Williamsburg, KY – The University of the Cumberlands football team gave everything they had on Senior Day, but a pair of late touchdowns from Georgetown proved to be the difference as the Patriots fell 35-28 in the season finale Saturday afternoon at James H. Taylor II Stadium. UC finishes the season at 4-6 overall.
Cumberlands racked up 390 yards of total offense and controlled the clock for over 34 minutes. Quarterback
Drew Gregg, playing in his final game, turned in another efficient performance, completing 21-of-25 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns, while also catching a 17-yard touchdown pass from fellow senior
DK Edwards in the second quarter. Gregg also added 10 rushing yards and converted two fourth-down keepers to extend drives. He finishes the year ranked top-five in the NAIA with 27 total touchdowns, a new program record.
Edwards capped his career with 44 receiving yards on four catches, adding the 17-yard touchdown throw as part of a trick-play connection with Gregg. Receiver
Michael Petty caught two passes for 61 yards, including a 61-yard score in the first quarter.
Skylar Adams, another senior, hauled in a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter and later added a key third-down catch in the red zone.
On the ground, senior J.B. Carlisle rushed for 33 yards on eight carries and caught two passes for 11 yards.
Juan Bullard Jr. led the team with 47 rushing yards on 15 carries, while sophomore
Tanner Marsh added 27 yards and a touchdown, scoring UC's final points on a 3-yard run early in the fourth.
Senior kicker
Job Matossian went a perfect 4-for-4 on PATs and averaged 39.7 yards on three punts, including a long of 44. He finishes his career as the all-time leader in field goals made with 36, and holds the longest field goal made with a pair of 47-yarders. Fellow senior
Jahmal Hutsell returned three kickoffs for 69 yards, with a long of 26, to come to a career total of 1877 kick return yards, also a program record.
Defensively, UC tallied three sacks and four total tackles for loss. Senior defensive linemen
Kantrel Smith and
Jonathan Heralus both contributed stops, with Heralus teaming up for a tackle for loss in the first quarter. Linebacker
Jaylin Berrian had seven tackles and 1.5 sacks, while
Hunter Zirkle recorded 1.5 sacks, sitting at second in the nation in sacks on the year with 10.
Zander Curry added two pass breakups, and J.B. Carlisle, also making an impact on special teams, blocked a punt in the third quarter to flip field position.
Georgetown struck first with a 30-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter, but the Patriots answered right away. On 3rd-and-11, Gregg hit Petty in stride for a 61-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
In the second quarter, Cumberlands took the lead with a 7-play, 78-yard drive that included a 19-yard rush from Carlisle, a 30-yard reception from
Ronye Watson, and a 17-yard touchdown catch by Gregg off a trick play throw from Edwards to make it 14-10.
After forcing a punt, UC pieced together its best drive of the day, a 14-play, 93-yard possession capped by a 16-yard touchdown to
Skylar Adams. Carlisle, Bullard Jr., and Marsh all contributed rushing yards, while Gregg hit four different receivers, converting a 3rd-and-6 to McKinney and finding Adams who made a great catch and got a toe down for the score to go up 21-10 with under a minute before halftime.
Georgetown answered with a long touchdown run on the final play of the second quarter and added a field goal in the third to make it 21-20. After Carlisle and Watson helped move the ball into the red zone, Marsh capped an 11-play, 49-yard drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown to extend UC's lead to 28-20 with 8:59 remaining.
The Tigers, however, answered with back-to-back touchdowns in a 24-second span, tying the game on a 3-yard run and then taking the lead on a 27-yard score after intercepting a pass on UC's next drive. The Patriots had one final possession, but a sack on second down and an incomplete pass on third forced a punt. Georgetown ran out the final 3:49 to seal the win.
Cumberlands matched Georgetown with 21 first downs and converted 8-of-14 third downs. The Patriots finished 3-for-3 in the red zone and ran 12 more plays than the Tigers (64-52). Gregg and Edwards combined to throw for 272 yards and three touchdowns, while the defense posted three sacks and held the Tigers to 3-of-9 on third down.
The game marked the final home appearance for a decorated senior class that holds multiple program records across all phases. From
Drew Gregg's record-setting season at quarterback to the consistent leadership of veterans like D.K. Edwards, J.B. Carlisle,
Job Matossian,
Jahmal Hutsell,
Jackson Ray,
Jonathan Heralus,
Adam Foulk,
Michael West, and
Kantrel Smith, the senior class leaves a lasting impact on the Patriot football program.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on X - @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, YouTube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.
