Newberry Beats N. Greenville 31-6

NEWBERRY (NC SID) — The Newberry Wolves’ defense did not allow a first down until the final drive of the first half and put together a balanced offensive effort on the way to a 31-6 win over the North Greenville Crusaders at Setzler Field on Saturday afternoon. Newberry moves to 2-1 overall with the win, while North Greenville falls to 1-2. Newberry’s defense kept the NGU offense in negative yards offensively for the vast majority of the opening half. The Crusaders went three-and-out on their first six drives of the game. After a slow start in the early going, the Wolves’ offense got on the board in the second quarter after getting great field position when NGU’s punter was tackled at the Wolves’ 33 after a band snap. Five plays later, Kevin Miller burst into the end zone on a three-yard touchdown carry to put the hosts up 7-0 with 5:19 left in the half. With just 1:01 left before halftime, Newberry quarterback Zach Blair found Cole Watson for a 31-yard touchdown pass to make it a 14-0 game. NGU drove inside the Newberry 10-yardline with just seconds left on the first half clock, but a penalty for illegal snap ran the final seconds off the clock. On the Wolves’ first drive of the second half, the offense went 68 yards in six plays, as Blair connected with Miller for a 25-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 21-0 with 10:31 left in the period. NGU looked to score on the ensuing drive, but Brice Green blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt. With the large lead, Newberry looked to control the ball and the clock and did so on a 16-play, 64-yard drive that took 10:10 off the clock and ended in a 40-yard field goal by Ryan Janssen to make it 24-0. Newberry’s defensive line teamed up to get the ball back on the next drive, as Josh Parker hit North Greenville quarterback Nelson Hughes to force a fumble which was recovered by Brett Borders. On the next play, Romelo Doctor ran around the left end for a quick strike 52-yard touchdown carry, pushing the advantage to 31-0 with 7:47 to play. The Crusaders avoided the shut out with a seven play, 42-yard drive capped by a 2-yard Nelson Hughes touchdown carry. The drive was set up by a 58-yard kickoff return. INSIDE THE BOX SCORE – Newberry had 22 first downs to NGU’s 13 and held the Crusaders to 224 yards of total offense. Newberry averaged 5.4 yards per carry on the way to 384 yards of offense. – Newberry dominated the time of possession battle, 36:10-23:50. – Blair completed 4-of-6 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. – Doctor rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, eclipsing 100 yards for the second time this season. – Miller had 118 all-purpose yards with 74 rushing, 27 receiving, 10 kick return and 7 punt return. – Kyle Clark averaged 46.8 yards par punt on four boots. – Newberry’s defense racked up 10 tackles for loss for the second straight contest, with Will Elm and Josh Parker each notching a pair. – Elm led the Wolves with six tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. – Parker had two sacks in the game, while Elm, Craig Steedley and Borders each had one. UP NEXT The Wolves close out a three-game homestand with their South Atlantic Conference opener against Tusculum (1-2, 0-1 SAC). Kickoff at Setzler Field is slated for 4 p.m. on Family Weekend.