MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Coming off discouraging losses to tough Reinhardt and Georgetown squads and a lone four-point win that might have been a loss on another day, Faulkner faced a must-win conference matchup against University of the Cumberlands at Billy D. Hilyer Stadium on Saturday. Trailing 17-3 after three quarters, it didn't seem that the Eagles' fortunes would be changing on this Saturday afternoon against a physical Patriots team.
But what about that fourth quarter, you ask?
On a day where the running game was stymied and the offensive line was bullied at the line of scrimmage, the Faulkner passing attack and defense caught fire in the final period to force overtime. The rally delivered the Eagles a 23-20 walk-off win on
Jaiveyon Tucker's 13-yard touchdown catch from
Ben Anderson.
"Just staying the course, not giving up on plays, and ultimately it paid off," Coach
Rob Gray responded when asked what was responsible for the comeback win. "We've got a bunch of dudes, man. They're going to play hard every game. We came up short against two top 10 teams, and today all that hard work and all that fight and dedication and practice time paid off."
With 6:05 left in the third quarter, Cumberlands took over after a 48-yard field goal attempt from
Caden Davis fell short of the goal posts and kept possession until the second play of the fourth. After ceding a fourth-down conversion to Faulkner's 35-yard line,
Tra Wilkins and
Tyrese Wells combined for a sack of Patriot quarterback Ben Nixon that lost eight yards. Facing 3rd-and-12 to begin the final quarter,
Jerrell Williamson violently broke up a Nixon pass intended for Romeo McKnight to force a punt that set up the Eagles for their best drive yet.
Anderson brought life back into the home stands following a Tucker drop on the first play of the possession by scrambling out of trouble in the backfield and lofting a pass downfield with great touch to
Satyler Wilson. Wilson caught it at the Cumberlands 44 for a gain of 36 yards, his lone reception of the day. Facing 3rd-and-nine three plays later, Anderson stepped up in the pocket and found a wide-open
Shaun Vincent down the middle at the 27. The wideout turned upfield and outran the secondary for a 43-yard touchdown on his sole catch to make it a one-score game.
The Patriots recovered the surprise onside kick attempt from the Eagles, but the latter forced the visitors to a crucial three-and-out before the teams traded such drives.
Samaj Washington brought about the last one by running Nixon down near the sideline on a 3rd-and-12 scramble to stop him five yards shy of the first down.
The Faulkner offense began the ensuing drive at their own 31 following the punt. On second down, Anderson went deep down the sideline off the play action and found Tucker one-on-one for a gain of 37. It was the third-year sophomore's first catch in a difference-making performance, in which he led his team with three receptions for 61 yards and two scores. 10- and seven-yard carries from
Corinthian Cunningham set the Eagles up with a 2nd-and-three at the Patriot 11.
De'Marcus Johnson appeared to have a scoring catch along the sideline on the next play but failed to come down in bounds. Tucker made sure the opportunity would not pass his team by, though, as he hauled in Anderson's threading of the needle on the post route in double coverage. Davis's extra point tied the game with 4:58 left in regulation.
Kordell King and
Chris Thompson read a screen pass to leading Patriots receiver AP Parham on second down of the following possession, before Nixon released a pass before the sack and found Parham, who reached the sticks on 3rd-and-eight. It was a play indicative of Nixon's total performance, as he finished 24-of-35 for 167 yards and a touchdown. On the following 2nd-and-10 play, leading rusher Martize Smith got to just shy of midfield, but Williamson forced the ball out on the tackle and came up with the loose pigskin to put Faulkner in business at the 50, to the roaring approval of the Eagle fanbase.
More business was generated with Anderson's draw on 2nd-and-12 gained 14 yards, but the drive ended with a sack, Cumberlands' sixth of the afternoon, and an incompletion that turned it over on downs with 15 seconds remaining on the clock. Elijah Howard come down out of bounds on a would-be catch along the sidelines with two seconds left, and
Mekhi Jones broke up Nixon's Hail Mary to send the game to overtime tied 17 all.
Marvin Payton came up huge after Cumberlands won the toss, as the redshirt sophomore linebacker took down Nixon on a scramble a yard shy of the first down. The Patriots were forced to a 34-yard field goal from Job Matossian. The reprieve for the visitors was only temporary, however. Anderson rolled out to his right on second down and, upon finding no open receivers, ran for 11 yards to the Patriot 11 and moved the chains. Two snaps later, Tucker lined up wide on the near side, crossed inside and found separation behind the secondary. Anderson found him wide open in the endzone, where a mob of Eagles met Tucker in celebration.
"We practice these guys hard. I think we could have played another three quarters if we wanted to," Gray said of the reason behind his team's finish. "That's how we practice. Ultimately, I think that's what it was. You practice situations all the time, and one of them presented itself today. I thought we did a good job executing."
For the first time this season, the Eagles only had one signal-caller take snaps, and Anderson staked a heavy claim to the QB1 title with a nine-of-19 performance for 175 yards and three touchdowns in his most productive game yet, and led the team with 17 carries.
"Ben had a good rhythm going, and we didn't want to take that away from him, especially early on," Gray explained. "He fought through some things, and he got some critical first downs for us on big third downs and second downs. Those were him making those plays on his own. We didn't coach him to do that, he did that on his own. So, we rode with him, and we let him ride it out to the end."
The teams traded punts at the outset of the contest, and Faulkner started its second drive of the game pinned at its own seven-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-19 at the nine after an illegal block penalty, the Eagles were gifted five yards after Cumberlands lined up offsides on a play where the Patriots would have picked off Anderson on a tipped ball. Anderson then scrambled upfield to the sticks to move the chains on 3rd-and-14. On the next play, Cortez Brown brought Anderson down for a sack and a loss of 17 back to the Faulkner 11, but a bizarre play would give the Eagles an automatic first down. Brown had made the hit at the 16, and after Anderson stumbled in attempting to get back to his feet, Walker Dunn charged in to complete the play. When Anderson ultimately fell down at the 11, Dunn, leading with the helmet, hit Anderson in the head and was ejected for targeting. The offense took advantage with a sustained drive that resulted in a Davis 45-yard field goal, thanks to a false start and a sack that brought up fourth down, that put Faulkner on the board first with 11:54 left in the second period.
After trading punts once again, the visitors would score on three consecutive drives spanning the second and third quarters, on which Nixon would register a total stat line of 11-of-11. On the first of these drives, a six-play, 58-yarder, three of Nixon's four passes went to Parham, including the nine-yard throw that put Cumberlands in the lead. The Patriots took over with four minutes left in the half and finished the quarter on 10 plays, culminating in a 47-yard kick from Matossian that put his team up 10-3 at halftime. After Faulkner received the second-half kickoff but finished its opening drive with -12 yards, Cumberlands received the punt at its 49. Five plays later, the Patriots were in the endzone for the last time in the game via a trick play with 11:04 left in the third quarter. Running back Phillip Garner took the pitch, pulled up and hit a wide-open Howard at the goal line for a 32-yard score to go up 17-3 and set the stage for the Eagles' heroics.
The win is the first ever for Faulkner over Cumberlands after dropping the previous four contests. The game marks the Eagles' first contest to go into overtime since a heartbreaking 40-39 home loss to Georgetown in 2017 and their first overtime win since a 55-52 victory at Reinhardt in 2014. Now at 2-2 and 1-1 in Mid-South Conference play, Faulkner gains some momentum as it heads back to the state of Kentucky next week to take on Campbellsville, one of three teams, including Cumberlands, that the former leapfrogged in the league standings thanks to this win to claim sixth place in the Mid-South.
