CHAMPIONS! Wolves Claim Outright Title with 42-7 Win Over Limestone

GAFFNEY, S.C. (Newberry College) –With a little help from a decision up the road, the Newberry College (9-2, 7-1 SAC) football team, with a 42-7 decision over the Saints of Limestone University (0-9, 1-7 SAC), picked up the outright South Atlantic Conference regular season title, their first since 2016, on Saturday, November 13.

The Wolves were consistent throughout the contest, sticking to the running game, as they were able to pick up 270 yards on the ground, with an additional 125 coming through the air on ten passes. Redshirt-sophomore Mario Anderson (Summerville, S.C.) led the attack for the Scarlet and Gray, accounting for 113 yards and two scores eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark on the season with his efforts.  Junior ZeBrandon Gant (Springfield, Ga.) had his best game of the season as he picked up 97 yards on the ground with a touchdown to his credit as well.

Redshirt-senior Dre Harris (Greenville, S.C.) led the Wolves from the backfield where he tossed for 125 yards and a score, pushing him over the 2,000-yard mark on the season.  Redshirt-senior Bryson Woodruff (Roebuck, S.C.) was his favorite target on the evening, hauling in four passes for 61 yards while senior Bobby Irby (Irmo, S.C.) hauled in one catch in the contest for 44 yards and a score.

Defensively the Wolves were led by redshirt-sophomore Andre Amaker (Sumter, S.C.) who recorded five tackles on the afternoon.  Redshirt-seniors Tyran Dixon (Columbia, S.C.) and Ty Kelly (Camden, S.C.) each were able to pick up 1.5 tackles-for-loss in the game, with Dixon accounting for four yards of loss while Kelly recorded just one yard.  The defensive highlight of the afternoon came in the second quarter as senior Anthony Blue (Dillon, S.C.) picked off the pass from Dean Braxton and returned it 39 yards for the pick-six that would put the Wolves up by 28 points.

After a failed onside kick to start the contest, the Wolves would begin their opening drive in Limestone territory. Four rushes from Anderson would kick off the drive before the Wolves would hit the Saints defense with a change of pace and throw four straight completions to set up first and goal at the three-yard line.  Anderson would take the next snap and punch it in from that distance to take the early 7-0 lead.

Limestone would sandwich a Newberry three-and-out with two of their own before the Wolves would regain possession from their own 35-yard line with 4:29 to play in the opening quarter.  That drive would carry into the second quarter where the Wolves would find themselves staring at fourth and goal from the one-yard line.  They would elect to keep the offense on the field and would capitalize on the chance as Anderson would record his second touchdown of the afternoon to increase the margin to 14.

The Saints would again go three-and-out as the Newberry defense would hold them to only 235 yards of offense in the game, and a short punt would set the Scarlet and Gary up on their own 36-yard line.  Anderson would get the drive started for the Wolves with some short gain runs before Gant would come in and bust out a 25-yard gallop to set them up on their opponents 10.  After a penalty pushed them back, he would finish off the drive with a 21-yard scamper, putting the Wolves up by the same margin.

That margin wouldn’t last long as the first play of the next Limestone drive would find the ball in the hands of Blue and he picked off the pass from Dean Braxton and took it 39-yard down the left sideline to the endzone, giving the Wolves the 28-point advantage. After a quick Limestone drive, the Wolves would take over on downs at their own 42.  After a couple short gains and a costly Limestone penalty, Harris would find Irby along the near sideline who would make one man miss as he took the reception 44-yards for the score and put the advantage at 35 points, which they would carry into the break.

They would carry that momentum into the third quarter as their first drive in the second half was capped off by redshirt-junior Cade Ruff (Prosperity, S.C.) who took the ball around the edge for five-yard and the score to extend the lead out to 42-0.  Limestone was finally able to put points on the board on their next possession to bring the score back to 42-7.  Both teams’ offenses stalled out the rest of the evening with an even split of time of possession and yardage, but the game was already put out of reach by the Wolves as they wrapped up the win and the regular season title.

The Wolves will now await the announcement of their opponent for the first-round of the Division II National Championship tournament, a spot which they have virtually locked in, tomorrow during a selection show on NCAA.com at 5 p.m.  First-round action will start on November 20, 2021.