A History of Newberry College Football
Newberry College, chartered in 1856, boasts a rich and evolving football history intertwined with the institution's own journey. From early struggles and revivals to conference titles and playoff appearances, the gridiron narrative reflects resilience, adaptation, and periods of remarkable success.
Early Years and Challenges
Newberry College was chartered on Dec. 20 as a college, seminary, and preparatory school of the Lutheran Synod of South Carolina. Classes officially began on Feb. The principal founder was the Rev. John Bachman (1790 - 1874), a Charleston minister and naturalist, who also served as the first chair of the Board of Trustees.
The early years of Newberry College were marked by significant challenges, particularly during the Civil War. The College's second president and a staunch Unionist, the Rev. James A. Brown (1812 - 1882), resigned in January 1861 following South Carolina's secession from the Union the previous month. He returned to his native Pennsylvania and became a chaplain in the Union Army during the Civil War. The Rev. Dr. Josiah P. Smeltzer (1819 - 1887) assumed the presidency less than a week before the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter. Enrollment plummeted as students joined the Confederate Army. By 1864, the student body had dropped to 30 students - four in the college and 26 in the preparatory division. In March 1865, the College's original building was commandeered by the Confederate Army as a hospital during the last days of the war. In 1868, the Board of Trustees accepted an offer to relocate the College to Walhalla, South Carolina. Smeltzer and the College's 10 students departed Newberry on Oct. 26, taking with them the College bell, a small collection of books, and a bust of Martin Luther. In 1869, the College awarded its first bachelor's degree to James E. Houseal (1849 - 1941). At the end of Reconstruction, the College reacquired the Newberry campus and returned in 1877. Smeltzer remained in Walhalla to become president of Walhalla Female College, and the Rev. Dr. George W. Holland (1838 - 1895) took the helm.
Football returned to Newberry in 1913 as an intercollegiate sport after an eight-year ban for its "brutal" nature. Fred D. "Dutch" MacLean (1888 - 1964) transferred from Brown University to play in Newberry's first team.
The "Dutch" MacLean Era and Early Successes
In 1921, the Indians tied for the state championship with a 16-7 win over Wofford on Thanksgiving Day at the Spartanburg County Fairgrounds. The key win wrapped up an eight-win season under head coach Dutch McLean for a program which only had 24 wins in 10 previous seasons. The only loss to a state team was a 14-0 loss to Furman in the season opener. The scarlet and gray went on to defeat Erskine, The Citadel, Presbyterian, the Parris Island Marines and Wofford - allowing only 13 points in those games.
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The Billy Laval Years and the Little Four Title
The Indians won their only Little Four title in one of their highest-scoring years under head coach Billy Laval. It was only the second time in program history to that point that Newberry won more than five games in a year. On October 11, the Indians defeated Presbyterian 20-7 in Newberry to kick off the 3-0 record against the Little Four. A 32-0 shutout of Erskine in Due West on November 16 set up the championship game, which Newberry clinched by pounding Wofford 46-6 in Spartanburg.
The Bronze Derby Rivalry
The tradition of the Bronze Derby as a symbol of the rivalry between Newberry and Presbyterian College began on Jan. 31, 1947. Newberry played rival Presbyterian College in basketball, in what would later be named MacLean Gymnasium. An unnamed Newberry student climbed a ladder on the outside of the building, into an open window behind the visitors’ stands, and took a bowler hat off the head of a Blue Hose. Former student Corrin Bowers (1928-2006) would later write that he was the hat's owner, and that the whole operation was merely to recover stolen property. Presbyterian won the game 57-41, and several altercations ensued after the game. Soon after, Presbyterian’s public relations director, Charles MacDonald, wrote Frank Kinard ’47 (1924-2021), Newberry’s sports publicity director, suggesting that the hat be recovered and made into a symbol of the schools’ rivalry. The hat was turned in anonymously, cast in bronze, and the Bronze Derby was born. The trophy would be passed to the victor of each meeting in basketball, baseball and football until 1956, and only in football until PC left Division II. The Bronze Derby has resided in Clinton, South Carolina, since the Blue Hose's final 10-0 victory on Nov.
