attempt after Solomon Dupree batted a pass down at the line of scrimmage. UC regained possession on the 50 after the turnover on downs. Davis came up big for the Pats on the next drive with a 22-yard reception on third and twelve to move the chains. They went right back to the Attalla, AL native with a nine-yard touchdown reception with 1:21 on the clock, to increase UC's lead to 32.
 
 
The second half started with another great defensive play out of UC, as Michael West picked off the first play from scrimmage to get UC the ball right after kicking it away. A Carlisle rush put the Pats into field goal position, where Matossian sent the ball straight through the uprights from 34 yards out.
 
 
After back-to-back punts from either side, UC claimed their fourth interception of the night. Zirkle pressured the QB and got a hand on his throwing arm, forcing a bad throw which Major Newman took advantage of for his first interception of the year. This led to Matossian's third field goal of the night, this time from 41 yards, giving Cumberlands a 45-7 advantage with 5:43 to play in the third.
 
 
The Bears took advantage of a UC fumble, scoring just their second TD of the game early in the fourth. UPIKE tried for a two-point conversion but failed, bringing the score to 45-13. Drew Gregg came in under center for UC and moved the ball downfield, handing it off to Juan Bullard Jr. eight times for 39 yards to get his team in the redzone. Gregg then connected with Cade Lamb for a 14-yard TD, marking Lamb's first ever TD for the Pats, and Gregg's first passing TD as well.
 
 
The final three plays saw UC in victory formation, as the clock hit zero with UC on top 52-20. Cumberlands moves to 2-0 for the third straight season under Coach Shan Housekeeper. He was pleased with his team's performance tonight saying "We were solid in all phases of the ball … We worked and trained hard all week and the results show it."
 
The Patriots will be back on the field next Saturday as they travel to Waleska, GA to take on the Eagles of Reinhardt University. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 PM ET.
 
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