WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The No. 21 Newberry College football team dropped a 24-10 decision to Midwestern State University at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
Newberry (1-2) started off strong but faded down the stretch as MSU (3-0) capitalized on chances in the second half.
The scarlet and gray scored on the opening drive as John Carnell (Charleston, S.C.) capped a 4-play, 62-yard drive with a 52-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Bostick (Florence, S.C.).
A 9-play, 50-yard drive that spanned into the second quarter was finished off with a 33-yard field goal by Britt Blackmon (Kershaw, S.C.) to give Newberry a 10-0 lead with 13:44 until the half. The field goal was the first of Blackmon's career.
However, from there on out, the Mustangs controlled the scoreboard and it seemed Newberry couldn't get a break. Jose Martinez' 26-yard field goal narrowed the deficit to 10-3 at the half, but the kick was set up after an MSU punt went off the back of Andre Moyd (Andrews, S.C.) to put the Mustangs in excellent field position. Newberry did not allow a first down on the ensuing drive, but the field goal put the points on the board.
Midwestern State tied the game at 10-all on the first drive of the second half, when a 6-play 53-yard drive ended with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Zack Eskridge to J.J. Ford.
MSU intercepted a Carnell pass at the Newberry 27 with 2:31 to play in the third, and immediately capitalized, as Marcus Mathis ran 27 yards to paydirt to give the Mustangs a 17-10 lead.
Newberry drove down to the MSU 9-yardline on its first possession of the fourth quarter. However, the snap on a Blackmon field goal attempt sailed over the holders' head, breaking any Newberry momentum after a solid 12-play drive. The inability to score was especially painful after an Antonio Patton (Woodruff, S.C.) punt return for a touchdown was called back for an illegal block at the beginning of the drive.
MSU immediately answered as a pair of big runs put the Mustangs up by two scores. Marcus Mathis ran for 60 yards to get into Newberry territory and BeeJay Mathis went the final 30 yards for the score.
Newberry never gave up, and drove back into the MSU red zone, but Carnell was forced from the game with a short term injury. Eric McCollom (Camden, S.C.) got Newberry inside the Mustang 10, but a pass against the grain after a long scramble on fourth down was dropped on the goal line.
NC forced a late punt, but couldn't find the scoreboard again, and the game ended at 24-10.
Carnell was Newberry's offensive leader, completing 27-of-37 passes for 281 yards with a touchdown and an interception. McCollom was 2-of-5 for 22 yards.
Bostick had eight receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown, while Kelton Tindal (Sumter, S.C.) caught eight passes for 56 yards.
Chris Reed (Rock Hill, S.C.) led Newberry with eight tackles, including one for a loss, while Moyd snagged his second interception of the season.
Newberry gained 18 first downs to Midwestern State's 13, and the scarlet and gray had 33 yards of total offense to MSU's 306.
Newberry returns home to begin its South Atlantic Conference schedule against Carson-Newman (2-1) on Saturday, September 27. Kickoff for "Take A Kid to the Game Day" at Setzler Field is set for 1:30 p.m.
