JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Being held to under 200 yards of offense for the first time this season, the No. 7 Newberry College (4-1, 2-1 SAC) football team found themselves on the unfavorable side of a 24-14 decision to the Eagles of Carson-Newman on the road on Saturday, October 1.

Though the offense was stifled most of the day, sophomore Mario Anderson (Summerville, S.C.) still managed to rattle off 82 yards on the afternoon.  The Wolves were forced to use a trio of quarterbacks in the contest with senior Pete Elmore (Barnwell, S.C.) providing the biggest spark to the offense as he completed six passes for 50 yards and a touchdown.

Graduate student Alex Smith (Irmo, S.C.) was the only member of the defensive side of the ball to record a sack on the afternoon while four others were able to account for tackles for loss on the day.  Junior Luke Taylor (Summerville, S.C.) led the team with 15 total tackles in the contest while senior Devante Gambrell (Anderson, S.C.) accounted for 1.5-TFLs in the game.

Though the Wolves would cross the 50-yard line into Eagles territory on the opening drive of the day, partially thanks to a pass interference call on the Eagles, they would stall out just on the other side and be forced to punt the ball. The two teams would trade back and forth scoreless drive before the Wolves were able to carry the momentum of their third drive into the second quarter and find the back of the end zone as Elmore hit graduate Tommy Washington (Spartanburg, S.C.) on the goal line for the first score of the game to give the Wolves the 7-0 lead in the second.

An interception would bring the next Newberry drive to a halt, and Carson-Newman would try and take advantage of that opportunity as they set up for a long field goal try. However junior Carson Smith (Abbeville, S.C.) was able to break through the line to get a hand on the try and graduate Chico Onyekwere (Washington, D.C.) was able to pick up the loose ball and return it 60-yards to the house to give the Wolves the 14-0 advantage. Carson-Newman was able to score on their final drive of the opening half, making it 14-7 going into the halftime break.

Neither team would score on their opening drive of the second half, but Carson-Newman would make it a new ball game on their second drive as they were able to put seven points on the board and tie the game up at 14. Two dropped passes on the next drive for the Wolves caused a quick three-and-out but the tie would carry over into the fourth quarter of action.

Carson-Newman would eat up nearly half the quarter on a 15-play drive that saw them with their first lead of the day, 21-14. They would add three more points on a field goal in the waning minutes after bringing a pair of Newberry offensive drives to quick ends.  A costly turnover running the two-minute drill in the last 60 seconds of the contest sealed the deal for the Eagles as they took away the 24-14 victory.

Newberry returns to action next weekend as they open divisional play with a 4 p.m. showdown with Barton College at Setzler Field.