How team bonding in an unusual year powered Newberry College to SAC title, playoffs

It’s been a long 10 months for the Newberry Wolves.

After playing six games in the spring, more than any other team in the South Atlantic Conference, the football team regrouped to claim the league crown in the fall, dropping only one SAC game in posting a 9-2 overall record. The Wolves traveled to Pensacola, Florida to take on No. 2 West Florida Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Division II Championship.

“It’s kind of cool,” said Newberry coach and SAC coach of the year Todd Knight. “Everyone is talking to you. (The campus) is excited. They’re happy for you. Newberry is a different animal. It’s like a big family. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody knows everybody in town. The police chief’s son played for me. The sheriff’s son played for me. There was a time on Saturday when every police officer was at the football game. ... The entire city of Newberry is lit up over it.”

The Wolves entered the fall confident in their ability to compete and win their first SAC title since 2016.

Like most college teams across the country, playing so many games in a nine-month span hasn’t been easy.

“It sounds crazy but during the pandemic — during both the spring and fall — you couldn’t do a lot of things as a team, so you had to do a lot of individual work,” Knight said. “We did a lot of position work, a lot of individual work.

“The kids were almost like a sponge. They wanted to get together. They wanted to soak up that team bonding. They were screaming for team bonding and we couldn’t do it. As things came together this fall, they wanted to get together so much, it almost galvanized them. I know that sounds contradictory. It’s one of those crazy things that just happened.”

‘We love being around each other’

Playing a six-game spring season meant the team didn’t get its normal rest and workout time during the summer. Despite the inconvenience, Newberry returned with the goal of winning the league title in its sights.

“It wasn’t difficult because it told us where we would be in the fall. It really gave us chemistry and put us on the path we are now,” senior quarterback Dre Harris said. “I think it was good because of that. Most of the receivers got together and we threw during the break. We were on the field getting our timing down and it’s working out for us now.

Harris has completed 140 of 219 passes for 2,090 yards and 17 touchdowns, to go with seven interceptions. He also rushed for 343 yards and six scores.

“I knew we had a shot,” Knight said. “If you look back, 5-1 in the spring. We lost in double overtime to Lenoir-Rhyne. We came back this fall and lost in double overtime to Mars Hill. That’s our only two conference losses in basically two seasons and they were down to the wire. Our kids never gave up. They stayed focused. Winning the championship and going to the playoffs was a goal for us and they accomplished it.”

Running back Mario Anderson, who rushed for 1,110 yards and nine touchdowns, also believed the extra games, in concert with the additional protocols due to the pandemic, were difficult but helped bring the team closer.

Senior cornerback Anthony Blue, who leads Newberry in interceptions with four and has been chosen to compete in the National Football Player’s Association Collegiate Bowl in January, took the plethora of games played in 2021 in stride.

“It was a quick turnaround. With college football, or any kind of football, you’ve got to give your body a break ... but football is fun,” Blue said. “We love the sport. We love being around each other. We love the culture. After a while we just said, this is football so let’s go out and make memories.

“From the beginning, even though we look two (losses) no one lost faith. We knew we had a special group of guys. We just kept doing what we were doing. We stuck to the plan. We stuck to our goal to show everybody we have a special group of guys so we could win the conference and make history.”

The league title and potential to advance nationally has been a unifying thing on campus.

“Everyone is excited,” Anderson said. “One of my professors was talking to me about it the other day. It’s been great.

“It was funny at (last) Saturday’s game,” said Newberry athletic director Ralph Patterson, who is retiring at the end of the semester. “A lot of the fans were listening to the Mars Hill-Wingate game. While our game was still going on, a big yell went up when Mars Hill lost because it meant we won the SAC title alone. We didn’t have to share it.”

The Wolves entered Saturday’s game as the underdog but appeared unfazed.

“It’s another game,” Knight said. “That has been my approach with the kids. This isn’t uncharted territory. This isn’t something we haven’t done before. We’ve played Valdosta when they came off a national championship and beat them. This is Florida’s defending champion. We’ve done this before. It’s not the first time we’ve won the conference, the first time we’ve gone to the national playoffs around here.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 5:00 AM.