HIGHLIGHTS: Newberry Gets First Win of Season Saturday
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NEWBERRY (NEWBERRY) – The Wolves shook off the disappointment of last week’s loss to Florida Tech with a resounding 42-22 victory over visiting Virginia Union on Saturday afternoon at Setzler Field, wearing down the Panthers’ defense with a series of methodical drives and a punishing defensive performance.
Four of Newberry’s (1-1) six touchdown drives took 11 plays or more, including an 11-play, 98-yard drive that gave the Wolves a two-touchdown advantage early in the second quarter. The Wolves’ offense won the time of possession battle by nearly 19 minutes and ran 35 more plays than the Panthers (0-2), whose defense was no match for Newberry’s methodical attack in the second half.
Newberry’s defense raised its level of play in the second half after allowing two Virginia Union touchdowns in the first 30 minutes. Excluding a roughing the passer penalty that extended a Panthers’ fourth-quarter drive, Newberry allowed Virginia Union an astonishing six yards on their first 17 offensive plays of the fourth quarter, forcing three three-and-outs and snatching one of the unit’s three interceptions on the afternoon.
The balanced defensive effort saw three players record tackles for loss, no defender accumulate more than five tackles, and interceptions by Rashaad Smith, Joe Blue, and LaQuan White.
Quarterback Raleigh Yeldell captained the offense to 450 total yards a week after tallying 550 in the season opener. The senior signal-caller went 27-for-32 for 289 yards, finding Cole Watson and Baptiste Staggers in the end zone. He passed Brian Shealy (2001-03) and current Newberry assistant coach Hunter Spivey (1993-96) on the all-time completions list in school history and now has 285 for his career.
In all, Yeldell is 64-of-87 (73.6 percent) for 736 yards and six touchdowns through the first two weeks of the young season. He is also the team’s leading rusher with 79 yards on 23 attempts.
