Heading to the Top

The quote of the week: “That’s good, moving up is better than moving down and I’m glad that our season is off in a positive direction.” commented Cumberlands coach John Bland.
The University of Cumberlands moved up to 13th in the first NAIA poll of the season after starting the preseason at 18th. The Patriots were 20th in the Victory Sports Network and National Weekly Gazette poll during the first week but moved up to 12th in both polls after their 20-9 win over the Union College Bulldogs.
The Patriots are on the road Saturday for a non-conference game at North Greenville. The Crusaders opened the season with a loss to UVA-Wise 48-35 then returned home to beat Fairmont State last week, 28-7.
North Greenville will be a tough road game for the Patriots but with a trip to Austin Peay later in the season this will be a good test for Bland’s young men.
North Greenville quarterback Eric Moeller is a veteran and is among the NCAA-Division II leaders. He is ranked 24th in yards passing with an average of 243 and is 20th in pass efficiency. The Crusaders are averaging 448 yards per game, a good test for the Patriots’ defense.
High School football
It’s week five for the high school football teams and none of the coaches feel their teams have played a complete game. Corbin came close to a complete game last week with a 20-7 win over Lexington Christian. The win was a little revenge after last year’s 40-32 loss to the Eagles.
Junior Josh Sanders may have had the best game of the season against LCA. He scored three touchdowns and ran for over 100 yards.
There were a couple of big games by Whitley Co. Colonels. Jordan McCumbers and Cody Jeffries had an outstanding game against Lynn Camp while the Wildcats’ Joe Roskopf had his usual 100+ outing.
Down at Williamsburg, senior quarterback Thomas Frazier continues to show a lot of improvement. The thing about the Yellow Jackets, several underclassmen have really stepped up. Freshman Dusty Brown made a nice catch and turned it into a long gain against Oneida as well as Charlie Bryant, Aaron Brock and Will Moses.
The Yellow Jackets should be 4-0 at this point of the season. They are one point away from having a perfect record.
High School Soccer
After starting the season with three shutout losses to Southwestern, Madison Southern and Somerset, the Corbin Redhounds have turned things around. They tagged North Laurel with a 2-0 loss then beat Pulaski County 4-1 and tied Southwestern the second time the teams met.
They were scheduled to play OBI last night in a district contest. They could be 2-0 in district play with a win over the Mountaineers. They will play at home Monday night against Perry Central. It will be a girl-boy doubleheader, so get out and see the teams play.
Volleyballers
Corbin seems to be on top in girls’ volleyball. The Redhounds won the North Laurel Invitational last week by knocking off the host team in the championship game.
The Redhounds are 15-6 and have won eight straight games. There two biggest games of the season are coming up back to back. They will host Cumberland Thursday night and Middlesboro Tuesday night. Cumberland will come in with a 6-1 record while Middlesboro comes in with a possible 11-0 record. Middlesboro was scheduled to play Cumberland Tuesday night.
Coach Alecia Elwell has the Redhounds playing some good volleyball. She put together a competitive schedule with a couple of tournaments this year and it has helped. Corbin will make a run at the 13th region title this year. They will have their eye on the Rockets of Rockcastle County.