JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Newberry College defense limited the No. 25 Carson-Newman Eagles to 183 yards of offense and recovered three fumbles as the Wolves ran away with the game in the second half on the way to a 24-3 victory.
The Wolves are now 2-2 overall and 2-0 in South Atlantic Conference play, putting Newberry atop the league standings as the only team with two conference wins. Carson-Newman falls to 2-2 and 0-2 in SAC play, as Newberry earned its first win at Burke-Tarr Stadium since 1988. It was also the first time Newberry held C-N without a touchdown since 1985.
The Wolves return home next week after completing a three-game roadtrip. Kickoff on Oct. 1 against Mars Hill is set for 4 p.m. at Setzler Field.
Newberry converted on all four of its red zone opportunities and forced four Carson-Newman turnovers in the game. Apollo Stretch (Columbia, S.C.) made nine tackles, with two sacks, while the Newberry defense made seven tackles for loss.
David Davis (Columbia, S.C.), Kelton Hall (Clinton, S.C.) and Joe Smith (Jonesville, S.C.) each made six tackles, with Hall making two tackles for a loss. Channing Schofield (Wagener, S.C.) made an interception, while Eli Charles (Green Cove Springs, Fla.), B.J. Mazyck (Ridgeville, S.C.) and Mike Hopkins (Blackstock, S.C.) all recovered C-N fumbles.
The game was tight in the first half, as Newberry only led 7-3 at halftime. The Wolves capitalized on five C-N offsides penalties on one drive, with the free plays resulting in two long pass plays from Bryan Ehrlich (San Antonio, Texas) to Treginald Wilson (Mayesville, S.C.). A 38-yard Ehrlich-to-Wilson completion put the ball on the 1-yardline and Dureal Elmore (Abbeville, S.C.) carried the ball in for his first career touchdown, making it 7-0 in Newberry's favor with 4:35 to play in the first quarter.
Carson-Newman's Carlos Lopez scored a 46-yard field goal on the opening play of the second quarter to narrow Newberry's lead to 7-3, which would stand as the halftime score after Lopez missed a 36-yarder with just under two minutes left in the half.
The Wolves asserted themselves in the third quarter, as the Eagles ran only nine offensive plays on three drives. Newberry's second drive of the half went 63 yards in 15 plays, chewing up 6:50 off the clock before a Nick Kinney (Goose Creek, S.C.) field goal made it 10-7 with 2:38 left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Carson-Newman's Cassadine Blassingame tried to peel out of multiple tackles, but Desmond Hayes (Dillon, S.C.) hit him hard to force a fumble, which Mazyck recovered at the Eagles' 13-yardline. Just two plays later, Alkeem Sherman (Conway, S.C.) punched it in from six yards out to make it 17-3 with 1:40 left in the third quarter.
Just three plays into Carson-Newman's next drive, running back Nate Inman fumbled the ball and Charles recovered for Newberry at the Wolves' 36-yardline. The drive ended in a punt, as did the next two drives, but C-N quarterback Johnny Foster put the ball on the ground in Eagles' territory where Hopkins fell on it to give Newberry possession. Six plays and 38 yards later, Wesley Brown (John's Island, S.C.) ran into the endzone from two yards out to provide the final 24-3 scoreline.
A total of 10 different Wolves carried the ball, led by Sherman's 14 carries for 51 yards and a score. Ehrlich was 7-of-17 passing for 90 yards.
