Football Cats Win Third in a Row beating University of the Cumberlands in Home Opener
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Wildcats captured their straight win of the season beating No. 17 the University of the Cumberlands 38-14 Friday night at Wildcat Stadium. Bethel moved to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in the MSC. The Patriots dropped to 1-3 and 1-3. It was Bethel's first home game since November, 2019.
The match-up was the third of a seven game season with all the games being MSC Bluegrass Division affairs.
The Cats took the opening kick-off and drove 83 yards for their first score. Anthony Hughes capped off the 14-play drive with a two yard run for the score. Rodrigo Campos hit the point after to give Bethel a 7-0 lead at the 10:45 mark. Jacob Murphree hit De'Ontay Tate on a 50 yard strike to make it 13-0 at 6:40 of the quarter and after a Campos kick it was 14-0. Murphree threw a deep ball that J'Kobi Reddick gathered in and with his brilliant speed ran in from 69 yards out and the Wildcats took a 21-0 lead with 5:41 left in the quarter.
Martize Smith scored from one yard out capping off a 13- play 71- yard drive for UC 30 seconds into the second quarter. Tripp Holloway hit the point after and Bethel's lead was shaved to 21-7. Campos closed out the first half scoring with a 24-yard field goal to give the Cats a 24-7 lead at the half.
After a scoreless third quarter Tate literally hurdled a tackler and ran for a 69-yard touchdown, right in front of the home crowd to give Bethel breathing room at 31-7 with 10:59 left in the game. Smith capped off a 234 yard rushing night with a 41-yard run to cut the UC deficit to 31-14. Murphree hit Caleb Roebuck who made a spectacular catch and after a Campos PAT Bethel would go on to win 38-14.
Coach Michael Jasper spoke about Bethel's balance on offense. "We were pleased with our balance as we had 207 yards rushing and 285 in passing. Jacob threw the ball well and our receivers ran good patterns and got open. Our running backs did a good job behind our offensive line which is one of our strengths."
Murphree was 17-of-25 on the night for 85 yards. Tate had 129 yards rushing on 20 carries. Roebuck had five catches for 83 yards. Smith led the Patriots with 234 yards on the ground. Bethel outgained UC 492-279 in total yards.
Coach Jasper summed up his thoughts about his defense. "Our kids really flew to the ball and played well. Credit Smith who had a really good game for them. He runs low and is hard to tackle but for the most part we are happy as we made several big stops when we really needed them."
UC was just 2-of-14 in third down conversions. Jakobe Griffin led the Wildcats on defense with 13 total tackles. Jerwin Young had 10 total stops. Vonte Bates had a big interception. The Wildcats had 6.5 tackles for losses in the game.
Coach Jasper summed his thoughts about the game and next week's opponent. "All in all we are happy with the game. Our kids are going to play hard and get after it. We have some things to clean up and get ready for a tough and well coached Georgetown squad. I have great respect for Coach Cronin and always look forward to coaching against him. We will need to play well and be ready for the challenge."
The Wildcats head the road again next Friday traveling to No. 19 Georgetown to face the Tigers at 2:30 p.m.
Live video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/georgetown/
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