Newberry, S.C. —- The Catawba College football team held a second-half lead on the road against Newberry College, but the Wolves scored three straight touchdowns to pull away from the Catawba Indians, 38-31, at Setzler Field in South Atlantic Conference play.
TEAM STATS
- Newberry earned 25 first downs to Catawba's 21
- The Wolves were 10-of-14 (71 percent) on third down, while Catawba was 6-of-11 (55 percent)
- Newberry out-gained Catawba 495-255 in total yards
- The Wolves gained 372 yards on the ground to Catawba's 103, while the Catawba Indians won the battle through the air 152-123
- Newberry committed 15 penalties for a staggering 148 yards, while Catawba had just three penalties for 25 yards
- Catawba had the lone sack of the afternoon
- The Wolves won the time of possession battle 37:40 to 22:20
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Preston Brown was 15-of-26 for 152 yards and two touchdown passes
- Marquece Williams took 13 carries for 52 yards and scored twice on the ground
- LJ Turner averaged 6.1 yards a carry, totaling 49 rushing yards on eight carries
- Bo Pryor hauled in a game-high seven passes for 49 yards
- Conner McCarthy and Anton Popov had the receiving touchdowns for Catawba on the afternoon
- Deno Wardlow led the team in tackles once again, racking up 10
- Chase Rogers chipped in eight with a sack
- Christian Campbell and Joshua Pixley also recorded eight tackles
- Bryson Sims nailed a 41-yard field goal along with all four extra-point tries
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
- Newberry opened the game with a nine-play 75-yard drive, capped by Dwayne Wright's 27-yard touchdown catch to give the home team the early lead
- Catawba answered with a nine-play touchdown drive of their own; Williams punched it in from three yards out to tie the game at 7 with under six minutes left in the opening quarter
SECOND QUARTER
- Newberry scored the game's third touchdown in as many drives, going 14 plays in nearly seven and a half minutes, as Jy Tolen scored on a 3rd and goal from the Catawba 18-yard line
- After a Catawba punt, the Wolves settled for a 44-yard field goal try that was no good
- Turner's 33-yard run on the first play of the ensuing drive set up Sims' successful 41-yard field goal attempt to cut Catawba's deficit to 14-10
- Newberry answered with 35-yard field goal as time expired in the half to take a 17-10 advantage into the halftime locker room
THIRD QUARTER
- Brown's 32-yard completion to Pryor on 3rd and 10 extended Catawba's opening possession of the second half, which was capped by McCarthy's 22-yard touchdown grab to tie the game less than five minutes into the second half
- Penalties and a short punt gave Catawba great field position on their next drive, needing just 30 yards for Williams to score his second touchdown of the day to take a 24-17 second-half lead
- Trakell Murray's 40-yard burst for the Wolves set up Wright's game-tying score from three yards out with just under a minute left in the third quarter
FOURTH QUARTER
- Newberry forced a Catawba punt and took their next drive 90 yards over nine plays to score the go-ahead touchdown off of Murray's nine-yard score at the 9:50 mark
- The teams traded punts until Wright scored again from five yards out to give Newberry a two-score lead with just over 90 seconds left
- Back-to-back 15-yard NC penalties helped Catawba drive down in the hurry, as Popov's 10-yard touchdown grab cut the Newberry lead to a single score, 38-31 with five seconds remaining
- Catawba's onside attempt was unsuccessful, as Newberry held on for the win
UP NEXT
- Catawba remains on the road next week, facing Limestone for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Gaffney, S.C.
Photo by Will Ridenhour.
