ROCK HILL — Coming off the back of their first ever back-to-back South Atlantic Conference title, the Newberry College football continued to wrangle honors from the league as sophomore Mario Anderson (Summerville) was named Piedmont Division Offensive Player of the Year and Head Coach Todd Knight was named Coach of the Year.
Fourteen members of the team also earned All-Conference honors.
Anderson becomes the third Newberry player to earn the title of SAC Offensive Player of the Year following in the footsteps of Raleigh Yeldell (2016) and Josh Stepp (2006) after rushing to a new single season high for the Wolves with 1,560 yards from scrimmage to his credit this season. He broke the record with a 63-yard scamper against Wingate before adding to his total in the championship game against Mars Hill. That number is also good enough to sit in sixth place in the conference record book for yards in a season. His 19 touchdowns sits as the second highest in program history and now sits third in the career rankings for rushing yards with 3,301, needing just over 560 yards to overtake the top spot on the list. He rushed for over 100 yards in a game nine times this season, more than doubling his career number to 16. In addition, Anderson was named First Team All-Conference for the second-straight season. He was also the league statistical champion in rushing yards per game and scoring average.
Knight earns his second straight SAC Coach of the Year honor after taking his Wolves on a return trip to the pinnacle of the conference rankings. In his 14th season at the helm of the program, Knight posted a 7-2 record in the conference play. The Wolves rank fourth in the league in total offense (4,123 yards), fifth in yards per game (374.8), and third in points per game (31.2). They finished the regular season ranked No. 18 nationally.
Joining Anderson offensively on the first team was graduate quarterback Dre Harris (Greenville), graduate wide receiver Deshun Kitchings (Aiken), graduate offensive lineman Jordan Campbell (Abbeville), graduate tight end Tommy Washington (Spartanburg) and junior long snapped Blake Arnoult (Prosperity). Harris led the team for the third straight year as the starting quarterback and earns his second-straight All-Conference honor, jumping up to the First Team this year. He threw for 1,462 yards this year and 9 touchdowns while adding 262 yards and six scores on the ground. He sits second all-time in passing yards for the Wolves while leading them to a 24-6 mark as a starter overall and a 17-4 mark in league action.
Kitchings average over 20 yards per reception this season as he was able to haul in 31 catches for 646 yards and four touchdowns. This is the second year that Kitchings sat a top the receiving yard list as he did so also during the 2019 season for the Wolves. He sits eighth all-time in career receiving yards for Newberry with 1,773. He also earned Second Team honors this year in the return specialist category after taking 11 kickoffs for 343 yards including a season-long of 83 yards. He now stands at 642 return yards in his career.
Campbell saw action in 22 games during his time with the Wolves including nearly a full stale during the 2022 season. Along with his other lineman, graduate Kody Varn (Clinton) and senior Noah Mangum (Piedmont), whom each earned Second Team honors this year, allowed only 17 sacks on the year while helping the Wolves to have one of the best rushing attacks not only in the region, but in the country as well.
Washington became the first tight end to be named to the All-Conference squad since the 2016 season as he was able to haul in 21 catches for 281 yards on the season. None of his catches this year were as important as his game-winning snag in the fourth quarter of the SAC Championship to secure the 27-24 victory over Mars Hill, earning his the athletic department’s “Rock Solid Player of the Game” award.
Arnoult makes his second straight appearnace on the All-Confernce list and, like Harris, moved up from the Second Team to the First Team this year. Named Preseason All-Conference as well, Arnoult was the long snapper for the Wolves throughout the entire season helping them to convert on nearly 1,500 yards of punting while also helping them to 18 clean field goal attempts on the year. In addition, the Wolves would go 37-for-39 on PATs on the year.
Switching to the defensive side of the ball, senior defensive lineman Devante Gambrell (Anderson) and graduate defensive back Marcus Morgan (Greenwood) were each named to the First Team while junior defensive lineman Malik Devine-Brown (St. Petersburg, Fla.), junior defensive lineman Juwan Moye (Lilburn, Ga.), junior linebacker Luke Taylor (Summerville) and senior linebacker AJ Valentine (Johnston) were each named to the Second Team.
Gambrell was third on the team this season in total tackles with 45 while recording 21 solo tackles and also led the team with 5.0 sacks on the season for a total loss of 25 yards. He also added a pass breakup to his credit and tallied three QB hurries on the season. Blocked a pair of field goal attempts against Limestone while also tallying 6.0 tackles for loss as well this year for 27 yards.
Morgan tallied 36 tackles on the year including 25 solo while adding 2.5 tackles for loss accounting for 8 yards. He recorded five pass breakups and one fumble recovery on the year while helping lead a defense that allowed only 22 points a game.
Devine-Brown led the team on the season with 10.5 tackles for loss accounting for 32 yards lost by opponents. Also pitched in 4.5 sacks on the year for a loss of 22 yards, had three QB hurries and a fumble recovery. Along with his other two lineman on the team continues a pedigree of strong defensive lineman for the Wolves as they have had a member on the All-Conference squad every year since 2006.
Moye boasted a total of 30 tackles on the year including 4 for a loss of 16 yards. He added a pair of sacks on the season with eight yards lost and had one pass breakup, a pair of QB hurries and a blocked kick to his credit this season.
Taylor was the Wolves leading tackler on the season with 71, including 44 solo tackles. He anchored the defense of the Wolves that allowed just nine rushing touchdowns on the season. He tallied nine tackles for loss while also adding three sacks to his credit. He broke up one pass, hurried the QB six times and added a forced fumble to his stat line on the year. He hauled in a pair of interceptions, including one in the SAC Championship game.
Valentine was second on the team this year with 68 total tackles and 32 solo tackles. He accounted for 4.5 tackles for loss with 14 yards and 1.5 sacks for 9 yards. He led the team with eight pass break ups on the season with a QB hurry and an interception to his credit as well, with his INT coming at a crucial point in the Lenoir-Rhyne game, ensuring the Bishops Trophy would return home to Newberry.
The Wolves posted the most members to the All-Conference squad among Piedmont division teams with 14 while Limestone was the next closest with 12.
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