Newberry College players during 2024 fall football camp.
                                 Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics

Newberry College players during 2024 fall football camp.

Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics

NEWBERRY — Newberry College will start their 2024 football season at home on Sept.7 under the bright lights of Setzler Field for a tough week one matchup against Valdosta State.

This will be the fifth meeting between the two schools and the first since 2011. The Blazers are coming off of a 12-2 season and a loss in the quarterfinals of NCAA Division II Football Playoffs. The Wolves are looking to bounce back after a rough 4-7 record on last season.

Newberry biggest question going into week one, who will start at quarterback? Head coach Todd Knight won’t be revealing that until the 7:00 p.m. kickoff, but he did put an emphasis on the position in the off season. He also revamped his staff and brought back some familiar faces to the Berry.

Regardless, whoever starts at quarterback will need to be an upgrade from last season. Knight and his staff struggled to find the right guy for the job and went through three different starters at quarterback on last season. It is the reason why the offense averaged only 19.82 points per game.

One thing Wolves’ fans won’t have to worry about is the running back position and the production at wide receiver. The dynamic running back duo of Dwayne Wright and Trakell Murray returns to Newberry. The two were responsible for a combined 141 yards rushing per game and accounted for 13 total touchdowns last season.

Keith Desaussure provided plenty of explosive plays on the outside for the Wolves last season, but the unpredictable quarterback put a real damper on his production at times. The speedster still must be accounted for by opposing defenses and can be used in a number of ways. Hopefully, that is on full display this season as the Wolves should find more consistent play at quarterback.

Defensively, the Wolves will have to replace some key positions. They lost linebackers AJ Valentine and Quez Smith. The Wolves will also need to fill the void of defensive back Kevon Gregory who led the team interceptions last season.

All of these questions will be answered on Sept.7 when the Wolves take the field for the first time this season.

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