Staff Report

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Newberry Wolves were unable to hold onto a 10-point lead late in the third quarter in a 17-13 loss at Catawba on Saturday.

With the loss, Newberry is now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference, while Catawba is now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the league.

Catawba took the opening kickoff and ate up the majority of the first quarter on a long drive, but the Wolves held inside the 10-yardline and forced the hosts to settle for a 19-yard field goal to go up 3-0 with 7:20 left in the period.

Newberry only had four drives in the opening half and got into the Catawba red zone once before two lost yardage plays resulted in a punt.

After Catawba missed a short field goal following a botched Newberry punt, the Wolves drove 77 yards in 14 plays with Ryan Janssen making a 20-yard field goal with 1:01 remaining in the second quarter to send the game to halftime, tied 3-3.

The Wolves took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove down field before the drive stalled. Janssen made a 25-yard field goal with 8:20 left in the third quarter to make it a 6-3 Wolves lead.

After forcing a Catawba three-and-out, Newberry embarked on a long drive, taking up 60 yards in nine plays, with Romelo Doctor scoring the game’s first touchdown. His 3-yard scoring plunge with 2:31 remaining in the third quarter gave Newberry a 13-3 lead.

Catawba quarterback Mike Sheehan fooled the entire stadium on the first play of the next drive and carried the ball for 60 yards. That set up an eventual 16-yard touchdown pass to Keyon West to cut the lead to 13-10 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.

Newberry punted away on its next drive, and a 44-yard Catawba completion set the hosts up inside the Newberry 15-yardline. Cary Littlejohn punched it in from 2 yards out to put Catawba back on top, 17-13 with 11:15 to play.

From that point, Newberry was only able to gain one first down on its final three drives, allowing the hosts to hold on for the win.

This release was provided by Newberry College.