Williamsburg, Ky. - The UPIKE Bears snapped a three-game losing streak tonight with a dramatic 24-17 road victory over the University of the Cumberlands Patriots tonight.
How It Went Down:
Cumberlands got the ball first but the Bears defense forced a three-and-out. On UPIKE's first possession, the Bears converted three third downs and a fourth down to set up a Joseph Sandorf 22-yard field goal to give the Bears an early 3-0 lead. UPIKE's scoring drive covered 64 yards in 16 plays.
After the teams took turns punting back and forth, the Bears defense forced the first turnover of the game when Seneca Fuller forced and recovered a fumble. The Bears offense was unable to capitalize off the turnover, however.
The Bears first drive of the second quarter ended the same way their first drive of the first ended, with a 22-yard boot from Joseph Sandorf to give the Bears a 6-0 lead. On the ensuing UC drive, the opportunistic UPIKE defense came alive again when Cameron Miller recorded his second interception of the season. One play after the interception, running back Alex Sanders gashed the Patriots with a 51-yard run to put the Bears in great field position. Four plays later, quarterback Eli Sammons connected with Sanders for a 10-yard UPIKE touchdown to go up 13-0.
The Patriots would not go down quietly and responded with back-to-back scoring drives before the half (1 FG, 1 TD). Despite the Patriots late scores, the Bears played a good first half and led at halftime 13-10.
Midway through the third quarter, the Bears found themselves backed into their own end zone. On the second play of the drive, the Patriots scored a touchdown off a strip sack in the end zone to go up 17-13.
Late in the quarter, the Bears went to Xavier Malone at quarterback and he ignited the UPIKE offense. Malone's first pass attempt went for 47 yards to Bralin Barton. On the Bears opening possession of the fourth quarter, Malone led the Bears on a 12-play, 79-yard drive that ended with Joseph Sandorf hitting a 38-yard field goal to make the score 17-16.
Later on, the Bears got the ball back with four minutes remaining in the game. The Bears drove the ball all the way to the Cumberlands 23-yard line and lined up for a field goal. Unfortunately, Sandorf's 40-yard attempt was blocked and the ball went back over the Patriots with less than two minutes to play.
With 1:45 left and three timeouts, the Bears defense needed a stop. The Patriots next two plays went for -1 and 3 yards, respectively. On third down and eight, the Patriots dropped back to pass but the Bears were not fooled. Josh Ervin recorded a ten-yard sack, the only sack of the night for the Bears defense. The defense came up huge and gave the offense one final chance.
The Bears offense took over at their own 45-yard line with no timeouts and 1:13 left to play. On first down, Xavier Malone scampered to midfield for five yards. On second down, Malone connected with Alex Sanders for a 28-yard gain up to the UC 22. Malone spiked the ball on the next play, then connected with D'Andre Stafford for 17 yards to the UC 5-yard line. Two plays later, Malone connected with Alex Sanders for the go-ahead touchdown with 11 seconds to play. Derrick Griffith hauled in the two-point attempt from Xavier Malone and the Bears took a 24-17 lead. The defense stifled the Patriots and UPIKE won 24-17.
Xavier Malone finished Saturday night's game 13/19 for 201 yards and a touchdown. Alex Sanders finished the game with 209 all-purpose yards (150 rushing, 59 receiving) and scored both UPIKE touchdowns tonight.
Picking Each Other Up:
Tonight's stunning victory over the Patriots was a complete team victory, with all three phases of the game making contributions in big moments. When the offense struggled to find the end zone, Joseph Sandorf and the field goal unit came up big with three field goals. The defense picked up the offense when they had their struggles, and came up huge after the blocked field goal. After the defense forced a three-and-out to give UPIKE the ball back, the offense responded with a game-winning drive to give the Bears the win.
Defense Shines Again:
After a stellar performance last week against Georgetown, the Bears defense picked up right where they left off tonight against the Patriots. In the first half, the Bears defense allowed ten points but forced two turnovers (1 INT, 1 FR) and forced three three-and-outs. Coach Chris Elliott's defense clamped down on the Patriots offense again in the second half. The Bears allowed zero second-half points and only allowed three first downs.
UPIKE's defense held the Patriots to 5/17 (29%) on third down, only allowed 13 first downs, forced two turnovers, had six tackles for loss, three pass break-ups and a game-changing fourth-quarter sack by Josh Ervin.
What This Win Means:
Tonight's win over UC is UPIKE's first road win of the season. In winning tonight, the Bears snapped four-game losing streak to UC dating back to 2017. The Bears also came into this game looking to avenge back-to-back heartbreaking losses to UC in 2020-21 and 2021, and did just that in dramatic fashion tonight.
What Lies Ahead:
With tonight's victory, the Bears record improves to 3-3 (2-2 MSC) on the year. Next up for UPIKE is a matchup against the Campbellsville University Tigers next Saturday afternoon at Hambley.
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