The Cumberland Pirates did that on Saturday afternoon on the road by avoiding any sort of upset or let down.

Coach Lucas Watkins' club started strong and didn't let up, rolling to a big halftime lead in a 55-12 victory.

The winning result came about mainly because of the play of 5-6, 120 senior running back Blake McMechan.

This diminutive one put up “large” numbers in this matinee game by rushing for 212-yards on just 13-attempts, which included a pair of touchdowns, as Coach Lucas Watkins' squad proved to be too much for Tri-County in Week #7.

Behind an offensive line that opened up big holes, the Pirates racked up nearly 400-yards on the ground.

“I've never coached a kid that understands how to set up his blockers like Blake (McMechan) does. He understands the concept of setting up blocks and his vision is the best I've ever seen,” said Coach Watkins. “He's got the speed, the quickness and elusiveness. He's not very big but he is overall a really good back. We like to pull our linemen and get some downfield blocks and if you give Blake holes like that he is going to get through it and he was able to do that today.”

The win improved Cumberland to 5-2 overall and in the Lincoln Prairie Conference.

McMechan also caught a first quarter touchdown pass as the Pirates kept Tri-County winless on the season at 0-7.

McMechan caught the 16-yard TD pass to open the scoring from quarterback Braydon Olmstead, a 5-9 senior.

Olmstead threw just three passes, completing all three for 30-yards total.

Junior running back Grant Keyser rushed seven times for 50-yards and one of the TD's.

Sophomore running back Logan Gerhardt added to the numbers with a touchdown run of 17-yards.

Most of the numbers came in the first half as the Pirates scored six-consecutive touchdowns, leading 42-0 before Tri-County got on the scoreboard.

“We knew coming in that they (Tri-County) hadn't won a game all season. We saw some things on film that we thought we could exploit and we were able to do that. We scored a couple of quick ones there and got going,” said Coach Watkins.

The host Titans are mostly a young club learning on the fly for head coach TJ Blake.

There were a few bright spots for the cooperative that has the schools Oakland, Kansas and Shiloh.

Five-ten, 187 sophomore Clay Kibler led the Titans on the ground with 43-yards on 13-attempts.

Garrett Pollock, a 6-3, 176 junior quarterback, hit just 3-of-13 pass attempts but one of the completions was good for a 28-yard touchdown to junior running back Myles Watson.

Watson added 23-yards on the ground for Tri-County while freshman rusher Landen Paugh added 27-yards on seven-attempts.

Paugh scored the second touchdown for the Titans on a five-yard run.

Cumberland struck first on a quick four-play, 41-yard drive that took less than two minutes.

McMechan accounted for all of those yards on three rushing attempts.

Sitting at the Tri-County 16-yard line with a third-and-13, Olmstead attempted his first pass of the afternoon.

He found McMechan open in the endzone for the score.

Senior kicker DJ Nebel nailed the first of his seven PAT's of the day for an early 7-0 advantage.

Following a Tri-County punt on the Titans' first possession, Cumberland struck again with a 61-yard drive.

A pair of runs by Keyser sandwiched around another rush by McMechan had the Pirates in the Red Zone.

Keyser powered up the middle from 11-yards out for the second TD of the day.

With the point-after Cumberland led 14-0 with 5:37 left in the first quarter.

The Titans managed a drive into Cumberland territory on their next chance, picking up a pair of first downs as the reached the Pirates' 30.

However a fourth-and-three run by Kibler produced just a yard as Cumberland took over on downs.

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However an off-sides penalty on the Titans continued the drive.

On the next play McMechan broke through containment and went 33-yards to the Tri-County 23.

Tri-County's defense made some plays, including a sack by senior linebacker Alex Hoel that forced Cumberland into another third-and-long.

But McMechan struck again with another long run, 16-yards to the Titans' eight.

Three plays later Olmstead called his own number on a quarterback sneak for a one-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead with 7:35 left in the second quarter.

A tough break for Tri-County on the next kickoff gave the Pirates the ball back.

Nebel's line-drive kick hit Titans' freshman lineman Joe Henricks and the senior kicker pounced on the ball for Cumberland in Tri-County territory.

McMechan added to his totals on the fourth play of the ensuing drive, taking a hand-off from Olmstead and running 25-yards to the endzone for the touchdown.

Another PAT pushed the lead to 28-0.

Kade McMechan, a 5-8 sophomore, got in on the fun with an interception on the next Tri-County drive.

Taking over at their own 49, Cumberland got a 33-yard run from the senior McMechan and a 17-yard TD run from Gerhardt.

The PAT made it 35-0 with 4:44 left.

Disaster struck again for the young Titans on the next possession as another pass from Pollock was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by defensive back Kelby Bierman.

McMechan closed out his brilliant day on the next series for the Pirates.

The senior weaved his way through some traffic and then out-raced the Titans' defenders into the endzone.

The 40-yard run made it 42-0 with 2:38 left in the half.

Tri-County didn't quit playing and it showed on the next possession as the Titans finally got on the scoreboard.

It took eight plays but the host scored just before halftime.

Helped by a roughing the passer penalty, Tri-County got in scoring range.

Pollock dropped back and found Watson sprinting down the right sideline.

The junior receiver caught the ball in stride and went in untouched for the first score of the day.

The 28-yard score was the longest play of the day for the home team.

The two-point conversion failed, sending the teams to the half at 42-6 Cumberland.

The Pirates triggered the mercy rule continuous clock on its first possession of the second half.

After stopping Tri-County on the first series, Cumberland went 46-yards in six-plays.

Bierman scored on a four-yard run with another successful PAT making it 49-6.

The two teams exchanged touchdowns in the final minutes.

Tri-County put together a 12-play, 64-yard drive for its final points.

Paugh scored on a five-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Cumberland sophomore Quentin Dulong went 19-yards for a TD with 3:23 remaining.

A bad snap on the PAT kept Nebel from another extra-point kick, closing the scoring.

“He (Nebel) is a weapon to have and we've gained more confidence in him. He is actually a first year player and he put in a lot of time in the summer. He has progressed nicely throughout the season,” said Coach Watkins.

Cumberland racked up 376-yards rushing on 39-attempts and held the Titans to just 117-yards on the ground.

Tri-County will try to get its first win of the season next week at unbeaten Sullivan/Okaw Valley and will end its season hosting Villa Grove on October 20.

“We're getting our young guys experience and that is all we can do at this point. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other,” said Coach Blake. “The seniors are hanging in there and I've told them I'm not going to give up on them. They still have two games left in their high school careers. They keep battling.”

Coach Watkins has his team playoff eligible and can guarantee a spot with one additional win in its final two games at Nokomis (3-4) or at home to Argenta-Oreana (3-4).

Wins in both contests would secure a better first round matchup.

“Next week we play at Nokomis and they're tough. They played Sullivan really tough last night and they're going to be a load,” said Coach Watkins.