Games were played Friday, Monday

Another key injury made an already unenviable task even more difficult this past weekend for Cumberland County High School’s varsity football team, which played twice in three days and lost both games.

The Dukes played their scheduled game Friday at Nottoway High School, holding their own for a while, but then senior star athlete Ziahir Berry was sidelined due to a hand injury. The Cougars ended up pulling away for a 42-12 victory. Next, the Dukes had to turn around and play at Amelia County High School on Monday night in what was a make-up game, postponed due to Hurricane Florence.

Cumberland was overwhelmed by the undefeated Raiders and a surprising flurry of onside kicks that helped them establish a sizable lead fairly quickly en route to a 67-12 blowout win.

Dukes Head Coach Jamaal Artis noted Amelia kicked about five straight onside kicks, successfully recovering the ball several times.

“We literally didn’t have the ball until the second quarter,” he said.

His team scored on a short touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Ramir Parker and an approximately 65-yard touchdown run by junior tailback DaJuan Brown.

“We’ve just got a lot of things we need to fix special teams-wise,” Artis said. “Offensively, the couple possessions we did have, we looked good. (We) kind of fizzled out towards the end.”

Junior center Blake Barker went down in the second quarter with a probable concussion. Berry’s injury kept him out of Monday’s game.

Cumberland (0-5) hosts Goochland High School (5-0) on Friday at 7 p.m.