NEWBERRY – Newberry College quarterback Raleigh Yeldell threw for five touchdowns as the scarlet and gray rolled to a 41-7 victory over the Brevard Tornados at Setzler Field on Saturday.
Newberry moves back to .500 at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in South Atlantic Conference action, while Brevard falls to 0-8 overall and 0-4 in the league.
The Tornados scored first after a 43-yard reverse set up a 2-yard touchdown carry by quarterback Tyler Gregory with 8:08 left in the opening quarter.
From there, it was all Newberry. Senior Ryan Barnwell capped off a 10-play, 66-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown carry to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:55 remaining in the second quarter.
With 2:55 left in the second quarter, Yeldell found a leaping Darius Clark in the endzone for a leaping 18-yard touchdown to give Newberry a 14-7 lead with 2:55 left in the half, and Yeldell’s 3-yard scoring pass to Jalen Cook with 7 seconds to play in the half gave Newberry a 21-7 halftime advantage.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Wolves faced third-and-11 near midfield before Yeldell found Cook for a 51-yard catch and run touchdown to push the lead to 28-7.
Newberry scored touchdowns on its next two drives to put the game far out of reach, as Yeldell connected with Troy Thompson from 18 yards out and with Braxton Ivery from 11 yards out to put the wraps on a runaway win.
Yeldell completed 24-of-28 passes for 279 yards and five touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 228.3. He finished the game with 16 consecutive completions.
With a 5-for-5 performance by Zach Blair for 45 yards, the Wolves completed their last 21 passes of the game.
His 5 touchdown passes ties him with Josh Stepp for the third-most in a single game.
Cook finished the game with six catches for 105 yards and two scores, marking Newberry’s first receiving centurion since Corey Washington and Jason Livingston in the Brevard game in 2013.
The air raid numbers overshadowed the fourth consecutive game of over 100 yards rushing for Romelo Doctor. He had 16 carries for 118 yards for an average of 7.4 yards per carry.
This was the first time Newberry had a quarterback pass for over 250 yards, a receiver have over 100 yards and a rusher have over 100 yards since the trio of Josh Stepp, Tymere Zimmerman and Alex Haynes in the 2006 Carson-Newman game.
Eight different Wolves had receptions in the contest for a total of 29 catches for 324 yards.
Defensively, the Wolves limited Brevard to 200 yards and eight first downs.
Brevard came into the game rushing on 89 percent of its plays and the Wolves still came away with two interceptions.
Craig Steedley had an interception with a 39-yard return, while Willie Glover made a pick in the fourth quarter.
Taylor McDonnell led all defensive players with nine tackles, including six solo stops.
Nate Sichali, Jalen Hunter and Jamarcus Henderson each had five tackles. Sichali had a tackle for loss and Henderson picked up a sack and three quarterback hurries.
Newberry held the Brevard offense to three-and-out on seven drives.
The Tornados had only 92 yards of offense in the second half.
BC also was only 3-of-14 on third down.
One of the most fantastic offensive statistics possible was also recorded in the game. Offensive lineman Austin Turner picked up a fumble and rumbled for eight yards. Officially, Turner has zero carries for 8 yards in the game, for an infinite yards per carry average.
The Wolves head to Hickory, N.C., for the annual Battle for the Bishops Trophy at Lenoir-Rhyne. Kickoff on Halloween day is set for 2 p.m. at Lenoir-Rhyne’s Shuford Stadium.