Special from Newberry College.
Former Brookland-Cayce quarterback Reed Charpia has Newberry College a game away from
the NCAA Division II championship.
The Harlon Hill Trophy finalist accounted for 244 passing yards and a touchdown in the 31-24
comeback road win over Albany State this past Saturday.
This is the Wolves’ first-ever semifinal appearance and occurred after rallying from a 21-3
deficit in the first quarter.
The Newberry College Wolves (12-1) rallied from down 21-3 in the first quarter to defeat top
regional seed Albany State on the road 31-24 to advance to the national semifinals for the first time in school history.
This was also Newberry’s school-record 10th straight win and improved their record to 9-0 in
one score games. In addition, it improved to 6-0 on the road this season and this marked the
third comeback from a deficit of 18 or more points.
In a game played in a steady downpour and cool temperatures, the Golden Rams jumped out
quickly, grabbing a 21-3 lead with 2:19 left in the first quarter.
But the Wolves scored three second quarter touchdowns to grab a 24-21 advantage by
halftime.
The second quarter did not start well as Charpia threw an interception in the end zone to halt a Wolves drive at the Golden Rams eight-yard line.
But the Wolves forced a punt from Albany State and the offense responded by driving 76 yards in four plays with Charpia connecting with Keith Desaussure on a 32-yard pass and 12 yards to Spells for the Wolves first touchdown of the game to cut the lead to 21-10.
After the defense responded with a three and out, the offense was back at it, driving 57 yards on four plays to cut the lead to 21-17.
Charpia completed a 20-yard pass to De'Andre Coleman, Desaussure took an end around for 16 yards to the Golden Ram eight-yard line and backup quarterback Coleman Gray executed a run option play to former Bearcat Will Young who ran in for the touchdown, his first touchdown of the year.
Albany State then responded, driving 49 yards in nine plays to the Wolves 26-yard line, but
Williams blocked the 43-yard field goal attempt, scooped up the ball at the 33-yard line and
returned it 67 yards for the score with no time remaining on the clock to give the Wolves the
improbable halftime lead.
Neither team got much offense going on their first two possessions of the second half, but
Charpia used his feet to scramble outside the pocket on third and 13 and connected with Young on a 28-yard pass to the Golden Ram 34-yard line.
On the next play Spells burst though the right side of the line for a touchdown to give the
Wolves a 31-21 lead with 7:41 left in the third quarter.
Albany State got a field goal with 2:25 left in the quarter to close out the scoring.
On the final drive of the game, the Golden Rams drove all the way to the Wolves 20-yard line
with 10 seconds remaining. Newberry forced a pair of incomplete pass attempts to end the
game.
The Wolves will travel to Big Rapids, Mich. Saturday to face defending national champion Ferris State. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
