The Cumberland Dukes varsity football team traveled to Charles City High School on Friday night for its season opening game. The Dukes gave head coach Ed Knapp his first victory at CHS with a 22-8 win.

The defenses dominated the first quarter of play with Keyshawn Diming, Kaleb Boyles, Dakoda Boyles, Jamie Trent and T.J. Jackson helping keep Charles City off the scoreboard.

In the second quarter, Cumberland got on the board as Daquan Trent took a handoff and rushed 63 yards for the first Dukes score. The conversion attempt failed, but Cumberland still had an early 6-0 lead.

The Cumberland offense got another score before halftime as Brandon Leabough connected on a seven-yard touchdown pass to Ahmad Booker. The Dukes went for two and Jamie Trent took a handoff in for the two-point conversion giving Cumberland a 14-0 lead at halftime.

The third quarter saw both teams get their offense rolling as Charles City was finally able to get past the Cumberland defense to add a touchdown and two-point conversion to their side of the scoreboard. However, the Cumberland defense made up for that touchdown as Jaylen Gilliam picked off a Charles City pass and raced 30 yards for the third Cumberland touchdown. De’Suan Jennings rushed in for the two-point conversion to seal Cumberland’s win.

Jennings finished the night with 13 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Daquan Trent followed with two carries for 74 yards. Booker had a catch for seven yards that led to a touchdown.

Leabough went 1-for-2 in passing for seven yards. He also had a touchdown.

The Dukes defense was led by Diming, Kaleb Boyles and Dakoda Boyles with four tackles each.

Cumberland will be off next week, but will return home on Sept. 11 to take on Bluestone in their district-opener.