Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics

Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics

NEWBERRY — Newberry College(1-0) will welcome longtime in state rival North Greenville University(0-1) this weekend for their home opener. The Wolves will host the Crusaders this Saturday, Sept. 9 at Seltzer Field with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff for the 19th meeting between to the two programs.

Both teams are 5-5 in the last 10 match-ups, but the Wolves had 29-22 road win last season. It was their 13th victory in the series and they are looking for number 14 this Saturday. Wolves lead with a 13-5 record in the series.

The Wolves started their season on the road against Shippensburg University on last Saturday, Sept. 2nd. They secured a 14-10 win behind a strong defensive effort lead by Luke Taylor. The senior linebacker had nine tackles and Kevon Gregory, senior cornerback, pitched in with an interception.

Despite their victory, the Wolves fell out of the D2football.com top 25 rankings. Their offense moved the ball well but struggled to put up points. Their also still questions that need to be answered at their starting quarterback position. Pete Elmore will probably get the nod to start for a second straight week but expect to see Jy Tolen getting a chunk of the snaps behind center as well.

As for the Crusaders, they fell 10-13 to Charleston Southern on the road in their season opener on Thursday, Aug. 31. They were held scoreless in the second half and only had 56 rushing yards for the game. Dylan Ramirez, sophomore quarterback, got his first collegiate start in the season opener. He went 21-of-33 for 236 passing yard, a passing touchdown and threw an interception. He also ran for 4o yards on the ground.

Ramirez dual threat ability is something the Wolves defense will have to game plan for, especially on third down situations.

The Crusaders defense played well and it will be a chess match for both offenses to figure out how to put points up on the opposing defense.

Hopefully, being back home will give a lift to the Wolves’ offense, which struggled to score in the opener.

Reach Greg Hollis @ 803-768-3117 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews