CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Campbellsville came up just short in forcing overtime against University of the Cumberlands on Thursday night as the Tigers fell to the Patriots, 27-24. Will Ward missed a field goal wide left with time expiring.

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Campbellsville stopped Cumberlands (1-0) on the Tigers' 35 yard line with 46 seconds left and trailing by a three points. Quarterback Jacob Russell started marching his offense down the field, giving the Tigers a chance.

Russell hit Zerric Willis for a 10-yard gain and a first down, then three plays later hit Jarrod Harrington for 14 more yards to put the Tigers on the Cumberlands 40 yard line with 20 seconds to go.

After an incomplete pass and a time out by the Patriots, Russell hit Tyus Alcorn across the middle putting Campbellsville on the Cumberlands' 20 with 1.1 seconds remaining and the clock stopped due to the first down.

Campbellsville's special teams squad hurried onto the field and was able to get the play off in time but Ward's kicked was pulled to the left.

"I thought we had a great drive late in the game," said CU coach Perry Thomas. "Having a quarterback like Jake (Russell) helps because he is very talented but also poised and experienced in big-time situations. We were able to move the ball down the field but were unable to haul in a few passes late in that drive.

"It was a hard-fought game on both sides. Cumberlands runs a tough style of offense with a lot of option but I thought we defended that very well. We had a chance at the end on offense after stopping them on fourth down deep with our backs against the wall but we just couldn't pull out the win."

Russell finished throwing for 393 yards and two touchdowns but fell victim to two interceptions – one at a key part in the game with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter and Campbellsville down by three.

Tyus Alcorn, who was wearing No. 23 in honor of a teammate, hauled in both of Russell's touchdown tosses – his second and third of his career. Alcorn finished with 74 yards with the longest 43 yards.

Jarrod Harrington led the Tigers with eight catches and finished just under the century mark with 96 yards. Nathan Case hauled in a career-high six catches for 87 yards and Zerric Willis had three receptions for 65 yards.

"I thought our wide receivers did a good job," said Thomas. "We will be able to tailor our offense a little more to those guys now after having a game under our belt."

Campbellsville outgained the Patriots in a big way, 449 to 290 total yards and also ran 15 more plays than Cumberlands. The biggest stat that bit Campbellsville was the two turnovers through the air.

"I really liked the fact that we battled," said Thomas. "We battled all night long with a much older and bigger team. We played with intensity and energy and we played the right way with hustle and attitude. The things that hurt us tonight was costly penalties deep in the red zone and turnovers."

How the scoring went down:

Campbellsville struck first with a field goal in its first possession. Ward knocked down a 34-yard field goal to put CU ahead, 3-0. Ward finished hitting 1-of-3 field goals – the other was a 50-yard try in the second quarter. Ward finished hitting 9-of-11 last season for CU.

Cumberlands answered, as Joe Rose knocked down a 37-yard field goal on the Patriots first possession to knot the game at three.

But that is when Harrington wrote his name in the record books. He received a punt from Rose and slipped a few defenders on his way to a 55-yard touchdown return. Harrington is the only Tiger in history to record a punt and kickoff return for a TD in a career.

"Wow that is awesome," said Thomas. "I thought Jarrod came out focused and had a dandy game tonight."

The Patriots didn't let the return phase them and answered quickly. Adam Craig found Wendell Williams streaking down the right sideline and the duo hooked up for a 29-yard pass to push the game back to even, 10-10.

That same duo hooked up late in the third quarter for their second TD to give the Patriots their first lead, 20-17.

Craig finished throwing for 120 yards on 6-of-9 passing. Both of his touchdown tosses were to Williams. Williams finished with 87 yards on three catches.

With just under three minutes on the clock, and Campbellsville already proving it could move the ball through the air, the Tigers started marching down the field. But Russell threw his first interception of the night, deep in Cumberlands' territory to end the first half.

The third quarter started with Russell and Alcorn hooking up for their first TD of the evening — an 11-yard pass and catch to put CU back ahead 17-10.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Patriots returned the ball all the way to the CU 35 and looked to be on their way to tying the game. But the Tigers defense held and forced Rose into another field goal situation, a make from 25-yards.

Stephon Tanga led CU with nine tackles, Khalil Baker finished with seven and Percy Minor was just behind him with six.

Cumberlands took its first lead on another Craig and Williams score but Campbellsville answered with a big play itself. Russell found Alcorn for the second-straight time for a 43-yard touchdown, pushing CU back ahead 24-20.

Cumberlands took the lead for good with just under five minutes remaining. Craig took advantage of a fourth-down pass interference call and scored on the next play – a three-yard rush up the middle to put the Patriots ahead, 27-24 – where the score would stay.

"Last year we started out this way as well," said Thomas. "We lost a heart-breaker to Lindsey Wilson to start the season and ended up winning the division and reaching the playoffs. We are going to sharpen up our special teams and address the penalties that we had. We don't have to coach effort with these guys because they give it all on the field every day. We just have to coach technique and that is what us coaches want."

Campbellsville will travel to Webber International (Fla.) on Saturday, Sept. 12 in Babson Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET and the game can be listened to live on the CU Sports Network, 88.7 The Tiger and WLCUFM.com.