Keeping up in a shootout against visiting Letcher Central proved too much for the Cumberland Redskins in the second half of their season-opening game Thursday.

Letcher led 28-20 at halftime before scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter on the way to a 48-26 victory

“Our offense and special teams were pretty good, but we just couldn’t stop them from scoring,” said Cumberland coach T.J. Green. “We have to tackle better.”

Letcher running back Issac Matthews, the son of Letcher coach and former Whitesburg star Junior Matthews, was all but unstoppable as he ran for 302 yards and scored five touchdowns.

Cameron Anderson had a big game for the Redskins as he ran for 163 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Matthews set the tone for the game on the third offensive play as he beat the defense to the corner and raced 55 yards down the visitors sideline for a touchdown. Quarterback Jacob Caudill went in for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.

Dawson Cornett put the Letcher offense back in business when he recovered a fumble on the Cumberland 47. Cornett ran 44 yards two plays later before being stopped by Jonah Mumford on the 2. Cornett scored on a 2-yard run two plays later. Matthews fumbled on the handoff on the two-point attempt.

Darius Akal electrified the crowd on the ensuing kickoff as he picked up the ball on the 18 and raced 82 yards for a touchdown. Anderson added the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 14-8 with 1:03 left in the first quarter.

Matthews rumbled 51 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the opening quarter to extend the Cougars’ lead to 20-8. Steven Childers made the stop on the two-point conversion.

Childers ran 13 yards for the Redskins’ second touchdown, but Matthews answered on the next offensive play with a 72-yard run. Caudill’s two-point conversion extended the lead to 28-14.

Anderson ran 45 yards, then scored on a 5-yard run with 2:46 left in the half to cut the deficit to 28-20.

Letcher drove deep into Cumberland territory before Akal forced a fumble that Mumford recovered on the Redskins’ 2-yard line.

A 61-yard run by Matthews set up a 1-yard TD run by Caudill with 6:06 remaining in the third quarter. Cornett aded the two-point conversion.

Matthew scored on a 14-yard run to push the lead to 42-20 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.

Anderson went 44 yards for the final Cumberland touchdown with 1:46 left in the third period. Anderson was stopped short on the two-point conversion attempt.

Matthews closed the scoring by running 54 yards with 30.1 seconds left in the third period.

Cumberland (2-1) will play at Fleming-Neon on Tuesday.

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Letcher Central pulled away in the second half for a 32-6 win in the fifth- and sixth-grade game.

Kayden Adams cut Letcher’s lead to 8-6 with a 55-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Letcher scored twice in the third quarter and added another touchdown in the fourth quarter to take control of the game.

Colton Stidham and Cameron Hayes had touchdowns for the Cougars. Gavin Martin, Stephen Bingham and Landon Sturgill scored on two-point conversions.

Adams led the Cumberland offense, while linebacker Sedrick Washington paced the Redskins in tackles.