FCS HOSTS E. ROBERTSON FRIDAY

And then there was one.

Friendship Christian is the only Wilson County prep football remaining alive in the TSSAA playoffs after Mt. Juliet and Watertown both bit the dust Friday, Nov. 6.

The 9-1 Commanders, beneficary of a bye along with their No. 2-seeding in their six team bracket, will host East Robertson Friday, Nov. 13 at Pirtle Field.

The Indians improved to 9-2 last week by blasting Watertown 46-0 at Barry Baker Memorial Field.

QB Logan Moody and wide receiver David Woodard hooked up for East Robertson’s first three scores -- pass plays of 53, 36 and 42 yards en route to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Watertown ended the season 7-4.

Mt. Juliet trailed 9-0 early, but kept fighting in a 19-14 home loss to defending 5A state champ Oakland Friday.

The Golden Bears, who started the season 9-0, closed out the 2009 campaign 9-2.

Oakland improved to 9-2 and will play at Cookeville Friday, Nov. 13. The Cavs ousted Franklin County 21-11.

SOUTH POINT, Ohio - Redshirt freshman Ken Dixon ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns Saturday as Cumberland University downed MSC West rival Kentucky Christian 45-20 at South Point High School.

Cumberland (5-5, 3-2) finished with 357 yards of total offense, including 255 in the first half. The Bulldogs scored on each of its first three drives, taking a 17-0 lead before the Knights (1-9, 1-5) were able to convert their initial first down.

"You want to come out and play solid football early and we did that," said CU head coach Dewayne Alexander.

"I was disappointed not finishing a couple of drives there. The defense got us the ball on the short field and we wound up kicking a field goal and we fumbled away another scoring opportunity. Give their bunch credit -- they kept playing."

After forcing a three-and-out, the Bulldogs took advantage of good field position, driving 54 yards in four plays, capped by a 35-yard touchdown run by Dixon.

In the first half alone, the Thomasville, Ga. native had five carries for 99 yards. Cumberland’s two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 6-0.

Another KCU punt set up the Bulldogs near midfield again, and Dixon took the first-down handoff 43 yards to the Knight 10-yard line. CU advanced five more yards before the drive stalled and setting up Josh Smith’s first career field goal from 22 yards out. The defensive lineman, who assumed the kicking duties two weeks ago, missed a kick against Belhaven and did not attempt a try last week.

The Bulldogs were back in the end zone exactly two minutes later after Mike Hart recovered a fumble on Kentucky Christian’s first play of the ensuing drive, giving CU a 24-yard field to work with. Kelsea Fordham scored five plays later from eight yards out and Christian Burnett hooked up with Daniel Dayton for the two-point conversion and a 17-0 lead.

CU added another touchdown in the second quarter when Da’Juan Manning punched it in from three yards out. Smith converted the extra point, making it a 24-0 game at the half.

It took just 13 seconds for the Bulldogs to find the end zone in the second half as Manning returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. Ervin Young ran in the two-point conversion to put Cumberland up 32-0.

KCU scored 20 straight points to get within two scores before CU put the nails in the coffin with touchdown runs by Mitch McChurch and another by Dixon, who finished the game with 148 yards. Smith connected on an extra point after McChurch’s two-yard TD.

CU closes out the season with a contest at Lambuth University next Saturday at noon.

By DONOVAN STEWART

The regular season has ended and the playoffs, which are always exciting, are upon us but fthe playoffs are under new management called the "Z" plan.

TSSAA Makes Major Gaffe On Statewide Radio Show - The TSSAA made some embarrassing errors made while announcing the first round playoff pairings on a statewide radio broadcast Saturday. After all since the playoffs were first introduced back in 1969, the TSSAA have made several changes in the playoff system.

The "Z" plan playoff pairings were announced Saturday morning for the eight classifications which translated to 88 first round games, nothing seemed wrong.

Three weeks earlier, the TSSAA had sent a letter to all playoff eligible coaches a list of telephone numbers of teams, they could be playing so exchanging of films would happen. But as members of the TSSAA got back to TSSAA headquarters errors were found in Division II-A, Class 3A, 5A and 6A.

The TSSAA had to remove the playoff brackets off their website to make corrections which caused confusion and frustration for coaches, players and fans alike.

