NEWBERRY, S.C. - Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne battled back and forth throughout the game, but the Bears snuck out a 27-20 overtime win over the Wolves in the battle for the Bishops' Trophy Friday night.
Lenoir-Rhyne would force a Newberry punt on the Wolves' first possession of the game. The Bears would block the punt and return it 20 yards for the touchdown to take the early lead.
Four minutes later, Alex Smith would intercept a pass from Sean White at the Lenoir-Rhyne 25 and return it to the 18-yard line. Malory Pinkeny II would punch the ball in from one yard out 1:14 later to tie the game at seven. Neither team could get on the scoreboard until the Bears kicked a field goal with ten seconds remaining in the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead.
The Wolves would force a four and out for Lenoir-Rhyne to start the second half and were set up with excellent field position when the Bears punt went out of bounds at their own 43-yard line. The opening offensive drive for Newberry would be the Mario Anderson drive. Dre Harris completed an 11-yard pass to Anderson to begin the drive. Anderson then rushed the ball the next four plays for 35 yards and the touchdown to put the Wolves up 14-10.
Newberry looked to control the game, but the Bears mounted a drive with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter spanning 14 plays and taking 7:39 off the clock. Lenoir-Rhyne would have a first down and ten at the Newberry 13 and would get the ball down to the four-yard line setting up third and one. Ty Kelly and Anthony Blue would stuff Bear running back Warren Bell for no gain on third down, and the Bears would go for it. This time, Chase Rogers and Alex Smith stuffed Bell for a one-yard loss and gave the Wolves the ball back on downs.
Newberry looked to continue that momentum and move out of their own territory. The offense picked up a first down to get the ball to the 15-yard line to give them some breathing room, but Harris would throw an interception that was returned 10 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bears the 17-14 lead.
With the lead, Lenoir-Rhyne looked to milk the clock by running the ball. But on third and three, with 4:30 remaining in the game, the Bears tried to pass for the first down, but Luke Taylor came up with the interception giving Newberry the ball back. The Wolves drove 74 yards in six plays, and Jonas Lundberg kicked a 27-yard field goal with 1:32 remaining to tie the game at 17.
Lenoir-Rhyne drove down the field and looked to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired, but the Wolves would get the block and send the game into overtime.
The teams would trade field goals in the first overtime, and the Bears would score a touchdown on the first possession of the second overtime. The Wolves could not find the endzone as Lenoir-brought extra pressure, and the Bears held on for the win.
