Well I Feel A little Better Now

Patriots Drop Playoff Game 62-35
Posted by Jennifer Wake-Floyd - Mon, Nov 19, 2007 - [ Football ] - Viewed 52 times
For the first time since 1988, the University of the Cumberlands football program advanced to post-season play. Going 8-2 in the regular season, the Patriots finished#14 in the final NAIA poll to face #3 Ohio Dominican University (ODU) (11-0) in Columbus, OH. The Patriots came home with a loss of 62-35 but will hang on to their Mid-South Conference Championship rings and the memories of being the first UC team to play in the play-offs since in nineteen years.

The Patriots received to start off the game but an off-sides penalty put the Patriots into a punt situation to give away their first possession. It was not but two plays later that Brian Abshire (St. Cloud, FL) received the play of the game award as he intercepted a tipped pass to put the Patriots only 10 yards out from the goal line. Once again, a penalty and a fumble pushed the Patriots back into a second down and 31. Kyle King (St. Cloud, FL) completed a pass to Matt Jones (Williamsburg, KY) which led to an attempt at a field goal from Hunter Meade (Bristol, VA). Unfortunately, the ball was wide left and left the score at 0-0. Cris Reisert, one of the NAIA's best QB's, converted on ODU's third down with a 51 yard pass play to the 11 yard line. ODU's RB, Nathan Clark would then carry the ball into the end zone, but the point after touchdown was no good. The Panthers went up 6-0. The Panthers started their next drive at the 10 yard line after a great punt by Sean Mounts (Norris, TN). They went 11 plays and scored on a rush from RB De Wallace. This time around, the PAT went through to put the Panthers up 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.

To start off the second quarter, Rod Mason rushed to convert the third down, and then threw a 40 yard pass to Matt Jones for a touchdown. Meade would kick strongly and bring the Patriots within six points; 13-7. The Panther's next drive was once again long and Desmond Cruver (Newman, GA) would add a helmet flying hit, but Reisert would overcome for the Panthers and throw another touchdown pass. An extra point put ODU up 20-7 with just under 10:00 to go in the half. As Mason threw long again, an ODU pass interference penalty would help the Patriots out as they finalized their drive with a touchdown on the option to Chris Wallace (Lilburn, GA) and a PAT by Meade for a new score of 20-14. De Wallace would take his team's next possession 57 yards to put the Panthers back within two scores of 27-14. The Panthers only had two minutes left in the half when they got the ball back in the offense's hands. Making short route passes and smart runs, ODU managed to score once again, leaving the score 34-14 at the half.

To start of the second half, Reisert decided to throw for more yardage and hooked up with WR Justin Sayre for a 69 yard touchdown and the Panthers began pulling away with a 41-14 score. After the Patriots pushed ODU's next offensive opportunity into a fourth down position, the Panther's faked their punt and completed the pass for a first down. The Panther's were unable to make anything of their conversion and gave the Patriots the ball on a punt. Rod Mason threw to the back of the end zone to Matt Jones for a Patriots touchdown. The second half Patriots had a new face on as they drew back 41-21. With Meade's successful PAT, he broke the single season record for most PAT's of 35. ODU would not sit back and watch the Patriots take over in the second half. Reisert led his team down the field and threw for a short touchdown pass to Justin Campbell; 48-21. The Patriots' offense was stopped back on their own 35 yard line and they were forced to punt. Mounts' punt was blocked by Kyle Warden and the Panther's were given the ball only 35 yards out from the end zone. Forced back to the 15 yard line on a penalty, Reisert passed to Justin Campbell for another Panther touchdown to make it 55-21. Coming up on a fourth and short situation for the Patriots, time ran out and the final quarter began.

King started out the fourth converting two fourth down situations and ended up rushing into the end zone for a score of 55-28. Reisert started out his drive with a long pass down the field. Two plays later, Donte Manning (Columbus, OH) would pick off the pass for the Patriots. Reisert had only thrown 8 interceptions in his 508 passes coming into this past Saturday's game. The Patriots were able to pick off two, showing their strength in the defensive back position. King's fumble gave the Panther's the ball back and led to a Panther touchdown from backup QB, Billy Griffin. Andy Wernicke put the PAT through the uprights to keep the Panther's out of reach 62-28. With 3:00 on the clock, the Patriot's Ricky Walker rushed in for another touchdown, making the score 62-35. Meade made his 38th and final PAT attempt on the season. The Patriots fought hard until the end, but were unable to prevail against the unblemished Ohio Dominican squad.

The NAPA Auto Parts player of the game was Matt Jones with his great abilities to catch the ball over a viscous defensive unit. Jones caught 7 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle King went 8/15 with 127 yards and rushed 11 times for 46 yards and one touchdown. Rod Mason completed all three of his passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns as well as being the leading rusher with 54 yards in his 15 attempts. Moses Cochran ran 20 times for 53 yards and Ricky Walker ran 11 times for 48 yards and one touchdown.

Defensively, the Patriots stood strong against the Panthers. The Cumberlands intercepted 2 passes and only gave up 110 yards rushing. Unfortunately, the Patriots were unable to stop the dump pass and the big plays, giving Reisert and his receiving crew 510 passing yards. The Patriots also recorded two sacks for a loss of 18 yards. Desmond Cruver led the Patriots with 9 tackles. Following Cruver was Brian Abshire with 8 tackles, half of a tackle for a loss of 9 yards and an interception with a return of 16 yards. Chris Honeycutt (LaFollette, TN) also turned in big with 5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss of 9 yards and 1 sack for 9 yards. Jeffery Searcy (Tifton, GA) also recorded a sack and Donte Manning recorded the second interception.

Headman John Bland said, "Ohio Dominican was as good as we thought they would be. Their dropped and bobbled passes were uncharacteristic for them. We made it through the season very strong, but we are going to miss our seniors. We have 10 seniors that played their last game. They have been great all year long. Moses Cochran and all the others have been great assets to our program the whole time they've been here. I hope God richly blesses these kids wherever they go. As far as Coach of the Year, I'm grateful and thankful for the honor, but that award goes to the whole coaching staff. Now, it is time to start getting back to work on our recruiting and looking forward to next year's playoffs."?

After this past Saturday's competition, Cris Reisert is the new record holder in the NAIA for most passing yards in a single season and most offensive yards in a single season. The former holder of these records is John Kitna, the quarterback for the Detroit Lions.

The Patriots now end their season 8-3 overall and 4-1 in the MSC, including an outstanding record of 6-1 on the road including their last game against ODU. On the year, the Patriots have accomplished conference championship rings, reached the playoffs for the first time in 18 years and produced a coach of the year in second year head coach John Bland. To sum it up: an amazing and unbelievable year.




Article Provided by Kevin Flora, University of the Cumberlands Sports Information Student Assistant