NEWBERRY, S.C. – Lenoir-Rhyne's 18-game regular-season South Atlantic Conference win streak came to an end in a 28-21 defeat at Newberry on Saturday night. The streak tied the longest in program history as the Wolves took home the Bishops' Cup for the first time since 2017.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Newberry 28, #5 Lenoir-Rhyne 21
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (1-1, 0-1 SAC), Newberry (2-1, 1-0 SAC)
Location: Newberry, S.C. | Setzler Field
STATS OF THE GAME:
• The Bears started off the scoring with 32-yard touchdown pass from
Grayson Willingham to
Deondre Lester. Lester caught it at the 25 and turned up field, breaking two tackles before taking it to the house.
• Newberry answered with a 25-yard touchdown run from Mario Anderson. It was the second game in a run the Newberry RB had a TD run against the Bears, running for a 17-yarder in the March matchup.
• A 16-yard Newberry TD pass gave the Wolves the lead but Willingham had the answer when he hit
Ryan Carter in the back of the end zone for Carter's second receiving TD of the season. The teams would go into the break all tied at 14.
• Back-to-back rushing touchdowns, one by Dre Harris and another by Anderson put the Wolves up two touchdowns in the third quarter.
• LR answered with a four-yard TD run from
Dwayne McGee to cut the deficit to one possession with 14 minutes left to play.
• However, the Bears long drive stalled on a fourth and short in Newberry's territory with over six minutes remaining.
• Newberry would run out the final 6:14 to secure the victory.
• Anderson finished the game with 20 carries for 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Harris had 34 yards rushing and went 16-for-20 for 260 yards and a touchdown.
• Bobby Irby had a game-high seven grabs for 88 yards including a 40-yarder.
• McGee had 23 carries for 110 yards and Willingham went 22-for-35 for 205 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
• Lester, Carter and
Dareke Young each had five grabs for the Bears.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
• The Bears had won three straight in the head-to-head matchup before Newberry's win tonight.
• This marked the first start at Newberry for Willingham who had missed the previous two matchups at Setzler Field.
• Anderson became the first opponent to rush for 100 yards since Jerko'ya Patton from Limestone ran for 147 yards in 2019. LR has allowed just two 100-yard rushers in the past 33 games.
• With a second-quarter sack by
De'Andre Shelton, the Bears now have at least one sack in 45 straight games. That would be the only QB takedown of the night for LR.
• McGee has topped 100 yards on the ground four times in his six career games.
UP NEXT: LR will host Mars Hill in the home opener next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
