VALDOSTA, Ga. - Untimely miscues spelled defeat for the Newberry College Wolves despite statistical domination, as the nationally-ranked Valdosta State Blazers scraped by with a 24-17 win at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium on Thursday night.
The Wolves fall to 0-2 on the season with the loss, but have extra time to prepare for the South Atlantic Conference opener at Catawba on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.
Newberry limited the Blazers to eight first downs and 183 yards of offense, but Valdosta State converted three Wolves turnovers into 17 crucial points.
The Wolves ran 81 plays to Valdosta State's 54, and racked up 439 yards of offense. Unfortunately, it was the two lost fumbles and three interceptions which did the Wolves in.
The teams started the game by trading punts, followed by a Newberry drive into the VSU red zone, but an interception by Ryan Smith at the Blazer 9 yardline snuffed out the drive short of a score.
Newberry forced the Blazers to punt and were held to a fourth-and-inches situation on the ensuing drive. Quarterback Bryan Ehrlich (San Antonio, Texas) tried to lean forward for the first down, but the ball slipped free and VSU's Matt Pierce returned the fumble 49 yards for a score to give the Blazers the 7-0 lead with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter.
The teams battled to stalemates for the next few drives, but Valdosta State's Quin Roberson busted out with an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown to make it a 14-0 lead with 11:32 left before the break.
On the ensuing drive, Newberry's Max Elliott (Clover, S.C.) returned the kickoff to the VSU 44 and advanced 15 yards more on a facemask penalty, but VSU's Ryan Smith made his second red zone interception of the game to keep Newberry off of the scoreboard.
A VSU three-and-out was followed by Newberry's first sustained drive to put points on the board. After starting on their own 37-yardline, Newberry went 63 yards downfield in 13 plays to make it 14-7. The drive included two fourth down conversions, including a 27-yard pass play to Elliott on fourth-and-4, and Ehrlich's two-yard touchdown pass to Jake James (Westminster, S.C.) on fourth -and-goal.
VSU drove downfield after taking the opening kickoff, but Daniel Andersen missed a 41-yard field goal attempt.
Both teams held the ball for long stretches in the third quarter, but neither scratched the scoreboard until the fourth quarter.
Newberry tied the game on the first play of the fourth quarter, as a 31-yard touchdown pass from Ehrlich to Brandon Bostick (Florence, S.C.) capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive.
VSU answered with a 5-play, 70-yard drive ending in a 36-yard touchdown pass from Austen Roberts to Quin Roberson to make it 21-14. The drive accounted for over a third of VSU's offense for the entire evening.
Newberry drove deep into VSU territory once again, going 63 yards in 11 plays, settling for a 34-yard field goal by Nick Kinney (Goose Creek, S.C.) to narrow the deficit to 21-17.
The Wolves forced a Blazer three-and-out, the Wolves' Keith Bellamy (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) tried to pick up a rolling punt, but was unable to control the ball before the Blazers recovered in the red zone. VSU only managed two yards on the drive, but Andersen's 32-yard field goal made it 24-17 with 7:10 left in regulation.
Both teams traded punts, giving the Wolves the ball at their own 17 with 3:05 left to try and tie the game. Ehrlich passed to John Gadson (North Charleston, S.C.), who scampered 64 yards to put the ball at the VSU 19 and make the last few seconds of the game extremely pressure-packed.
After a conversion on third-and-long, the Wolves were inside the VSU 10-yardline, but on second down Valdosta State linebacker Chris Pope stepped in front of an Ehrlich pass to intercept the ball and ice the game.
Ehrlich completed 15-of-33 passes for 260 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He now has 24 career touchdown passes to rank fourth in school history,
Gadson had two receptions for 62 yards as well as 13 carries for 44 yards. Alkeem Sherman (Conway, S.C.) had 23 carries for 55 yards.
Bostick had three receptions for 40 yards and a score. Bostick now ranks sixth all-time at Newberry in receiving yards with 1,568 career yards. His 13 career receiving touchdowns ties him for fifth in school history.
Defensively, the Wolves were only required to make 48 tackles in the game, with Apollo Stretch (Columbia, S.C.) making five tackles. Brandon McCall (Sumter, S.C.) made two tackles, both for a loss, and forcing a fumble.
