Box Score / Event Stats

Blazers Fall 31-24 to Newberry

21 straight points doom VSU

VALDOSTA, Ga. - Newberry scored 21 straight second half points and withstood a late Valdosta State rally to defeat the No. 12 Blazers 31-24 in non-conference football action at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium Saturday evening.

Newberry (1-0) jumped out to an early 10-0 lead as it scored on two of its first three drives of the contest. After a 31-yard return by Kelton Tindal gave NC the ball on the Newberry 38, Newberry marched 62 yards on seven plays for a touchdown.

Brandon Gantt threw an incomplete pass and S.J. Worrell was dropped for a two-yard loss before Gantt connected with David Smith for 18 yards and a first down. A personal foul against the Blazers moved the ball to the VSU 31, but a rush and two passes tallied just two yards, bringing up fourth-and-eight from the Blazer 29. The Newberry coaching staff chose to go for it and was rewarded when Gantt found Tindal down the middle for 29 yards and a touchdown, giving NC a 7-0 lead.

Two drives later, Britt Blackmon added an 18-yard touchdown for Newberry to push the advantage to 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Valdosta State (0-1) dominated the second quarter of the game as it racked up 17 points and 170 yards of offense in the frame.

The Blazer score of the frame came on a 38-yard field goal from Daniel Anderson as Valdosta State recovered a Newberry fumble and moved 60 yards on 13 plays. NC turned the ball over via fumble on its next drive as well, leading to VSU's first touchdown of the 2009 season.

Kellen Lewis opened the drive with a 15-yard completion to R.J. Bastone before the duo hooked up again on the next play, this time for a 52-yard pick-up that moved the ball to the Newberry three yard line. Ronnye Nelson finished off the drive as he ran untouched into the end zone on the next play from scrimmage, evening the contest at 10-10 with 4:39 remaining in the first half.

After a NC punt on its next drive gave VSU the ball on the Newberry 40, Lewis went deep to Cedric Jones on the first play from scrimmage. Jones went in the air and pulled the ball away from NC safety Ron Parker before falling into the end zone for a touchdown and a 17-10 Blazer lead.

The Blazers were unable to pick up a first down on its first drive of the second half while a 29 yard punt return by Antonio Patton set up Newberry's first score of the third quarter. Following the punt return, Gantt picked up 12 yards on the ground and hit David Pressley for five more before Tindal rushed for two yards. Gantt and Brown connected for 16 more yard before Pressley caught a 25-yard pass for the tying score with 11:45 to go in the quarter.

Russ Callaway was forced to come on for an injured Lewis on the next drive and was intercepted by Brooks Burnette on a third-and-nine play, giving NC the ball on the VSU 30. Worrell proceeded to gain three yards before Gantt and Smith connected on a 27-yard scoring strike. A botched snap on the extra point attempt allowed the VSU special teams unit to stop a run on the play, posting Newberry to a 23-17 lead.

Callaway was again intercepted on the next VSU drive, but the VSU defense forced a punt before Anderson missed a 32-yard field goal wide right to give Newberry the ball on its own 20 yard line. NC proceeded to march 80 yards on 10 plays for its final touchdown, a Worrell one yard run that proceeded Gantt connecting with Pressley on a two-point throw to post Newberry to a 31-17 lead.

Valdosta State moved to the Newberry 23, 23 and 18 on its next three drives, but saw a pair of interceptions and a turnover on downs end all three threats. Newberry used its running game to wind down the clock before the Blazers scored the final points of the game with 32 seconds remaining.

VSU took over on its own 13 yard line on the drive and Callaway completed four of seven passes, the last to Cedric Evans for an 18-yard score, cutting the Blazer deficit to just seven points. However, Newberry recovered the ensuing on-sides kick, sealing the victory.

Valdosta State finished the game with 411 yards of total offense, including 92 on the ground and 319 through the air. Callaway was 14-of-27 for 171 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions while Lewis completed nine-of-19 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown, against one interception. Nelson caught six passes for 46 yards and picked up 25 more on the ground while Jones hauled in four catches for 72 yards and a score.

Larry Dean and Ratu Rabelo tallied 10 tackles each to lead the Valdosta State defense, which surrendered 470 yards in the game, including 333 through the air and 137 on the ground.

Pressley caught 10 passes for 103 yards as Gantt completed 25-of-39 passes, with three touchdowns and one interception. Worrell led the rushing attack with 77 yards while Ron Parker had a team-high 10 tackles and two interceptions.

Valdosta State takes next weekend off before returning to action Saturday, September 12 when it opens Gulf South Conference play against Southern Arkansas at 7:00 p.m. in Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

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