Some of the errors found were: District 16AAA champion White Station was listed a No. 6 seed and was put on the road to face Wooddale a district runner up. The mistake was White Station being a district champion should have been listed as a top three seed because they were district champion. The TSSAA corrected the mistake and White Station is now listed as a No. 2 seed and will play at home against wild card participant Cordova while Wooddale will host Millington.

White County was originally supposed to play Glencliff which is a 94 mile trip in the Class 5A playoffs, and the coaches had met to exchange films. The only problem was White County now travels to Anderson County which is a 130 mile trip.

One of the main reasons for the switch to the Z plan from the traditional five public classes and two private classes which allowed the top four teams from each region to go to the playoffs was to cut down on travel.

But has the first round pairings really cut down on travel? In fact 29 of the 88 playoff games (32.9 %) scheduled Friday will be with teams traveling over 100 miles including.

WEDNESDAY'S CU RADIO SHOW -- Cumberland University’s weekly radio show with football coach Dewayne Alexander is set Wednesday, Nov. 11, between the hours of 6-7 p.m. at Legends Sports Grill in Lebanon on WANT FM-98.9. Host Tommy Bryan and Alexander will discuss last week’s 45-20 win at Kentucky Christian University and the regular season final this Saturday at nationally-ranked Lambuth. The public is invited to attend and receive a 10 percent discount off food during the show.

CU hosts vb clinic -- Cumberland University will host a one-day volleyball clinic Saturday, November 21 for girls ages 8-18. The clinic will be held at CU’s Dallas Floyd Recreation Center between the hours of 9 a.m. - 12 Noon. Cost will be $40 per athlete. For information, contact CU Coach Dwayne Deering at: 615-547-1318 or 615-449-4975 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

CU softball clinic -- Cumberland softball is hosting a fall clinic Saturday, November 21 for girls ages 5-13. The All Skills Clinic for younger players runs from 9 a.m. to 12 Noon and costs $30 per player. Pre-register by calling coach Heather Stanfill at 615-547-1324.

LEBANON -- When the tempo of the game picks up, Cumberland’s Brittany Cash is money. The former White County High star came off the bench for 18 points, including 17 in the second half, as CU opened the season with an 86-40 basketball win over Hiwassee Monday at the Dallas Floyd Center.

Cash rang up 13 points in a six minute stretch midway through the second half while Cumberland was busy holding Hiwassee scoreless during a 19-0 run.

The game marked first career victory for CU head coach Jeremy Lewis, a former Bulldog player and assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s programs.

"I was really pleased with our effort on the defensive end," Lewis said. "If we’re going to be competitive in this league -- we’ve got to bust it every possession on defense."

Cumberland held a 14-point halftime lead and outscored the Tigers, 48-16, after the break, including 17 points from Cash, who hit a trio of 3-pointers and 5-of-6 at the foul line.

All told, four CU players scored in double figures, including 13 points from Stephanie Martin and 10 by Ashley Whitmore. Simone Ryan posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Cumberland plays at Austin Peay next Monday and Samford next Tuesday, both exhibition games.

CU men fade in second half -- A double-double by Brandon Springer (23 points, 11 rebounds) wasn’t enough to lift Cumberland over Hiwassee in Monday’s nightcap. The Bulldogs blew an 11-point lead in the second half and fell to 0-2 on the season with an 81-77 loss to the Tigers.

Cumberland led its home opener 64-53 with less than eight minutes to play in the contest when the Tigers went on a 15-5 run to cut the deficit to a single point.

The two teams swapped buckets on the next four possessions before Nashville native Adrian Williamson hit 1-of-2 free throws to put CU up by two with 1:50 to play.

On the Tigers’ next trip down the court, Nick Hudson drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner to give Hiwassee its first lead since the 3:56 mark of the first half. Adrian McLaurin’s layup off a Bulldog turnover added to the visitors’ lead, which Cumberland was never able to erase.

The Bulldogs were plagued by poor shooting in the second half, going 14-of-37 from the floor, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range, and making only one jump shot.

Of Cumberland’s 34 second-half points, 26 came from layups and six were from the free throw line, which was another source of inconsistency as the Bulldogs made only 12 of their 26 shots from the charity stripe on the night.

Williamson finished with 20 points for the Bulldogs who return to action next Tuesday when they entertain Oakwood University at 7 p.m.