Wolves Rally Again To Win Fifth Straight And Keep A Grip On First Place In The SAC

The #24 ranked Newberry College Wolves forced three turnovers and rallied from a 21-7 first half deficit to win their fifth consecutive game defeating Emory & Henry 36-34 at Setzler Field to remain in first place in the South Atlantic Conference.

Quarterback Reed Charpia completed 26 of 33 passes for two touchdowns and 253 yards, Keith Desaussure caught 12 passes for 117 yards and a score and Avery McFadden, Jalen Stradford and Santory Jones all intercepted pass.  Quez Spells added 54 yards rushing on eight carries with two touchdowns.

The Wolves improved to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the South Atlantic Conference with two games left to play.

Linebacker Devron Williams finished with nine tackles and a tipped pass that led to an interception.

After trailing 21-7 early in the second quarter, the Wolves scored 22 consecutive points to grab a 29-21.

After trailing Emory & Henry at the half 21-16, the Wolves, much like the Wasps to start the game, took the opening drive of the second half to grab their first lead of the game.
Newberry drove 69 yards on 12 plays, taking up nearly seven and a half minutes off the clock, culminating with Charpia’s six-yard touchdown pass to Desaussure to give the Wolves a 22-21 lead.

On Emory & Henry’s first drive of the second half, the Wolves defense came up with their second turnover of the game as Santory Jones intercepted a pass tipped by linebacker Devron Williams at the Emory & Henry 39-yard line.

Six plays later, the Wolves scored a shuttle pass from power running back Grayson White to Ja’Corey Martin who scored from two yards out to give the Wolves a 29-21 lead.

The Wasps answered with a nine play, 87-yard drive for a touchdown to cut the lead to 29-27 just over two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Alex Meeks came up with a big special teams play as he returned the ensuing kickoff 36 yards to the Newberry 46-yard line.

The Wolves drove to the Wasp 29-yard line, but faced third and 11, when Charpia completed a pass down the far sideline that De’Andre Coleman made a circus catch, spun away from his defender and scored the decisive points of the game to give the Wolves a 36-27 lead with 10:23 remaining.

Again, Emory & Henry responded, but McFadden made a leaping, one handed interception in the end zone after the Wasps had driven to the Newberry 32-yard line.

Emory & Henry scored a touchdown with 47 seconds left, but the Wolves recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

It marked the fourth consecutive game that Desaussure had double digit receptions and at least 100 yards.  He now has 68 catches for 762 yards and eight touchdowns, leading the SAC in all those categories.

His 68 catches are already the fourth most in Newberry College history, just 18 receptions short of the school record.

Charpia has now thrown for 2,105 yards, 18 touchdowns and just one interception and has completed 71 percent of his passes also leading the SAC in those categories.

He is just the seventh quarterback in Newberry College football history to throw for at least 2,000 yards in a season and the first since Dre Harris in 2021.

After completing just three passes for two yards and throwing three interceptions in last year’s season ending loss to the Wasps at home 27-7, tonight’s game was another reminder of the complete turnaround from last year’s 3-7 record.

The Wasps took the opening drive and chewed up nearly seven minutes while accumulating 65 yards on 13 plays while scoring a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.

After Emory & Henry stopped the Wolves offense on the next possession, Jalen Stratford made a leaping interception at the line of scrimmage at the Wasps  22-yard line and returned it to their 14.

On the very first play from scrimmage after the turnover, Spells scored to tie the game at 7-7.

Emory & Henry snatched the momentum right back, returning the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to grab the lead back 14-7.

After forcing Newberry to punt again, the Wasps drove 71 yards on five plays to score another touchdown and build the lead to 21-7 with 12:28 left in the half.

The Wolves then clawed their way back into the game, putting together two scores and holding the Wasps to just 18 yards the rest of the quarter.

Charpia completed three critical third down passes on the next drive including an 11-yard completion to Spells on third and six, an eight-yard connection with Jonah Norris on third and four, and an incredible diving catch by Xavier Preston on third and 17 which set up Burke Nettles 37-yard field goal with 3:03 left in the half to close the gap to 21-10.

A three and out by the Wolves’ defense gave the offense the ball at its own 37-yard line with just over two minutes left in the half.

Charpia had another big third down completion, connecting with Desaussure for a 24-yard game to the Wasps 25-yard line.

Two plays later Spells exploded through the middle of the line for a 17-yard touchdown, the two-point conversion failed, and the Wolves headed into the break down 21-16.

Charpia completed 15 of 20 passes for 133 yards while Spells had six carries for 42 yards and two scores.  Desaussure led the Wolves with five receptions for 43 yards while Preston equaled his season total in catches with three grabs for 36 yards.

The Wolves outgained the Wasps 189-167 in the first half.

Newberry travels to Anderson Saturday for a first-ever meeting with the Trojans at 4:00 p.m.