Key takaways from Newberry College football spring game

NEWBERRY — The Wolves officially kicked off their 2025 season with their annual spring game on Saturday, April 26th at Setzler Field. It was a good number of Newberry faithful in attendance for the noon kickoff to a glimpse of what they can look forward too this fall. Fans, alumni and former football players filled both sides in anticipation of hoping to see something different than they have the last two seasons.

The final score really doesn’t matter, but the game ended in a 7-7 tied for the ones dying to know. The white team struck first in the second quarter as freshman receiver Cam Davis snagged his first unofficial collegiate touchdown to give his squad a 7-0 lead.

The scarlet team tied the game at 7-7 about midway through the third quarter. Then, the white team had a chance to take the lead with a field goal but it was missed from 40-plus yards.

The fourth quarter looked much like the 2024 season for the Wolves with a bunch of missed opportunities. The white team had a key drop on second down as a young receiver couldn’t hang on to the ball after getting free on a wheel route that could’ve lead to a huge game.

The scarlet team forced a turnover after another young receiver dropped an easy first down catch that turned into an interception for the scarlet team. Then, late in the fourth quarter redshirt receiver Shaquil Good had a chance to win it with a wide open touchdown reception that was dropped in the back of the end zone with a beauty of a throw.

“I think we have a talented receiving core but it’s a young one. When the bullets are flying that’s when you find out who can make a play and who can’t. Is the moment too big or not? You wouldn’t think that it would be in the spring game but the kid who dropped the touchdown pass is a redshirt freshman. He has never put the uniform on until today, and now all of sudden the game winner goes to him and he puts it on the ground. He will grow up and several others will as well. They are talented but they are young,” said Wolves head coach Todd Knight.

Despite the low scoring game, both defenses played well.

“I played defense so I can say this honestly, defense is easier[laughing].A lot of is just effort and flying to the football. You can get away with a lot of mistakes on defense if you just play hard. I think the kids on defense played hard today, but they really executed well. Offensively, they are still learning. We got a new OC[offensive coordinator] and a new tight ends coach so it’s going to take more than 15 practices to get all the kinks worked out,” said Knight.

Also, the key position that everyone had their eyes on was quarterback. Senior Reed Charpia is looking like he would be first on the depth chart if the Wolves had to start the season on today.

“Reed has the most experience out of any quarterbacks on the roster. He is also a gamer! He is not the best looking kid on the hoof out there, but when the ball is snapped and the lights are on, that kid is going to make a play. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but he finds a way to get it done. Scrambling, flipping ball and looking like an old school Brett Favre out there,” said Knight.

He continued, “It drives coaches crazy. His dad was his high school coach and his dad told me many of times that Reed drove him crazy. He does the same thing with me, but the kid is a gamer. I hate to say it and I don’t want to push it too far but he reminds me a lot of Dre Harris. Dre had a lot of that in him too.When everything went wrong, he can make it right. Reed has some of that in him too.”

In addition, Newberry College also hosted former Limestone players. The school is scheduled to close its doors for good in May 2025 after commencement ceremonies due to lack of funding. So, naturally some of those football players are looking for a home and are hoping Knight can make room on his roster for them. He spoke about the tough transition for those young men after the spring game.

“The toughest thing for college coaches these days is managing the roster. Five years ago, you didn’t have that problem. Now, you have to worry about who is going to get in the portal with your current team. Then, there is always going to be somebody within the program that you might have to say ‘I think there might be a better fit with you somewhere else.’ You don’t want it to be a drastic number because that is not an easy conversation. That is the makeup of college football today,” stated Knight.

He continued, “We have had quite few Limestone guys come through the door in the last week and we hosted about 15-20 of them today. It’s a bad situation that they are going through with the players, the coaches and everybody that’s up there. I tell them though that they have a second chance. Some guys we recruited in high school is now giving us a second chance. Let’s try to make something good out of something bad. It’ll all shake loose and we will get what we need out of the portal. Hopefully, we don’t loose too many guys because I love the team that we have here now.”

Newberry College is set to open their season on the road at UVA Wise on Sept. 6th.