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“It was special because it was senior day and we played a lot of the seniors for a lot of the game,� Cumberland coach Tim Mathis said. “For what they put into this program, this was a special day.�

On the heels of quarterback Jake Parker and receiver Kaiden Hatchett turning in school passing and receiving yards in a game the week before at Lindsey Wilson, the Phoenix’s 72 points set a record for tallies in a game since the revival of the program in 1990. The previous record was 65 points scored against Campbellsville in 2022.

Parker was again on fire with four rushing touchdowns — a pair of 8-yard runs in the first quarter, a 14-yarder in the second and 16 in the third — and second-period passes of 11 yards to Isaiah O’Neal and 7 to Jarrius Rogers as CU exploded for 28 points in the quarter to go up 41-14 at halftime. Jacob Cornejo also scored on a 20-yard run in the second.

Parker gave way to Lebanon’s Jaylen Abston and redshirt freshman Brett Cortez in the second. Neither threw a pass after Parker has completed 10 of 16 for 111 yards and ran for 103 on 15 carries. But Abston gained 65 yards on seven rushes and Cortez a 60-yard fourth-quarter score on his only tote of the day.

Lamar Childress scored on a 32-yard run and William Spence a 4-yarder in the fourth quarter as Cumberland climbed to a final 7-4 record, 3-3 in the Mid-South Conference.

It marked CU’s first back-to-back seven-win season campaigns since winning at least that many in four straight campaigns from 2010-13.

“That’s a good thing to build on,� Mathis said. “I think last year was a little more satisfying because this year we had an opportunity to get into the playoffs and we didn’t do what we needed to do. But it gives us fuel going into the offseason. We got to be able to beat the teams we should be beating.�

Faulkner, which finished 4-6, 1-5, was without its quarterback and several other players due to suspensions. The Eagles trailed 13-7 at the first-quarter break on Robin Harris’ 29-yard run.

A ground-ball punt snap left Cumberland punter Nolan Gottlied hung out to dry on his 27-yard line and Faulkner used the short field to score on Harris’ 4-yard run to make it 27-14.

Cumberland, despite a stiff breeze from the south, compiled 562 yards of total offense, including 451 on the ground, while Faulkner finished with 128. The Eagles lost one fumble while two quarterbacks combined to throw four interceptions (to Cannon Johnson, Chase Manning, Daniel Smith and Nate Stephens). The Phoenix had no turnovers.

“We were able to run the ball and pretty much do what we wanted to offensively on the ground,� Mathis said. “Especially on a windy day, it makes everything a whole lot easier when you don’t have to put the ball in the air. We did a pretty decent job of throwing the ball as well.�

The Phoenix finished the year unbeaten at Nokes-Lasater. But they won just two on the road, and none in the MSC.

“Since I’ve been here (since 2018), I don’t think we’ve won every home game since I’ve been here,� Mathis said. “You got to be able to win games on the road, especially in conference. You have to. We got to be able to do that. We just got to be able to function better in some situations. Stats don’t matter. We had a couple of games we won the stat battle. The only one that matters is the scoreboard.�

Cumberland had a fourth-quarter lead at Bethel and won most of the statistical battles at Georgetown.

“We got to win those games and that’s what we’re going to be working on in this offseason,� Mathis said. “We want to take the next step and win those games we should be winning.�

Cumberland 72, Faulkner 14Faulkner|7|7|0|0 14

Cumberland|13|28|10|21 72

First quarter

Cumberland—Jake Parker 8 run (Jack Kantner kick), 9:59.

Cumberland—Parker 8 run (kick failed), 4:51.

Faulkner—Robin Harris 29 run (Jacob Huff kick), 2:30.

Second quarter

Cumberland—Parker 14 run (Kantner kick), 14:15.

Cumberland—Isaiah O’Neal 11 pass from Parker (Kantner kick), 9:49,

Faulkner—Harris 4 run (Braxton Berrey kick), 4:34.

Cumberland—Jacob Cornejo 20 run (Kantner kick), 1:52.

Cumberland—Jarrius Rogers 7 pass from Parker (Kantner kick), :29.

Third quarter

Cumberland—Parker 16 run (Kantner kick), 11:36.

Cumberland—Kantner 26 FG, :16.

Fourth quarter

Cumberland—Lamar Childress 32 run (Kantner kick), 10:36.

Cumberland—William Spence 4 run (Kantner kick), 5:15.

Cumberland—Brett Cortez 60 run (Kantner kick), 3:36.

Team statistics

|Faulk|Cumb

First downs|8|35

-Rushing|5|23

-Passing|1|8

-Penalty|2|4

Rushes-yards|31-102|56-451

Passing yards|26|111

-Comp.-Att.-Int.|5-19-4|10-16-0

Fumbles-lost|1-1|0-0

Penalties-yards|8-81|8-113

Punts-avg.|6-37.5|2-46.0

Individual statistics

RUSHING—Faulkner: Robin Harris 17-79, Eli Moore 2-10, Syles Hughes 9-7, Austin Crittenden 2-4, James Amaker 1-2. Cumberland: Lamar Childress 10-115, Jake Parker 15-103, Jacob Cornejo 10-68, Jaylen Abston 7-65, Brett Cortez 1-60, Rod Payne 5-23, Jaden Payne 2-22, Kaiden Hatchett 1-12, Nate Stephens 1-5, William Spence 1-4, Team 3-(-16).

PASSING—Faulkner: Eli Moore 5-18-3—26, Braxton Berrey 0-1-1—0. Cumberland: Jake Parker 10-16-0—111.

RECEIVING—Faulkner: Jalen Hurt 2-17, Gage Mims 1-7, Davian Liddell 1-2, Devin Townsend 1-0. Cumberland: Kaiden Hatchett 3-41, Isaac Finch 2-34, Lamar Childress 2-17, Isaiah O’Neal 1-11, Jarrius Rogers 2-8.