Explosive plays fuel Pirates, Titans drop fifth straight game

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GREENUP – Friday marked the final game of a mini two-game road trip for the Tri-County Titans football team. The Titans were looking to break a four-game losing streak after a 36-6 loss at Argenta, while the Cumberland Pirates, the home team, was coming off of an impressive 46-6 road win in Arcola and needed only one more win to become playoff eligible. As the ball kicked off, it was explosive, quick plays that propelled Cumberland to a 42-8 win.

The Pirates wasted no time getting into the endzone, using a strong running game to score at the 10:46 mark as Grant Keyser found a seam to go 21 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was good to make the score 8-0. 

Cumberland kept up the running game during its next possession, hitting paydirt again with 3:26 left as Cameron Brown punched the ball in from four yards out. The two-point conversion was successful, increasing the Pirates’ lead to 16-0.

The lone score in the second quarter came via the passing game as Hudson McElravy found Zack Harmon for a seven-yard touchdown pass with 6:57 left. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 22-0. That score held as the teams went in for the halftime break.

Cumberland didn't stop there, going back to the ground game at the 6:09 mark of the third quarter as Keyser scored on a four-yard run. The two-point conversion was good and the Pirates were cruising at 30-0. 

Cumberland caught a break as the ensuing kickoff bounced off of the foot of a Titan player allowing the Pirates to recover the ball. The host team capitalized, marching down the field and handing the ball off to Brown for a one-yard touchdown at the 3:20 mark. The two-point conversion failed to put the score at 36-0 heading into the final twelve minutes.

The Pirates put an exclamation point on the game with 6:33 left, getting the ball back to Brown for a two-yard touchdown run. 

The two-point conversion failed putting the tally at 42-0 and the game into a running clock.  Tri-County didn't lay down, finally getting to march down the field using their reserves and scoring with 1:17 left as Kaden Price found Joe Henricks for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Donnie Loveall ran in the two-point conversion to make the final score 42-8 in favor of Cumberland.

Jimmy Dillon had 17 carries for 58 yards while Landon Paugh ran 11 times for 38 yards. Miles Watson had four carries for 34 yards. 

Garrett Pollock was two of five passing for seven yards and Kaden Price was one of one for 12 yards and a touchdown. Watson added four solo tackles and the duo of Paugh and Joe Henricks had three solo tackles each.

Tri-County, football, Oakland, Kansas, Shiloh, Cumberland, Titans