Waleska, GA – Cumberlands trailed 28-0 into the third quarter on Saturday and battled back but came up just short against Reinhardt University for their first loss of the season. UC falls to 2–1 on the year after the 35–31 loss on the road in Waleska.
 
UC totaled 416 total yards of offense, their highest of the season against RU. Drew Gregg came into the game late at QB and found a rhythm, going 7-16 with 147 yards and two touchdowns. JB Carlisle and Trent Davis continued their success in the backfield, each gaining at least 100 yards rushing, while Davis added a catch for 13 yards as well. Seven different Patriots earned a reception on Saturday, with Maddux McKinney leading the way with 46 yards and a touchdown. Jalavis Wilson also caught a TD with 42 yards while Adam Foulk added a pair of catches for 44 yards.
 
Defensively, the Pats gave up the most points of the season but fought back in the second half forcing a punt or turnover on seven straight possessions. Solomon Dupree had a standout game with a team-high seven tackles and 1.5 TFL.  Adam Caudle joined his teammate with 1.5 TFl and added six tackles of his own while Reagan Cherry finished with five tackles and two TFL.
 
UC's special teams played a major factor in today's game as Malik Thornton and Brandon Burke blocked kicks, one returned for a TD to tie the game. Jahmal Hutsell also had an amazing performance, returning five kicks for 188 total yards with a long of 71.
 
The Pats received the opening kickoff, which flew out of bounds to put the ball on the UC 35. Quarterback, Trace Thompson picked up a first down off a 12-yard scramble but could not capitalize after as they were forced to punt. The Eagles utilized two big plays their opening drive to find the end zone and take an early lead. 
 
Both teams traded possessions before a Patriot pass was intercepted. UC's defense stepped up, holding RU a field goal attempt, which was blocked by Malik Thornton to keep the score at 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. 
 
The Pats offense continued to struggle early in the second quarter, as Matossian was forced to punt once again. Reinhardt started the next drive with a 15-yard penalty in their favor off a Patriots sideline infraction. They took advantage of the opportunity, scoring three plays later to take a 14–0 lead.
 
Jahmal Hutsell gave the Pats a burst of momentum on the following kickoff, taking it 44 yards to the UC 49. Thompson found Nick Stacey for a 12-yard catch to move the chains and then scrambled another seven yards before handing off to Carlisle who picked up another first down. RU made a pair of stops to force a third down, then came away with a sack to end the Patriots drive with less than two minutes in the half. 
 
Reinhardt moved the ball down the field and scored with just 14 seconds on the clock to increase their lead to three TD's going into halftime. 
 
The Eagles struck early out of the locker room, returning the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown, increasing their lead to 28-0. Although all momentum was going against them, the Pats responded quickly as Hutsell continued to impress in the return game. The junior received the kick at his own four and returned it 77 yards to the opposing 25. This set up Trent Davis, who took three straight handoffs, finding the end zone from 21 yards out and to put Cumberlands on the board. 
 
UC's defense built off this change in momentum, forcing a three and out behind a timely Adam Caudle sack to put the ball back in the offenses hand. Drew Greg entered the game at quarterback and quickly completed his first pass to Jalavis Wilson for a first down. The Patriots then took advantage of two 15-yard penalties on the Eagles to move across the 50 yard line before Greg found Wilson once again, this time for a 30 yard touchdown reception. This marked Wilson's first touchdown of the year and cut the pats deficit to just 14 heading into the 4th quarter. 
 
 
The Eagles looked to answer in the following possession but were halted by a pair of big plays from Cherry and Hunter Zirkle to force another RU punt. Greg continued to complete passes, connecting with Adam Foulk for 25 yards to get the Pats across the 50. A quick throw to Elijah Howard made it second and one and put UC in a great position to take a shot down field. Greg did just that, finding Maddox McKinney for a 39-yard touchdown to cut the Eagles lead to one score with 11:04 to play. 
 
With all momentum now in UC's favor, the defense stepped back onto the field. They did their job, forcing a punt without allowing a first down. The Patriots special team's unit blocked their second kick of the game as Brandon Burke got a hand on the ball before the Eagles punter could get the punt off. The ball rolled back into the end zone and was recovered by Cumberlands for a touchdown to tie the game at 28-28. 
 
Solomon Dupree came up huge for UC the next possession, making back-to-back tackles at the line of scrimmage and forcing a fumble that Michael West came away with, to get their offense back on the field. UC was forced to attempt a 55-yard field goal, which saw Job Matossian come up just short hitting the crossbar, for his first miss of the year. 
 
The Patriots defense continued their dominant second half, forcing a Reinhardt three and out to give the Pats the ball back on their own 36-yard line with six minutes on the clock. Davis took the first play of the drive 22 yards for a first down before Carlisle picked up 46 yards off six straight carries. Gregg found Davis through the air for a big Patriot first down, making it first and goal on the five-yard line. Rushes from both backs came up short of the goal line, forcing the Patriots to bring out the field goal unit with 51 seconds on the clock. Matosian nailed a 23-yard chip shot to give UC their first lead of the game, scoring 31 unanswered points to bring the score to 31–28 with less than a minute to play.
 
 
The Eagles started their final drive on their own 26 and picked up two quick first downs through the air to move the ball to their 40 with 41 seconds remaining. Reinhardt then completed a 46-yard pass, putting them in the red zone with just under 20 seconds to work with. They would find a wideout in the back corner of endzone the following play to regain the lead, 35–31. The Pats had one last-ditch effort after the kickoff that saw a hook and ladder between McKinney and Foulk that came up well short of the goal line as time expired.
 
After this heartbreaking loss, Cumberland's move to 2–1 on the season and look ahead to next Saturday where they will host Union Commonwealth for the Battle for the Brass Lantern. Kickoff is set for 7 PM, with homecoming festivities going on as well. You can find the live stream for this matchup here and the livestats here.
 
 
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