Offensive lineman Cade Cumbie, first-year business administration major, made history this week when it was announced Wednesday that he is the first true first-year in William Jewell College Football history to earn second team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) honors. Cumbie was one of seven Cardinals to earn All-GLVC honors. Linebacker Quayde Bauman, senior business administration, psychology and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry (ACT-IN) major, was selected to the All-GLVC first team. Running back Trejuan Mask, senior business administration and accounting major, joined Cumbie as an All-GLVC second team pick. Quarterback Brad Strauss, senior recreation and sport major, wide receiver Bulla Graft, junior business administration major, defensive end Kier Stamp, senior accounting, business administration and ACT-IN major, and defensive back Justice Taylor, junior physics major, were all named as All-GLVC honorable mentions.
“It means a lot to me. I came in here as a freshman and my expectation was that there’s really not that many [first-years] that get to play,” said Cumbie. “It was my goal this summer to start and so I tried to work harder than everyone else. That’s why I feel so great about it, all the hard work finally paid off.”
Cumbie has had a quiet and hard-working demeanor since arriving on campus last summer from Flower Mound, Texas. His hard work paid off early as he was the only first-year to end fall camp without a redshirt. Soon after he found himself starting at center for the Cardinals, something very rare at any level of college football.
“There was a point in the season where I was lagging a little bit, maybe hitting a freshman plateau or something, when Coach Brown called me out on it,” said Cumbie.
Coach Quinn Brown has been the offensive line coach for Jewell Football since the spring of 2016.
“Coach Brown deserves a lot of credit, from last year’s [offensive] line to this year’s there was a huge improvement,” said Cumbie
While the offensive line does seem to have improved from last season, the unit still struggled this season. The Cardinals’ offensive line gave up 32 sacks this season, second only to Missouri S&T for most in the GLVC.
“[The All-GLVC selection] definitely lets me feel like I can take more charge of the team and make sure people aren’t skipping reps and working hard, maybe I can motivate more,” said Cumbie. “This gives me some more confidence to step-up a little bit more.”
Getting such a high honor so early in one’s career begs the question of where an athlete goes moving forward. Cumbie and Jewell Football hope that he can build off of this great start.
“This offseason is gonna be really big for us, the coaches are recruiting hard which is gonna improve our team,” said Cumbie. “I just gotta make sure I keep working hard and doing what I need to be doing, working hard in the classroom is the most important thing.”
Photo courtesy of Jewell Athletics.
