CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – A slow start and penalty-laden game ended with a suspenseful last three possessions, as Campbellsville University held on for a 24-19 win over Cumberland University on Oct. 26 and remains unbeaten in the Mid-South Conference West Division.

Trailing 24-17 with five minutes to play, Cumberland moved the ball up field for a first-and-goal at the 3. The Tigers stuffed the Bulldogs on four plays, taking over on their own 4 with 44 seconds to play.

Victory formation looked promising, but the Tigers were forced to run plays with three Cumberland timeouts remaining.

Backed up to the 1-foot line, Campbellsville was forced into punting from the back of the end zone and chose to take a safety with 13 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs had one last shot at the end zone, but the potential go-ahead pass to Anthony Woodard was knocked away by Steven Delgado as time expired to preserve the win.

"It was a good win. It wasn't the prettiest win. I thought both teams competed and did what they needed to do to give them a chance to win. We were fortunate we were able to pull it out," said CU head coach Perry Thomas.

Penalty flags cluttered the field throughout the game, but mainly eight Tiger penalties for 105 yards in the first half. 

Both teams were held scoreless through the first 29-plus minutes until Cumberland's Beau Baker hit a 35-yard field goal to enter halftime up 3-0.

Will Ward evened the game, 3-3, midway through the third quarter with a 37-yard field goal.

CU's big break came three plays later. Defensive end Sedric Watson picked off a Bulldogs' QB Broc Loveless and darted 19 yards into the southwest end zone to give the Tigers a 10-3 lead.

"I just did what I needed to do to help my team win. I read the play and saw the quarterback's eyes. It came right in my hands, and I scored," said Watson. "It's a big plus for us."

It was Campbellsville's third pick-six of the season, tied for the most in a single-season by a Tiger football team.

"Sedric was able to come up with that big play. Very rarely does a defensive lineman get an interception. He was able to get that and score, and it gave us a lot more hype," said Thomas. "We were playing good defense, but because there were so many penalties against us. It was hard to get in a rhythm but that got us going a little more. It was huge and was the difference on the board."

After holding Cumberland three-and-out on the next possession, Trevon Chatman took a punt to the house but was ruled out at the Cumberland 25 – a 30-yard gain. A few plays later, redshirt freshman Tajh Milliken found Chatman on a 20-yard touchdown pass, putting the Tigers up 17-3 with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter.

Following the play, Cumberland was called for back-to-back, 15-yard personal foul penalties (something Campbellsville saw happen multiple times in the first half). The 30 yards of penalties was assessed on the kickoff, causing Campbellsville to kickoff from the opposing 35. Pontus Yngve's onside kick try was unsuccessful.

Cumberland answered immediately. Loveless hit Woodard on a 37-yard pass into the red zone and capped the nine-play, 76-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run, pulling within a touchdown, 17-10.

Campbellsville's attempt to respond right away fell short when Ward's 29-yard field goal try was blocked by Devin Guthrie. Two plays later, though, Dekwain Tarrance forced and recovered a fumble at the Cumberland 15, setting up a three-play drive. Larry Walls used a block from Seth McFerrin to dive into the left corner of the end zone for a 24-10 lead.

Reed Gurchiek moved the Bulldogs down field to follow, pulling back within a touchdown on a 6-yard TD run by Micahel Green with 8:20 to play.

Walls finished the game with a season-high 88 yards on the ground, while Milliken was 14-of-27 passing for 194 yards. Eighty of those passing yards were into the hands of Demytreus Gipson.

Gurchiek led Cumberland with 104 yards, completing 14-of-22 attempts. Fredel Cross led the Bulldogs' ground game with 75 yards on 15 carries.

Lawrence led all players with 11 tackles, including eight solo, while Delgado had six tackles to go along with his game-saving pass break up.

Campbellsville (4-3, 3-0 MSC West) will return to action in Finley Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1:30 p.m. EDT against No. 2 University of the Cumberlands. Cumberland falls to 4-4 on the year, 1-2 in the MSC West.

BOX SCORE

NOTES
- Campbellsville leads the series 13-11.
- Campbellsville moves to 3-0 in odd years against Cumberland since 2009.
- Adam Robertson's fumble recovery in the first half is his first as a Tiger linebacker
- Campbellsville's three pick-six plays this season are tied with the 2001 and 2011 teams for the most in a single season.
- Both teams combined for 238 penalty yards on 22 penalties.