Recent History and Playoff Appearances
After a 51-year absence from the postseason, the Indians set a school record for wins in a season and advanced to the second round in their first-ever playoff appearance. Newberry won its first 10 games in a row to start the season, vaulting as high as No. 9 in the national polls. After being shut out at Presbyterian in the regular season finale, Newberry hosted Albany State in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs at Setzler Field, earning a 34-28 victory and advancing to the second round. The season came to an end in the second round of the playoffs with a tough 38-20 loss at North Alabama; the Indians attained a No.
Newberry qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the second time in three years and third time in school history thanks to a fantastic close to the regular season. Facing a 3-4 overall record entering the final stretch of the season, the Wolves won the final four games of the regular season to charge in to the playoffs as the seventh seed from Super Region II.
The 2008 Season
The Newberry squad barely missed out on the playoffs in 2008, still claiming a share of their second SAC title in a three-way tie for the crown that included Tusculum and Carson-Newman. After a loss to defending national champion Valdosta State to start the year and a tough road defeat in Texas at Midwestern State, the scarlet and gray closed the year by winning five of their final seven games. Newberry crushed North Greenville early before beating Carson-Newman in overtime, Catawba, Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne. Interspersed were losses at Mars Hill and Tusculum.
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The Magical 2016 Season
Newberry's magical 2016 season stands as one of the best campaigns in school history. The Wolves completed their first-ever undefeated South Atlantic Conference season with a dramatic, come-from-behind victory over Wingate before a national television audience on American Sports Network to clinch Newberry's third conference title and a postseason berth. The Wolves lost their first game of the season, a 42-28 setback against Florida Tech--but even that game contained a sign of things to come as Markell Castle's belief-defying, twisting, one-handed catch in the second quarter was the No. A 42-22 drubbing of visiting Virginia Union made the Wolves 1-1 before Raleigh Yeldell's bruising, 4-yard run with 1:04 to play at North Greenville sealed a win. Newberry won its next seven games by an average of 25 points before the regular season finale against Wingate. Tuskegee ended Newberry's season with a 35-33 win in Newberry's first home postseason game in 10 years. The team's 2016 accomplishments are nearly too many to name: Catawba game was broadcast nationally on ESPN3 as part of the Division II Football Showcase, Todd Knight was named SAC Coach of the Year, Yeldell finished ninth in Harlon Hill voting and was SAC and ECAC Offensive Player of the Year, 15 players were named all-conference selections, and the team was slotted No.
Notable Players and Recognition
Newberry College has produced several outstanding football players who have earned individual accolades.
Also honored at the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet that night will be Newberry's ECAC award winners and All-Stars. This includes the ECAC Division II Offensive Player of the Year - Romelo Doctor. A junior from Summerville and Ashley Ridge HS, Doctor finished the regular season as the state of South Carolina's leading rusher, had seven games this season of over 100 yards rushing, was a finalist for the S.C.
The Newberry College Lettermans Club has inducted six new members to the Newberry Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend. The Class of 2014 inductees are: Brandon Downey (cross country), Tonique Frasier (womens basketball), Rick Ladimir (mens soccer), Josh Stepp (football), Virgil Wallace (mens basketball) and Tymere Zimmerman (football and mens basketball). The six inductees were honored on campus with a special luncheon on Saturday, September 13, followed by recognition at that evenings football game against Limestone. The banquet was held in Kaufmann Hall on campus at noon on Saturday, with a very limited number of tickets available at the door. Josh Stepp was the quarterback for Newberry Collges most successful run in program history and re-defined the terms of success. Tymere Zimmerman was a two-sport star athlete and record breaker at Newberry College.
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