Newberry Edged At Catawba 17-13

SALISBURY, N.C. (NC SID) — The Newberry Wolves were unable to hold onto a 10-point lead late in the third quarter in a 17-13 loss at Catawba on Saturday. With the loss, Newberry is now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference, while Catawba is now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the league.Catawba took the opening kickoff and ate up the majority of the first quarter on a long drive, but the Wolves held inside the 10-yardline and forced the hosts to settle for a 19-yard field goal to go up 3-0 with 7:20 left in the period. Newberry only had four drives in the opening half and got into the Catawba red zone once before two lost yardage plays resulted in a punt. After Catawba missed a short field goal following a botched Newberry punt, the Wolves drove 77 yards in 14 plays with Ryan Janssen making a 20-yard field goal with 1:01 remaining in the second quarter to send the game to halftime, tied 3-3. The Wolves took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove down field before the drive stalled. Janssen made a 25-yard field goal with 8:20 left in the third quarter to make it a 6-3 Wolves lead. After forcing a Catawba three-and-out, Newberry embarked on a long drive, taking up 60 yards in nine plays, with Romelo Doctor scoring the game‘s first touchdown. His 3-yard scoring plunge with 2:31 remaining in the third quarter gave Newberry a 13-3 lead. Catawba quarterback Mike Sheehan fooled the entire stadium on the first play of the next drive and carried the ball for 60 yards. That set up an eventual 16-yard touchdown pass to Keyon West to cut the lead to 13-10 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter. Newberry punted away on its next drive, and a 44-yard Catawba completion set the hosts up inside the Newberry 15-yardline. Cary Littlejohn punched it in from 2 yards out to put Catawba back on top, 17-13 with 11:15 to play. From that point, Newberry was only able to gain one first down on its final three drives, allowing the hosts to hold on for the win.