Newberry overwhelms Limestone 29-13
GAFFNEY – Newberry drove 50 yards on its first possession, 51 yards on its second, sandwiched a safety in between, and kept its foot on the gas all afternoon long in a convincing 29-13 win over Limestone at The Reservation.
The Wolves (4-4, 2-2 SAC), searching for an offensive spark after going scoreless over their last six quarters, got just the start they needed with 14 offensive points in the first 10 minutes of the game. A short Limestone (0-8, 0-5 SAC) punt following a Newberry defensive stop allowed the Wolves to take over at midfield, where they ran on their first five snaps.
On the next snap, Dre Harris rolled out to his right and lofted a pass to Markell Castle running a corner route; the senior standout tiptoed the sideline as he fell out of bounds for his 22nd career touchdown, tied with Corey Washington for the second-most in school history, to give Newberry the early advantage.
Keito Jordon and Jamarcus Henderson combined for a 9-yard sack on the first play of Limestone’s ensuing possession, swarming 6’7″ quarterback DJ Phillips and slinging him to the turf before he could react to stretch the lead to 9-0 with 9:48 remaining in the opening quarter.
Newberry continued its near-perfect start with another score on its next possession. Austin Barnes capped the drive with the first of his two touchdown plunges, giving the Wolves 101 yards and a pair of scores on their first 16 offensive snaps.
Newberry continued the onslaught all afternoon, finishing with 445 yards of total offense on 78 offensive snaps. The ground attack was particularly potent, picking up a season-high 289 yards on 54 carries.
Barnes surpassed the century mark for the fifth time in his career, finishing with 114 yards and a pair of scores on 22 carries. Harris added 79 yards on 15 attempts and was an impressive 16-for-24 for 156 yards and a touchdown through the air in his first full game captaining the offense. His favorite target was Castle, who caught five passes for 56 yards.
Three Wolves’ defenders tied for the team lead with six stops: Anthony Blue, Alex Smith, and Henderson. Blue had five solo efforts and added a pair of pass breakups, while Henderson assisted on the sack that yielded the safety and had a pair of pass breakups. David Vereen tied Blue for the team lead with two pass breakups.
The Saints countered Newbery’s initial onslaught by trimming into the lead with a 45-yard field goal off the foot of Griffin Martin. Later in the quarter, the Saints got excellent starting field position at the Wolves’ 25 following a school-record 64-yard punt return. But the Newberry defense stiffened, yielding just two yards and forcing a field goal attempt that was missed wide left.
Newberry then added to its lead with Shea Rodgers’ 20th career made field goal and forced another three-and-out from the Saints, taking a 19-3 lead into the half.
The Saints’ offense possessed the ball just three times in the second half, picking up a field goal and a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but could close the gap no further. Newberry drove 66 yards for a score on its first drive of the second half. Kevin Weber also tacked onto the Newberry lead with a 47-yard field goal late in the third.
The loss marked Limestone’s 10th consecutive defeat and dropped the Saints to 0-5 in SAC play. It also snapped a five-game losing streak for Newberry in games played in the month of October.
Limestone finished with 279 yards of total offense, the sixth time in the last seven games that Newberry’s opponent has failed to reach 300 yards. The Wolves surrendered less than 100 yards on the ground for the third time this season and limited Limestone to four third-down conversions on 12 attempts.
Newberry returns to Setzler Field for two straight contests. The Wolves host Wingate on Homecoming next Saturday at 3:00 before wrapping up the home slate against Catawba.
