The Newberry College football team has made six postseason appearances during its history on the gridiron.
1954 - Elks Bowl (6-3-2)
Newberry played in its first postseason bowl game against Appalachian State in the third annual Elks Bowl at Riddick Stadium, then the home stadium of N.C. State, in Raleigh, N.C. The Indians scored three touchdowns in the second half in front of "a small, chilled crowd of 400." Grady Ray scored two touchdowns and Paul Davis rushed for one in the bowl game. Newberry also picked up wins over Catawba, Elon, Maryville, Guilford and The Citadel while tying Lenoir-Rhyne and Troy State.
1955 - Palmetto Shrine Bowl (5-3-2)
A missed extra point was the only thing standing between Newberry and two consecutive bowl wins, as the Indians dropped the Palmetto Shrine Bowl 14-13 to Lenoir-Rhyne in front of a crowd of over 5,000 at what was then known as Carolina Stadium, now called Williams-Brice Stadium, in Columbia. Davis and Ray were the scorers again for Newberry. The 5-3-2 season also saw the scarlet and gray shut out Furman in the season opener and then defeated Wofford, Elon, Guilford and Presbyterian while tying Lenoir-Rhyne and Stetson.
2006 - South Atlantic Conference Champions / NCAA Division II Football Championship Second Round (11-2)
After a 51-year absence from the postseason, the Indians set a school record for wins in a season and advanced to the second round in their first-ever playoff appearance. Newberry won its first 10 games in a row to start the season, vaulting as high as No. 9 in the national polls. Wins over Edward Waters, Morehead State, Brevard, Elizabeth City State, Carson-Newman, Catawba, Mars Hill, Wingate and Tusculum started the season and a home win over Lenoir-Rhyne clinched Newberry's first SAC title since the conference began in 1975.
After being shut out at Presbyterian in the regular season finale, Newberry hosted Albany State in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs at Setzler Field, earning a 34-28 victory and advancing to the second round. The season came to an end in the second round of the playoffs with a tough 38-20 loss at North Alabama; the Indians attained a No. 12 final national ranking.
2013 - NCAA Division II Football Championship First Round (9-3)
A six-game winning streak to start the season was the impetus for Newberry's second NCAA playoff appearance. Wins over Elizabeth City State, Florida Tech, Catawba, Mars Hill, Wingate and Tusculum put Newberry at 6-0. The Wolves then lost to eventual national finalist Lenoir-Rhyne but rebounded the next week with a win over Top 10 UNC Pembroke. A win over Brevard was followed by a loss at Carson-Newman, but a crushing of North Greenville on senior day clinched Newberry's spot in the playoffs.
The Wolves had to travel to Carson-Newman for the second time in a 15-day span and despite a phenomenal individual performance from wide receiver Corey Washington, Newberry lost in the first round by a 37-27 count.
2015 - NCAA Division II Football Championship First Round (7-5)
With a 3-4 record following a seven-point setback at Carson-Newman in mid-October, Newberry's postseason prospects were nothing more than a faint glimmer. But the Wolves reeled off four consecutive wins by large margins: 41-7 vs. Brevard, 52-14 at Lenoir-Rhyne, 47-7 against Limestone, and 26-0 on ESPN3 at Wingate to vault into the postseason, where North Alabama ended the Wolves' season.
Newberry's four straight wins to close the regular season, including three over SAC opponents, began a streak of 12 consecutive conference wins that lasted nearly two years to the day of the Wolves' win over Brevard, the sixth-longest SAC winning streak in conference history.
2016 - South Atlantic Conference Champions / NCAA Division II Football Championship First Round (10-2)
Newberry's magical 2016 season stands as one of the best campaigns in school history. The Wolves completed their first-ever undefeated South Atlantic Conference season with a dramatic, come-from-behind victory over Wingate before a national television audience on American Sports Network to clinch Newberry's third conference title and a postseason berth. The Wolves lost their first game of the season, a 42-28 setback against Florida Tech--but even that game contained a sign of things to come as Markell Castle's belief-defying, twisting, one-handed catch in the second quarter was the No. 2 play on SportsCenter's Top 10.
A 42-22 drubbing of visiting Virginia Union made the Wolves 1-1 before Raleigh Yeldell's bruising, 4-yard run with 1:04 to play at North Greenville sealed a win. Newberry won its next seven games by an average of 25 points before the regular season finale against Wingate. Tuskegee ended Newberry's season with a 35-33 win in Newberry's first home postseason game in 10 years. The team's 2016 accomplishments are nearly too many to name: Catawba game was broadcast nationally on ESPN3 as part of the Division II Football Showcase, Todd Knight was named SAC Coach of the Year, Yeldell finished ninth in Harlon Hill voting and was SAC and ECAC Offensive Player of the Year, 15 players were named all-conference selections, and the team was slotted No. 16 in the final AFCA poll.
