Wolves outlast Emory & Henry in epic 8OT thriller in home conference opener

Sep. 17—NEWBERRY — Newberry College defeated Emory and Henry 25-23 in eight overtime thriller to get their second win of the season. Seltzer Field was packed yet again for the 6:00 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 16 and the fans got their money's worth in the Wolves conference opener.

Brayden Phillips got his first collegiate start at quarterback for the Wolves and had a rough first half. The sophomore went 5-of-12 with 75 passing yards and an interception in the first half. He also was sacked twice.

Early in the second quarter, the Wasps were threatening to score, but sophomore linebacker Jalen Stradford intercepted Charles Mutter's pass in the end zone. Kevon Gregory got his second interception of the season, also second in back-to-back games, to give the Wolves the ball at their opponents' 20-yard line.

Their offense failed to take advantage of the good field position and Phillips throws an interception in the red zone.

The Wolves trailed 7-0 at halftime.

"Well honestly, during halftime Coach Varn talked to me about stepping up and making throws. It wasn't anything Emory & Henry was doing. I was just looking in the wrong places at the wrong times. Just not taking advantage of the opportunities I was getting," said Phillips. "I told them at halftime that I take full responsibility for that half and us not putting points up. It would be better next week, I promise."

Both teams struggled offensively for most of the third quarter, but the Wolves put together a long scoring drive with under a minute left in the quarter. Phillips found Trakell Murray for a 5-yard touchdown reception to tie the game 7-7.

The Wasps would answer with a touchdown drive of their own in the early minutes of the fourth quarter to reclaim the lead 14-7.

Then, Phillips would find Keith Desaussure on a 10-yard pass to the sideline and the speedster would take 85-yards to tie the game at 14-14.

Neither team would score the remaining of regulation, and the game headed into its first overtime.

Both teams traded punch-for-punch for eight overtimes until the Wolves finally had enough. Their defense stepped up first and made a stop just short of the end zone in the eighth and final overtime.

Then, the Wolves offense trotted out on the field with the perfect play call. It was also a similar play call that many remember as the 'Philly Special' ran in Super Bowl LII by the Philadelphia Eagles. The center snapped Phillips the ball, then he handed it off to Dwayne Wright, who then flipped it to Andre Banks, and Banks threw it to a wide open Phillips in the corner of the end zone for the walk-off score.

"We drew up the final play seven times previously [laughs]. I've been told we set the NCAA record today for overtimes in the game. I said after the game 'I've never been around for one like this before.' Nobody has, well not in Division II football," said Wolves head coach Todd Knight. "It just kept going back-and-forth like heavy weight fight.We just keep trading punches. We had called just about everything in the book, it wasn't much left.........Finally we just hung in there longer than they did."

Phillips also discussed the conversation that took place inside of the Wolves' huddle before the last play.

"I was talking to Coach Varn [offensive coordinator] about literally running the speed option to the backside because it was nobody over there to stop it. Then, he said 'how about we throw it to you?' I thought it would be a great way to end the game. We work on those plays every Thursday in our walk-throughs and finally got a chance to use them in a game," said Phillips.

The young quarterback told the Observer that his good hands comes from his days playing receiver as a freshman for Buford High School in Buford, SC.

Despite the rough start, Phillips finished the game going 11-of-25 through the air with 187 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.

"Brayden came in and played well for us last week. This was a tough one for him to get his first start of the year because of the style of defense that Emory & Henry run. A lot of twisting, a lot of looping, and a lot of crazy stunts. They deal in confusion," said Knight. "I told him if he can survive that one right there, then you won't see another defense like that all year. It was great for this kid."

The Wolves(2-1,1-0) will visit Erksine for their first road test in conference play on next Saturday, Sept. 23.

The full recap will be available in the newspaper on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Reach Greg Hollis @ 803-768-3117 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews