Newberry College football having historic season. QB Reed Charpia is big reason why
His grandfather’s name is already part of Newberry football’s history. Reed Charpia is making sure his name will be remembered for years to come.
Charpia, the Newberry College quarterback, has broken several records in helping the Wolves to their school’s best postseason run in school history. Newberry (12-1) won its third playoff game last week and plays defending champion Ferris State (14-0) in the NCAA Division II semifinals on Saturday.
A win puts the Wolves into next week’s national championship in McKinney, Texas.
Charpia is doing it at a place where his grandfather (also named Reed) is in the school’s athletic hall of fame. The elder Charpia lettered four years in baseball and three in football during the 1960s and later came back as the school’s head football coach in the 1970s. He was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2017.
“I know he loves that I am playing here,” Reed Jr. said “It is pretty awesome how he played here, and now I am here.”
Newberry College is a special place for the Charpia family. That’s why Rusty Charpia, Reed’s dad, gets emotional sometimes thinking about his son’s accomplishments this season. Rusty, the former Brookland-Cayce coach who is now at Cedar Shoals in Athens, Georgia, picks up his mom and dad to bring them to all of Reed’s games. They won’t be making the trip to Michigan this week but will be watching from home.
As for his son’s success, Rusty isn’t surprised and was glad for Newberry to give him the opportunity to play quarterback when other programs might have shied away from his listed 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame.
“The thing I admired about him is confidence and belief he could do anything,” Rusty Charpia said. “Not being the biggest stature, he never let size get in his way whether it was basketball, baseball or football. He always believed he could play quarterback. When he got the chance to play, he excelled. I am so proud of him and amazed by what they have done.”
While Charpia is excelling in his final season for Newberry, it has been a long journey for the 25-year-old graduate student. Charpia’s college career has spanned six years and stops at four different schools before landing with the Wolves in 2023.
Reed Charpia played baseball and football in high school for his dad, the head coach of both sports at Brookland-Cayce. He helped the Bearcats to a pair of state football semifinal appearances and finished his high school career with a school-record 7,748 total yards and 74 touchdowns.
After he graduated from B-C in 2019, Charpia wanted to play baseball at USC Sumter but sat out during the fall. He spent that time training for football and getting ready for college.
“Playing both, I had to make a decision,” Reed said. “And playing football is what I wanted to do. It is a great game. I love playing quarterback and all those things.”
Charpia walked on at South Carolina as a receiver in January 2020. But the COVID pandemic hit and things changed for him. He left USC in the summer to play at Georgia Military College, but the school didn’t play football that fall during the pandemic.
Charpia played six games at GMC as a receiver in 2021, but his heart and belief that he still could play quarterback made him explore other schools. Louisburg College, a junior college in North Carolina, gave him that chance. At Louisburg, Charpia didn’t start right away but ended up as the team’s QB and set a school record with 427 yards passing and four touchdowns in his final game at the school in 2022.
Charpia gave the Power 4 level a second try and walked on as a quarterback at North Carolina State in January 2023. He went through spring practice, didn’t play in the spring game and knew he was buried on the team’s depth chart.
Charpia’s career was at a crossroads, and that’s when Newberry re-entered the picture. Wolves coach Todd Knight recruited Charpia out of high school but understood he wanted to pursue other opportunities. The two were reunited four years later.
“He bounced around a little bit and I don’t blame kids,” Knight said. “But he ended up here at us, and I’m grateful it has worked out.”
Even at Newberry, Charpia didn’t play right away. He arrived on campus in 2023 but redshirted . Last season, he battled for the starting spot and earned the nod in the second game . He played in six games before a knee injury ended his season. The Wolves went 3-7 and finished the year on a three-game losing streak.
This year has been a different story. With Charpia at QB and an influx of new players — including eight mid-year transfers and more than 50 freshmen — Newberry has exceeded its projected seventh-place finish in the South Atlantic Conference.
Newberry earned the SAC title for the first time since 2022 and has won multiple playoff games in the same postseason for the first time in school history.
Charpia has been at the forefront of the success, setting school records for passing yards (3,630), completions (296), touchdown passes (29) and passing attempts (437). He is a finalist for the Harlon Hill award, Division II’s version of the Heisman Trophy.
Charpia has had success by playing to his style. He excels when a play breaks down, and he has to move outside the pocket. His teammates compare him to former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield.
Charpia’s scrambling and play-making ability were on display earlier this year in a 43-42 overtime win over Wingate.
On the game-winning drive, he had a 16-yard run. The next play, he scrambled to his left and threw across his body for a 7-yard touchdown to Keith Desaussure.
The Wolves went for two point-conversion. This time, Charpia scrambled to his right and threw it as he was going out of bounds with two defenders chasing to the middle of the field. Desaussure caught the pass for the conversion and 43-42 win.
“When a called play breaks down, it turns into kids in the backyard, just having fun. He makes it work,” Knight said of Charpia. “We tried to keep him more in the pocket the first year or so, but that didn’t work. On the sidelines, I am saying, ‘Throw it away, throw it away,’ and then it’s a touchdown. Great job. That is usually how it goes.”
Newberry is 9-0 in one-score games this season and had three victories when trailing by 18 or more points. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Charpia has completed 76.6 % of his passes for 966 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has thrown the game-winning pass in the fourth quarter or overtime four different times.
Charpia and Newberry hope to have a little more magic this week against Ferris State, which has won 28 games in a row. Win or lose, Charpia knows his playing career is coming to end. His next steps could be coaching with either his father or possibly in college.
This season has been rewarding for him and an exclamation point on a long, winding college career.
“It has been a great experience and this season’s success is a great way to end it off — definitely very special,” Charpia said. “No team here has ever been this far. Going back to spring, this was the expectation to be this far, and it has been awesome for sure.”
Division II Semifinals
What: No. 4 Newberry at No. 1 Ferris State
When: Saturday, noon
TV/Streaming: ESPN Plus and ESPN app
Radio: WKDK (101.7 FM/1240 AM), the WKDK or online at www.wkdk.com and newberrywolves.com. Jimmy Coggins will be on the call and broadcasting his 464th Newberry College game.
Watch Parties: There will be watch parties held throughout the state. There is one in Greenville (Carolina Ale House), Newberry (MadMax Taphouse), Lexington (Boho Pizza and Brew), Hilton Head Island (Top Dawg Tavern) and Charleston (Jagerhaus in West Ashley).
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
