Battered and injured, the Cumberland High School football team traveled to Central last Friday with one eye on the future in what turned out to be a 27-0 loss to the Chargers in Victoria.

Despite the shutout loss, the Dukes found some positives to take from the contest.

“I feel we gained some positives for the future,” said CHS head coach Michael Sutton, whose team was playing without the services of quarterback Devonte Booker and Rashawn Sims due to injury. “We went with some younger players, and all things considered, I thought we played fairly well.”

Shaquille Warren held quarterback duties, and was 6-15 for 82 yards on the night with three interceptions, while Quentin Langhorne rushed for 85 yards on 12 carries.

Javon Boatwright had three catches for 42 yards, while Antonio Richardson had two grabs for 22 yards.

“Considering that we played a lot of younger kids up front on our lines, they got after it, which gives us a glimmer of hope for next year. I thought that Richardson played a really good game at wide out. He made some really nice catches.”

Cumberland trailed 14-0 at halftime, and missed out on its best chance to get back into the contest on a dropped wide-open pass in Central territory.

Central scored twice more, including its final score on an interception return for a touchdown on fourth down late in the game.

“We didn't gain anything by punting the ball, so we decided to go for it. There was nothing to lose. The play was there, but we went with the wrong receiver.”

Defensively, Cumberland was led by CJ Anderson, who had 13 tackles, while Richardson and Arthur Byrd recorded seven stops apiece.

"Our defensive guys played pretty well, on the whole. They gave up three scores, and usually you'd like to think that a performance like that will keep you in a ball game.”

Cumberland will receive a bye week, before it wraps up the season next Friday at Randolph-Henry.

“We'll be preparing for next year, while also giving our seniors one more shot at a win,” said Sutton. “We should have Booker and Sims back. We'll go into the game looking to start next season coming in off a win.”