NEWBERRY — A stingy pass defense, two timely touchdowns, and a final defensive stand inside Newberry territory helped the Wolves to a 14-7 Senior Day triumph over visiting Limestone.
The game was a defensive slugfest, with neither team managing to crack 300 yards on an overcast day that saw winds whipping at up to 30 miles per hour throughout much of the game. The teams combined for 15 punts and six turnovers, but Newberry’s (5-6, 4-4 South Atlantic Conference) defense came up with big stop after big stop to lead the Wolves to the win.
With Newberry leading 14-7 and just over four minutes to play, Limestone (3-8, 2-6 SAC) elected to attempt a 36-yard field goal rather than run an offensive play on fourth and nine from the Newberry 19. Thomas Cook, who had already seen a 45-yard attempt hit the right upright and was kicking into the teeth of the wind, pushed the attempt wide right to give Newberry the ball back up seven points.
The Wolves got one first down before the drive stalled out, but Shea Rodgers boomed a 46-yard punt to the Limestone 13 that forced a fair catch with 2:00 remaining. Limestone moved 46 yards in seven plays, reeling off a 20-yard rush and 16-yard completion on the drive, but had consecutive passes fall incomplete and third and fourth downs and six yards to go from the Newberry 41 that clinched the win for the Wolves.
Kardeem Hines and Keito Jordon, both playing in their final game in Scarlet and Gray, were the defensive heroes for Newberry. Hines had 11 tackles, including eight solo efforts, to go along with a fumble recovery and an interception. Jordon matched Hines for the team lead with 11 stops, assisted on a sack, and had 1.5 total tackles for loss.
Chance Walker topped 100 rushing yards for the third time in five games, totaling 110 yards on 25 carries. Colton Bailey was the Wolves’ second-leading rusher with 69 yards on the ground and added 81 yards on 13-for-20 passing with two touchdowns and an interception.
Limestone’s Malik Brooks and Jerko’ya Patton became the first duo to rush for 100 yards apiece against Newberry since September 2016, totaling 102 and 101 yards, respectively. Patton finished the season 35 yards shy of becoming Limestone’s first-ever 1,000-yard rusher in its sixth season of competition.
Quarterback DJ Phillips was limited to 9-for-20 passing for 66 yards and an interception against the nation’s 10th-ranked pass defense but surpassed 5,000 passing yards for his career.
Newberry marched 75 yards in just six plays on the game’s opening possession to take a 7-0 lead barely two minutes in, with Walker’s 24-yard carry on the first play from scrimmage setting the tone for the drive. Walker tallied 58 yards on the first four plays before Bailey got one yard to the 16.
Bailey then rolled right for the first pass attempt of the game, finding Bobby Irby in the back corner of the end zone for the touchdown. Irby acrobatically got a foot in before falling out of bounds, giving the Wolves the lead with 12:57 left in the quarter.
Neither team was able to find the scoreboard again until the final play of the first half. Limestone took over with 3:08 left in the second quarter at their own 42-yard line and drove into the red zone before an offside penalty, a roughing the passer, a three-yard run, and a substitution infraction moved the ball to the one-yard line with 14 seconds on the clock.
Patton was swallowed up by Trey Woods and Devante Gambrell for a loss back to the three and Limestone scrambled to get set for a final play. The ball was snapped as the clock struck zero and Patton leaped into the end zone to tie the score on the final play before the break.
The teams traded turnovers, then punts, on the first five possessions of the second half before Newberry took over at its own 40 with 8:40 left in the third quarter. A critical offside penalty on the Limestone defense negated a turnover on downs near midfield, but the resulting first down and six straight positive yardage plays gave Newberry the ball inside the Limestone 10.
Bailey found a wide open Walker out of the backfield and the running back walked into the end zone to give Newberry the decisive touchdown with 3:26 left to play in the third.
Rodgers finished his career second among Newberry kickers in career scoring (211 points), field goals made (29), and points after touchdown made (124). His 41.3-yard punting average in 2019 gives him two of the top seven single-season averages in school history.
Jordon finishes his career fourth in school history with 37.5 career tackles for loss and sixth with 19.5 sacks.
The win makes Newberry 7-4 in regular season finales in the tenure of Head Coach Todd Knight. It was also the second one-possession win in the last three games for Newberry, which had lost 10 of its previous 11 one-possession games, while marking Limestone’s fourth consecutive loss by eight points or less.