Newberry College football prevailed over Tusculum in their season opener 21-6.
NEWBERRY — It had been 477 days since the Newberry Wolves football team took the field, but after a slow start, the Wolves pulled away from Tusculum in a non-conference season opening game.
Neither team could manage much offense in a scoreless first quarter. The first scoring attempt, for either team, would come early in the second quarter when the Wolves missed a field goal. It looked as if the teams would go into the half still tied at zero, but Newberry got the ball back at the Tusculum 46 with just 30 seconds remaining before intermission. Dre Harris found Deshun Kitchings and Bryson Woodruff for back-to-back seven yard gains to put the ball at the Tusculum 32 yard line. Harris would again find Woodruff, but this time for 32 yards and a touchdown to give Newberry the 7-0 lead going into the half.
In the fourth quarter, with 7:32 remaining, the Pioneers finally found the end zone on a touchdown pass from Rogan Wells to Justice Parham, but a bad snap on the extra point attempt kept the Wolves in the lead. Newberry would respond to the score and drive down the field in less than three minutes. Harris capped the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run. The Wolves added another touchdown on a 12 yard run from Harris with 1:22 left in the game to seal the win.
Harris finished the game 13-20 for 166 yards and one touchdown in the air while running ten times for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Mario Anderson gained 75 yards on the ground on nine carries, while Tommy Washington had 82 yards on four receptions.
Defensively, David Vereen had five solo tackles, one tackle for loss, and one pass break. Craig Barksdale had five total tackles, including one for a loss and one sack. Anthony Blue also had five tackles, with one tackle for a loss and a fumble recovery.