Faulkner's second trip of the season to The Bluegrass State produced an unfavorable outcome Saturday in a 44-34 loss to University of the Cumberlands. The Eagles spent much of the day playing catch-up despite taking an early lead. Faulkner opened the scoring following a defensive stop that saw Keith Bryan force a fumble that Garrett Hallmark (FR/Helena, Ala.) recovered. Two plays later, Mason Blocker (JR/Covington, La.) went over the top to Kavonte Younger (JR/Bolton, Miss.) on a play-action pass that resulted in a 42-yard touchdown strike. The Logan Roberts (SO/Tallahassee, Fla.) PAT put the Eagles up 7-0 just 2:05 into the game.

The Patriots responded with a 67-yard drive that took seven plays and ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Josiah Robbins to Joronnie Hinton. Devon McMillin's point-after tied it.

"We just weren't able to get off the field on defense all day really," Faulkner coach Shayne Wasden said. "I thought we played well enough on offense to win the game. It was just kind of the opposite of what we had the first week. If we can put those two games together going forward from here, I think we have a chance to have a pretty good ball team."

Robbins completed 17 of 28 pass attempts for 255 yards and three touchdowns. Hinton, who caught all three of those scoring throws, finished with seven receptions for 112 yards.

After forcing a three-and-out, the Patriots engineered a 65-yard drive that lasted nine plays and culminated with a 1-yard touchdown run by Milton Shelton. The game turned over the next two plays. Faulkner started the ensuing drive at its own 6 before incurring a delay of game penalty that backed the ball to the 3. The Patriots then wrapped up Blocker in the end zone for a safety and a 16-7 lead.

Faulkner staved off disaster in the next series as Logan Goodman (FR/Tallassee, Ala.) forced and recovered a fumble on the first play after the obligatory free kick. The Eagles made the most of the miscue again as Blocker navigated a possession that ended with a 14-yard touchdown connection with Jacob Pigg (JR/Fayetteville, Tenn.). Roberts' extra-point kick cut the margin to two points but Faulkner would never be able to draw closer.

The Patriots answered with a 70-yard drive capped by a 28-yard scoring strike from Robbins to Hinton, moving the lead back to nine points. Faulkner stormed right back with a 14-play, 72-yard march that ended with a 13-yard Josh Gaines (JR/Birmingham, Ala.) touchdown run to again narrow the deficit to two.

A little more than five minutes later, the Patriots stole away the momentum heading into intermission as they covered 93 yards in seven plays to add to the lead on a 40-yard scoring pass from Robbins to Hinton. McMillin's kick left the halftime score at 30-21.

The scoreboard remained unchanged until early in the fourth quarter when Faulkner capped a 76-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Blocker to Pigg. Roberts' kick proved true to narrow it to 30-28.

The Patriots responded with a statement drive, going 75 yards in six plays highlighted by a 60-yard Zalon Reynolds run. Hallmark and Neiko Robinson (SR/Century, Fla.) chased him down at the 1 to give the Eagle defense a chance. Reynolds, who had 126 yards rushing on 13 carries, punched it in on the next play.

Down nine again, Faulkner proved unable to move the chains and had to settle for a three-and-out. The Patriots opted not to squander the opportunity, going 40 yards in six plays and scored on a Reynolds run from nine yards out for the 44-28 advantage.

Faulkner mustered one more score when Blocker hit Jamario Dixon (JR/Jackson, Miss.) for a touchdown pass from two yards out with 4:32 remaining.

"Much improved. I was really pleased with the improvement we made overall on the offensive side of the ball," Wasden said. "We ended up with 475 yards of offense. Those guys, we challenged them after the first game. They really rose up to it. We had a lot of improvement. I think, on the other side of the ball, we probably thought we were a little better than we were. That was a wakeup call for us on that side of the ball."

The two-point attempt failed and UC recovered the onside kick to salt the game away.

The Patriots outgained Faulkner 512 yards to 475. The Eagles also scuffled with infractions, suffering nine penalties for 87 yards. The Patriots lost 20 yards on two penalties.

Blocker completed 23 of 32 passes for 264 yards and four touchdowns along with two interceptions. He also amassed 69 yards rushing on 10 carries. Younger hauled in three passes for 129 yards and a score. Pigg caught four balls for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Dixon made six receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown. Justin Lewis (FR/Montgomery, Ala.) paced the ground game with 93 yards on 15 attempts. Hallmark had 11 total tackles and a fumble recovery to lead the defense while Kylan Cotton (SR/Spanish Fort, Ala.) finished with 10 total tackles.

University of the Cumberlands (3-0) hosts Campbellsville next Saturday. Faulkner (1-1) welcomes Union College to town for its home opener. Kickoff is set for noon at Billy D. Hilyer Stadium in Montgomery.

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