Newberry Middle School wins fourth consecutive Lex-10 football championship

NEWBERRY — Newberry Middle School football program are crowned the Lexington-10 champs again for the fourth consecutive season. The Tigers defeated Lakeside Middle School 28-14 in 2024 Lex-10 championship game.

The two teams met at Mike Ware Field on the campus of Newberry High School on Wednesday, Nov. 6th for all of the marbles. The rain slowed down both offenses in the first half, but it didn’t take away from a great season finale.

The Tigers struggled in the wet conditions and couldn’t recover the opening the kickoff of the game. Newberry’s defense stood tall and came up with a huge stop to force a turnover on downs.

Newberry first offensive drive of the game was also unsuccessful after a failed fourth down attempt. Lakeside’s offense rode the momentum and hit the Tiger’s defense over the top for a long touchdown pass. They converted the two-point conversion attempt to lead 8-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Tigers drove the ball down the field on their second drive to get into the red zone, but failed on another fourth down attempt. Their offense finally broke through late in the second quarter after starting quarterback Sincere Glymph found the end zone with a rushing touchdown. They were successful on their two-point conversion attempt and went into the half tied 8-8.

Both teams got off to a slow start in the third quarter, but Newberry finally hit a big play through the air as time expired at the end of the quarter. Glymph found Oscar Davis 40-plus yard touchdown reception to give the Tigers their first lead of the game. They lead 16-8 going into the fourth quarter.

The rain would slow down in the final quarter and the fireworks started. Lakeside refused to go down without a fight and hit a huge deep pass to climb back in the game. They failed on the two-point conversion attempt after a penalty pushed their attempt back and still trailed 16-14 with a little under six minutes left in the final quarter.

The Tigers’ offense attempted to take some time of the clock and run the ball, but Glymph had other ideas. He broke a 30-plus yard run to put his team inside of their opponent’s 10-yard line. He finished it off with a touchdown run. Glymph had 79 rushing yards, 70 passing yards and three total touchdowns(two rushing).

Lakeside got the ball back with three minutes left in the game, but they were backed up deep in their own territory. The Tigers defensive front took advantage of their opponent’s poor field position and forced a fumble that went for a touchdown after the scoop and score. Newberry now held a 28-14 lead.

The Raiders had one last chance to make things interesting in the final two minutes of the game and came up short. The Tigers’ defensive line got to Lakeside’s quarterback to hit him and force a wild pass that landed into a Newberry defender’s hands. The interception sealed the game and the fourth consecutive title. They rushed for 157 yards on offense and their defense had eight tackles for loss, two turnovers and one touchdown.

“Our message at the half was to keep doing what were doing. They really hadn’t moved the ball and got a cheap on eon us where we were playing palms coverage to the side and we messed it up. He got free on the back end, but we knew we had to get after that quarterback. If we didn’t put in pressure on him then he would stand there and pick us apart,” said Tigers head coach Troy White.

Newberry Middle School football program have only lost two games in the past five seasons and finished this year with a 7-1 record.

“We have only lost two games in the past five years, won five straight division titles and four straight conference titles. It’s a grind for six to eight months out of the year because we have an off season weight lifting program now. So, it’s a year round grind even at this level,” said White.

Congratulations to Newberry Middle School on another great football season and on capturing another trophy.