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An offense producing 550 yards while the defense holds the opposition to 166 will do that. Jacob Cornejo ran for 105 yards and Rod Payne 89 with two touchdowns each. Jaylen Abston, in his first extensive college action after a record-setting career at Lebanon High, ran for 120 yards on seven carries and threw for 74 yards, including his first collegiate TD toss as Cumberland climbed to 2-1 for the season.

“I’m proud of the fact that when we have a game like this and an opponent like this, we do what we’re supposed to do,� Cumberland coach Tim Mathis said. “When there’s blood in the water we need to put it away and make a statement.

“That’s what we need to do nationally NAIA if you’re going to get ranked, we got to make statement games. When we’re supposed to put somebody away, we need to do it.�

CU got started early as Ryan Edmiston made a juggling and diving catch of Zach Holtsclaw’s 16-yard touchdown pass in the left corner of the end zone. Payne’s 6-yard scoring run doubled the lead to 14-0 going into the second quarter.

Ave Maria found a running game early in the second quarter and cut the lead in half on Reggie McBride’s 7-yard scoring run.

It was all Cumberland after that. Cornejo’s scoring runs of 4 and 5 yards in the last 1:16 of the first half to up the count to 28-7 by halftime. Payne’s 55-yard scamper and Lamar Chldress’ 1-yarder made it 41-7.

Abston then threw a beautiful 59-yarder in strike to Jarrius Rogers (three catches for 104 yards) for a 48-7 count late in the third. Holtzclaw capped the scoring with a 1-yard run in the fourth.

“That’s what he can do,� Mathis said of Abston. “Our two-quarterback system works really well because they complement each other. Both do something just a little different from each other. But both can do what the other can do, too. Zach can run the ball and Jaylen can throw the ball.�

Cumberland plowed through Ave Maria’s defense for 382 yards on 59 carries while both teams kept penalties to a minimum.

“I’m really proud as an offensive line coach, I got to play nine or 10 guys tonight,� Mathis said. “I got a lot of guys in the game and they did really well.

“I was proud we only had five penalties. Five penalties are even too much. But they’re much better than 12 from last week. We just executed a lot better.�

Ave Maria, which fell to 0-2, had 96 passing yards and 70 on the ground. The Phoenix sacked two Gyrene quarterbacks four times, forced four fumbles (recovering two) and intercepted a pass (Cannon Johnson).

“I’m really proud of the defense,� Mathis said. “I got a little upset in the second quarter because they just ran it down our throat and scored. But after that, defense was like ‘No more of this’ and we had four or five sacks, several more turnovers. When you’re doing that and you’re giving the ball back to the offense, good things are going to happen.�

This was Cumberland’s last home game for five weeks. The Phoenix face four road games, starting with Saturday’s trip to Pikeville (5 p.m. CDT kickoff) and an open date before they return home to host Campbellsville on Oct. 25.

Cumberland 55, Ave Maria 7Ave Maria|0|7|0|0—7

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First quarter

Cumberland—Ryan Edmiston 16 pass from Zach Holtzclaw (Jack Kantner kick), 8:15.

Cumberland—Rod Payne 6 run (Kantner kick), 1:01.

Second quarter

Ave Maria—Reggie McBride 7 run (Jake Matigian kick), 8:38.

Cumberland—Jacob Cornejo 4 run (Kantner kick), 1:16.

Cumberland—Cornejo 5 run (Kantner kick), :37.

Third quarter

Cumberland—Payne 55 run (Kantner kick), 10:33.

Cumberland—Lamar Childress 1 run (kick failed), 3:14.

Cumberland—Jarrius Rogers 59 pass from Jaylen Abston (Kantner kick), :54.

Fourth quarter

Cumberland—Holtzclaw 1 run (Kantner kick), 4:24.

Team statistics

|Ave|Cumb

First downs|11|29

-Rush-Pass-Penalty|8-1-2|21-8-0

Rushes-yards|33-96|59-382

Passing yards|70|168

-Comp.-Att.-Int.|10-18-1|9-14-0

Fumbles-lost|4-2|0-0

Penalties-yards|5-29|5-42

Punts-avg.|6-38.5|2-33.5

Individual statistics

RUSHING—Ave Maria: Logan Howard 14-49, Jeremiah Dolce 7-33, Reggie McBride 10-28, Team 1-(-4), Jake Poldiak 1-(-10). Cumberland: Jaylen Abston 7-120, Jacob Cornejo 21-105, Rod Payne 10-89, Lamar Childress 12-51, Zach Holtzclaw 4-19, Jarrius Rogers 1-3, Jake Parker 1-2, Isaac Finch 1-(-1), Team 2-(-6).

PASSING—Ave Maria: Logan Howard 8-14-1—58, Jake Poldiak 2-4-0—12. Cumberland: Zach Holtzclaw 6-9-0—94, Jaylen Abston 3-5-0—59.

RECEIVING—Ave Maria: Wesley From 10-30, Drew Mabrito 2-20, Darrin Van Horn 2-10, Chase Enguita 1-9, Joey Audia 2-4, Reggie McBride 1-1, Justin Jean-Louis 1-(-4). Cumberland: Jarrius Rogers 3-104, William Spence 1-18, Ryan Edmiston 1-16, Isaac Finch 2-14, Carson Posch 1-10, Jacob Cornejo 1-6.