Lenoir-Rhyne Wins At Newberry

NEWBERRY (NC SID) — The Newberry Wolves had perfect weather and a packed house for the annual Homecoming game, but the visiting No. 5/7 Lenoir-Rhyne Bears kept the clamps on the Wolves’ offense and escaped with a 23-10 win. L-R keeps the Bishops Trophy for the fourth straight year. Newberry is now 2-5 overall and 1-4 in the South Atlantic Conference, while the Bears are 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the league. After L-R opened the scoring with a 16-play, 90-yard drive capped by a Miles Freeman 2-yard touchdown, Newberry would respond as the second quarter began. Quarterback W.T. Murden (West Columbia, S.C.) found a leaping Jalen Cook (Lexington, S.C.) in the endzone for a 23-yard scoring pass. That tied the game at 7-all on the first play of the second period. Devine Kelly (St. George, S.C.) recovered a Bears fumble in Newberry territory, and the scarlet and gray drove down the field to a first-and-goal situation, but quarterback Raleigh Yeldell (Johnston, S.C.) fumbled on a hard hit in the backfield. L-R defensive lineman Placid Ajoku returned the fumble 70 yards for a touchdown to make it a 14-7 Lenoir-Rhyne lead. After an outstanding punt by Kyle Clark (Beaufort, S.C.) pinned the Bears deep in their territory, L-R punted the ball back and Cole Watson (Conway, S.C.) had an excellent return to the Lenoir-Rhyne 19. After a rush got the Wolves to first-and-goal, Newberry would settle for a 26-yard field goal by Clark with just under five minutes left in the half. Lenoir-Rhyne would cap the scoring in the half with a 47-yard field goal by Justin Powell, taking a 17-10 lead into the locker room. The Bears’ defense slowed down the Wolves, as the scarlet and gray had just two drives in the third quarter. However, the Newberry defense kept L-R out of the endzone as well, as the visitors managed field goals from Powell of 40 and 20 yards to complete the scoring. On their four drives in the second half, Newberry threw two interceptions, turned the ball over on downs and punted once. INSIDE THE BOX SCORE – Newberry safety Lance Richardson (Ware Shoals, S.C.) led the Wolves with 14 tackles, 11 of which were solo. Linebacker Edmond Robinson (Wadmalaw Island, S.C.) had 13 stops with a tackle for loss and Alstevis Squirewell (Great Falls, S.C.) had 11 tackles with a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. – Murden was 16-of-29 passing for 121 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Cook was the leading receiver with five receptions for 90 yards and a score. – Newberry struggled on the ground with 78 yards on 26 carries. – Lenoir-Rhyne’s 23 points are the fewest the Bears have scored since the 2013 season opener at Concord, a span of 21 games. – Lenoir-Rhyne also controlled the tempo of the game with 79 plays to Newberry’s 60, while the Bears also had the ball for nearly 36 minutes. – After trailing by only a touchdown at halftime against L-R for the second straight year, Newberry had the ball for only 8:42 in the second half, limiting chances to score. – Clark was brilliant in the punting game, averaging 52.2 yards per punt on four boots. His longest kick was 64 yards, and all four of his punts were inside the Lenoir-Rhyne 10-yardline. – The Bears totaled 391 rushing yards and only 12 passing yards. UP NEXT Newberry travels to UNC Pembroke on Saturday, October 25 for a 4 p.m. kickoff at Grace Johnson Stadium in Pembroke, N.C.