Georgetown honors legendary football coach, Tigers lose by 1

Cumberlands defeats Georgetown College 24-23

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (Georgetown Athletics) – A perfect weather day was befitting for a Hall of Famer who proved a perfect fit at Georgetown for 25 years as head football coach. Georgetown College formally honored Bill Cronin and his wife, Ellen, for their decades of service and leadership to Georgetown College.

Although the final score did not go in the Tigers favor, the day was about honoring the greatest coach in Georgetown football history and one of the greatest in NAIA history. Bill Cronin won 218 games, 2 national championships and 14 Mid-South Conference Championships while leading the Tigers from 1997-2021. The day was more than a celebration of numbers. It began with Tiger assistant coaches Steve Wynn, Dwayne Ellison, Steve Hill, and Marty Park delivering well wishes to Coach Cronin. All 4 either played or coached under Cronin at Georgetown.

It was at halftime that Coach Cronin and his family were thanked for their decades of service to Georgetown. Warm wishes were given by Georgetown College President, Dr. Rosemary Allen, Vice President of Athletics, Brian Evans, and Mid-South Conference Commissioner, Eric Ward. The conference announced early Saturday morning that Bill Cronin would join Tom Dowling in having their names permanently on the Mid-South Conference Regular Season Champion Trophy. More information on that can be found here. Brian Evans announced to the crowd that Coach Cronin would have a permanent home near the President’s Box at Toyota Stadium along with his own permanently reserved parking space outside the conference center adjacent to Toyota Stadium. Evans also said those were the first of many honors to come for Coach Cronin, with more being announced at a later date.

Coach Cronin then took the microphone, surrounded by family, friends, fans and former players to address the Toyota Stadium crowd. “This is an incredibly special day. I am so humbled by all of the support I’ve received over the years and everyone I’ve talked to today. There is no way to measure my love for Georgetown College, the Georgetown community, and our football program. I’ve been incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people in my life and here as head coach. We always tried to do things the right way and judging by [everyone’s] support, I think we did that and that makes me prouder than any win we had. I love Georgetown and even though I’m retired, I’m not going anywhere. This is and always will be home. Tiger Pride on 3.” A crowd of over 2000 people gave Coach Cronin one final Tiger Pride.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon filled with excitement as Georgetown honored NAIA Hall of Fame Head Coach Bill Cronin, it was the Cumberlands Patriots who ended the day all smiles as they upset the #11 Georgetown Tigers, 24-23.

It was thought to be a defensive struggle between Georgetown and Cumberlands and for most of the day that proved true. The only scoring in the 1st quarter came from Georgetown (5-2, 3-2) thanks to a 27-yard Chris Cline field goal. The score capped off a 15-play, 82-yard drive. The ensuing kickoff would prove to be the last for Cline as he left the game due to injury. Both teams struggled to move the ball throughout the first half. Cumberlands (4-4, 2-4) showed life early in the 2nd quarter with a drive to the Georgetown 21, but the Patriots missed on a 39-yard field goal, keeping the Tigers ahead, 3-0.

The Tigers would take the next drive to the Cumberlands 25-yard line, but with Cline out, Head Coach Chris Oliver elected to go for a 4th down conversion, but a pass from Gehrig Slunaker to Dillon Warren fell incomplete and the Tigers turned the ball over. Georgetown finished the day 1-5 on 4th down. Cumberlands took the ball and put together its first scoring drive. Led by a strong run attack and a 30-yard pass, the Patriots got in scoring range. Patriots QB Stevie Orr hit Elijah Edwards in the left flat and thanks to an Edwards broken tackle, the Patriots had a touchdown and a 7-3 lead with 2:30 left in the 1st half. The score would remain 7-3 at halftime.

In the 2nd half, Cumberlands took the ball first, but the Tigers’ Rob Sheffield picked off a deflected pass to put Georgetown in business at the Patriots 44. Tight End Jeremy Adams took over from there. He caught a 10-yard pass from Slunaker, then broke free down the left seam for a 31-yard score on the very next play. Drew Rader’s extra point put the Tigers ahead, 10-7, and sent Toyota Stadium into a frenzy. The party would be short lived as the Patriots’ Jahmal Hutsell took the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown and put Cumberlands immediately back in front.

