LEBANON, Tenn. — It seems like déjà vu all over again as Campbellsville University Fighting Tiger football lost by another one-score deficit, falling to Cumberland University, 46-40.
It is the fifth game of the season the Fighting Tigers (1-5, 0-3 MSC West) have lost by seven points or less. Cumberland's 46 points is the most put up all season, as the Phoenix improve to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the West.
Campbellsville had a chance late for the second-straight game but came up just short. After starting on the Cumberland 31-yard line,
Hunter Brown led the Tigers down the field with 4:22 left.
The Tigers took advantage of a pair of Cumberland penalties and Brown completed two passes of over 15 yards – one of those on fourth and five - to give Campbellsville a chance. Cumberland finished the night with a season-high 16 penalties for 114 yards. But after a no gain on a
Wade Holtsclaw rush on the Cumberland 30-yard line, Brown fell victim to three straight incompletions giving the Phoenix the ball with 1:32 left.
Brown threw for 403 yards on 37-of-55 passing and his favorite target was
Jordan Duff, who led the Tigers receiving core with 76 yards on eight catches.
Tyus Alcorn finished the night with two touchdowns pushing his career total to 32 but did not see much action in the second half after going down early in the third quarter.
The Tigers were unable to find their running attacking, finishing with 65 yards compared to the Phoenix's balanced attack of 301 rushing yards and 301 through the air.
Defensively,
Justin Manning etched his named in the history books with 24 tackles. That mark broke the single-game record that dated back 29 years and 307 games, as Mike Todd Cecil recorded 21 in the very-first football game in in program history on Sept. 10, 1988.
It was another see-saw game for Campbellsville as the Tigers jumped to a 20-3 lead but Cumberland would score 14-straight cutting the deficit to three, 20-17. After a
Keanu Young three-yard sweep off right tackle in the second quarter for a touchdown, Cumberland would answer exactly 4:00 later to cut the Tigers lead to just three at halftime, 27-24.
Starting the third quarter,
Bradley Bates nailed a 39-yard field goal – one of his two FG's of the night with the other being a 26-yarder later in the third quarter.
But Cumberland would answer on its next drive as Justin Snyder found Michael Green for a 57-yard touchdown giving the Phoenix their first lead since the score was 3-0 after the opening drive of the game.
Snyder finished throwing for 301 yards on 20-of-32 passing and two touchdowns. His favorite targets were Michael Green, Lorel Morton and Kendall Johnson, who all had five catches. Green finished with 147 receiving yards and two touchdowns to lead Cumberland.
Campbellsville would come back, though, after Cumberland took a brief 31-30 lead. Brown found
Kendon Young for a 39-yard touchdown across the middle giving the Tigers the lead back, 37-31.
Then on the next drive again, Cumberland regained the advantage, as Chaplin broke a few tacklers and rushed for 17-yards down the left sideline for his second TD of the night. Chaplin rushed for a game-high 107 yards on 1 rushes with a pair of touchdowns.
Bates would then answer with the 26-yarder giving Campbellsville its final lead, 40-38, with 1:15 left in the third quarter.
The scoring slowed to a crawl in the fourth but Cumberland finally regained the lead for good — which was the seventh lead change of the game — with 4:22 left. Johnson rushed for his lone touchdown up the middle and the Phoenix delivered a two-point conversion pushing its lead to 46-40 – where it would stay.
Cumberland held the time of possession advantage 36:03 to 23:57 but the Fighting Tigers took advantage of a pair of Phoenix turnovers, scoring after both.
Campbellsville will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 29, as Lindsey Wilson comes to town for the Battle of Highway 55. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET with the Tiger Tailgate Show starting at 1:00 on the CU Sports Network, 88.7 The Tiger, Comcast Channel 10 and CampbellsvilleTigers.com.
