LEBANON, Tenn.—The Phoenix are in the sunshine state for week two as they look to get to .500 on the road at Webber.
Early season struggles in week one doomed Cumberland as they lost to Union at home, but good news is that it is early enough in the season right the ship. Cumberland will have to cool off the Warriors in their home opener to get back to .500 when they return to Nokes-Lasater.
A long road trip like this may be just what Cumberland needs after camp finished and last week's game, but let's take the positives from that game.
A lot of young talent were on the field for the Phoenix as we saw several true freshmen and transfers make their Cumberland debut. Freshman corner Kion Threalkill looked sharp in coverage and tied for the team lead in tackles. Cumberland's bread and butter, ground and pound offense exploded for a few big plays. If Cumberland can get in a rhythm with the pass game, it can really open up running backs Treylon Sheppard, Nick Burge, and Tim Pannell.
Defensive end Jalen Brown intercepted a pass at the line of scrimmage. Transfers Derek Taylor and Dez Wallace each collected six tackles.
The Warriors enter the game 1-0 after going on the road and defeating St. Andrews, an opponent Cumberland will see later in the season, 49-14. Webber got off to a strong start leading 35-7 at the half.
Webber quarterback Blake Birchler had a good showing going 10-of-15 for 137 yards and three touchdowns. The Warriors used a slew of backs rushing for 125 rushes on 26 carries in the game. 10 different receivers caught a pass with no one catching more than two for a balanced attack across the field.
Defensive back Parker Snead had a big game getting in on a lot of action posting a team high 10 tackles. Defensive lineman Josiah Everett caused havoc in St. Andrews backfield picking up two sacks.
These two teams met last year with Cumberland coming out on top, 25-24. The Phoenix picked up a game winning field goal with less than three minutes to play to get the win.
In the All-Time Series History Cumberland is 2-0 over Webber with a win in 2022 and 2018.
The game is set to kickoff at 12:30 p.m. central time and 1:30 p.m. local time in Florida. The Cumberland Sports Network will be there to call the action. Webber will have a live stream of the game at https://thesundigitalnetwork.com/webberinternational/. Those who wish to keep with the live stats can follow the game here: https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2023-24/boxscores/20230902_9cos.xml.