After a GC 3-and-out, Cumberlands put together another drive into the Georgetown red zone. On a 4th-and-2, former Tigers defensive coordinator and now Cumberlands head coach, Shan Housekeeper, turned down a 32-yard field goal try, opting to go for the conversion. Chad Holleran had other ideas as he stuffed the Patriots runner, giving the Tigers the ball back. Holleran finished the day with 11 tackles.

The two teams would trade 3-and-outs to follow. After a 67-yard Patriots punt, the Tigers started a possession on its own 1 with under 3 minutes left in the third. GC was able to gain breathing room, but was stymied at its own 23. With the punt unit on for a 4th-and-1, a Cumberlands defender jumped into the neutral zone giving the Tigers a first down to continue the drive. On the next play, Gehrig Slunaker went for the long shot, but his pass was intercepted by Cumberlands’ Malik Thornton and returned to the GC 40. The Patriots would take the ball into the 4th quarter, and this time would try a 42-yard field goal, which was converted to give UC a 17-10 lead less than 3 minutes into the 4th. Georgetown responded with a 14-play, 56-yard drive that culminated in a 4th and 4 from the UC 15-yard line. The Tigers would again go for the conversion and would be turned away once more.

Cumberlands did little with the ball and punted back to Georgetown with 4:58 left. Slunaker connected with Josh Gary on a 27-yard pass to put the Tigers at the Cumberlands 26. The Patriots’ Malik Thornton made his presence felt again on the very next play. Slunaker attempted a quick screen to the right, looking for Aaron Maggard, but Thornton read the play perfectly, picked off the pass and took it to the house, giving Cumberlands a 24-10 lead with 4:02 left. The Tigers’ Dillon Warren came up huge with a 58-yard kickoff return to give the Tigers possession at the UC 22-yard line. On the first play, the Patriots dropped 8 in coverage, giving Slunaker a checkdown option to Darius Neal, who broke 2 tackles on the left sideline and scored on the 22-yard catch and run. The extra point cut the Cumberlands lead to 24-17 with 3:54 left.

The Tigers D forced another 3-and-out to get the offense the ball back with 2:48 left at its own 22. The biggest sequence of the game then came. On 3rd down from the GC 28, Slunaker zipped a pass between 3 Patriots defenders to Jeremy Adams. Adams then broke through 4 tackles on the left sideline and rumbled to the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown, bringing the Tigers within 1 with 1:41 left. Drew Rader, subbing for the injured Chris Cline, then pushed the extra point wide right, keeping the score 24-23, Cumberlands.

The only option left was an onside kick. Rader delivered a perfect ball and the Tigers recovered the onside kick at its own 46. Slunaker connected with Dillon Warren and Aaron Maggard to put the ball at the UC 22-yard line with less than a minute left. On the next play, Slunaker was called for intentional grounding while trying to avoid a sack, forcing Georgetown to burn a timeout and avoid a 10-second runoff. The Tiger QB couldn’t evade the pressure on the next play as he was sacked and fumbled the ball. Darius Neal recovered the fumble but it was back at the Cumberlands 40. After a GC false start, the Tigers faced a 3rd-and-33, and a pass attempt to Jeremy Adams went incomplete. The Tigers were left with an essential Hail Mary, and Slunaker was once again sacked and fumbled. Cumberlands recovered and took 1 knee to end the game, sealing a 24-23 upset for Cumberlands.

Gehrig Slunaker took every snap on the day and finished 30-47 for 397 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs. Jeremy Adams had his best day in a Tiger uniform with 5 receptions for 137 yards and the 2 touchdowns. Issac Young had a stellar day on the Tigers defensive line with 11 tackles and 2.5 sacks. The Tigers outgained Cumberlands 452-233 on the day but it was the special teams and defensive touchdowns for the Patriots that proved to be the difference.

Georgetown heads on the road next week for a night time showdown with Campbellsville. Kickoff is slated for 6:00pm.