FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The No. 8-ranked University of the Cumberlands football team (10-2) traveled to the University of Saint Francis in for a match-up in the NAIA Football Championship Series Quarterfinals on Saturday. After achieving the first playoff victory in school history, the Patriots were unable to make it past the quarterfinal rounds as they fell to the St. Francis Cougars 31-20.

The Patriots kicked off first to start the game and stopped the return all-star, Daniel Carter at his own 23 yard line. For the first 10 minutes of the game, the battle was up to the defense of both teams as each team's punter saw a lot of early action. Cumberlands were the first to drive the ball into the end zone as Freddy West (Mulberry, FL) capped off a 9 play, 83 yard drive to put six points on the board. The Cougars were able to get through the special teams unit of the Cumberlands and block the kick to hold the Patriots to only a 6-0 lead as the first quarter expired.

The Cougars had the ball on the Cumberland's 18 yard line at the start of the second to convert the hand off to Bo Frye for the touchdown. The PAT by Rhys Barnhart was converted and St. Francis went up 7-6. The Patriots went 13 plays in their next series, but Kyle King (St. Cloud, FL) was sacked on fourth and eight to give the ball back to the Cougars. A short rush and a couple of sacks later, Katlyn Reyes was forced to punt allowing Maurice Berryhill (Indianapolis, IN) a 23 yard return to St. Francis' 40 yard line. King completed a 22 yard pass to Matt Jones (Williamsburg, KY) to put the ball on the three yard line as Justin Pritchett (Dayton, TN) scored from 1 yard out. Hunter Meade (Bristol, VA) put the ball through the uprights and the Patriots were up once again; 13-7. Jeff Wedding, USF's QB, took 7 plays to put the Cougars on the board with 6 again. Their drive ended with a 9 yard rush from Daniel Carter to put St. Francis back up 14-13 at the half.

Unable to convert on downs, the Patriots turned the ball and momentum over to the Cougars. The Patriots' "D" held St. Francis to fourth and four, but Bo Frye took the fake punt snap and rushed for 46 yards to the Cumberlands' 6 yard line. It took four more plays, but the Cougars got the touchdown from a 1 yard rush from Daniel Carter to go up 21-13. Continuing to go back and forth, Desmond Cruver (Newnan, GA) pulled off the pick in his last game of his career. Attempting a fake punt of their own, Sean Mounts (Norris, TN) attempted the pass to Brian Abshire (St. Cloud, FL), but was unable to connect to give the ball back to the Cougars. Daniel Carter then rushed for 20 yards and Jeff Wedding finished their drive with a 35 yard pass to Kyle Peabody for another touchdown; 28-13, to end the third.

Forced to punt once again in the opening of the fourth, Brad Lawson (Williamsburg, KY) intercepted another one of Jeff Wedding's passes and ran it back 25 yards to the St. Francis 14 yard line. Freddy West would tally his second touchdown of the day and pull the Patriots back within 8; 28-20. On the next series, the Cougars went 11 plays for 59 yards and finished the drive with a 30 yard field goal. Unable to muster up any more offense, the clock ran out as Cumberlands fell in the NAIA Semifinal round of the FCS and St. Francis advanced for the sixth year in a row winning their 52nd consecutive home competition. The Patriots fell by a final of 31-20.

For the offense, Kyle King led the rushing unit with 22 attempts for 57 yards. Freddy West followed with 15 rushes for 47 yards. The Patriots finished with 124 net yards rushing. King also completed 3 of his 10 passes for 68 total passing yards. Maurice Berryhill finished the day with 84 total all-purpose yards to put him over 1000 all-purpose yards on the season. Defensively, PJ Hughes (Montezuma, GA) was named the NAPA Auto Parts Player of the Game with 12 tackles and 1 pass breakup. Desmond Cruver followed with 10 tackles, half of a sack, half of a tackle for loss, and 1 interception. Both Victor Smith (Knoxville, TN) and MSC East Defensive Player of the Year, Travis Thurmond (Statham, GA) finished the day with 7 tackles a piece. Sean Mounts punted 6 times for an average of 37 yards and put one punt within the opponent's 20 yard line.

Head Patriot Coach John Bland couldn't be happier for his team as his eyes were filled with tears. "We have had a great season and today's loss came from an excellent team," said Bland. "All of our athletes played their heart out today and our coaches have done a great job all season. There were a couple of plays where I wanted to throw the ball or do something a little bit different, then I remembered that we are the #2 team in the nation for rushing. Unfortunately, St. Francis had a very tough defense and held us to under 200 offensive yards. I could not be more proud of everyone that came with us today. This season is not because of a great team, it's because of a great program that is expected to continue each year to be the best they can be. We will lose some great senior athletes and some others may even transfer out, but we have a very strong core of football players who will return. We will go on from here, emphasizing the importance of academics and getting ready for spring football. This has been a great year and I hate to see it come to an end, but only one team can come away with the victory in the end."