For the first time since 2012, the Newberry Panthers have won two playoff games, and now they are one win away from a trip to the state semifinals.
Behind a four-touchdown performance from quarterback Collin Dunmore, a stout turnover-crazy defense and clutch special teams, Class 2A-Region 2 No. 3 Newberry defeated No. 2 Bradford for the second time this season, this time by a score of 34-19 in Friday’s region semifinal.
The Panthers defeated Bradford at Newberry, 21-7, on Oct. 12 for the district title.
“It’s huge for the program. It’s been a while since we’ve done that,” said Newberry coach Ed Johnson. “We have a lot of tradition, and to do it against a really good team like Bradford… It’s a big step for us and where we want to go.”
The Panthers opened the scoring with Dunmore’s first touchdown, a 31-yard scramble off a botched flea-flicker attempt before Bradford answered with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Zack Paulk to Marlin Haywood.
However, Newberry held onto the lead, 7-6, after Logan McCloud blocked the extra point. It was the first of three blocked kicks, two extra points and one punt, for the Panthers.
Nonetheless, Bradford still had opportunities for points, but a stout Newberry defense held strong with their backs against the wall.
On 4th-and-7 from the Panthers’ 26-yard line, Newberry’s Elijah Beckford intercepted a pass, and Newberry capitalized with a Dunmore touchdown run from two yards out, but failed to convert the extra point, making it a 13-6 game midway through the second quarter,
Bradford, once again, had the ball deep in Newberry territory set up by a 36-yard run from Jeremiah Mckenzie, but the Tornadoes turned the ball over on downs near the 20-yard line.
Newberry couldn’t capitalize, but the Panthers had one more chance for points before the half after Jarquez Carter blocked a punt with less than a minute left.
With seven seconds on the clock and needing six yards for a touchdown with no timeouts, Newberry elected to run the ball rather than kick the field goal, and Bradford’s defense came up with the stop to keep it at a one-score game.
The Panthers’ third-quarter performance, however, made its second-quarter blunders disappear. Hayden Moore scored on a 26-yard run on the opening drive, and after Carter recovered a fumble on the 30-yard line, Dunmore rushed for his third touchdown.
Newberry’s uncomfortable 13-6 lead quickly became a dominant 27-6 blowout.
“That’s on me,” Johnson said of the mishaps late in the second quarter. “We talked about it in the locker room, ‘Pick me up.’ Being too greedy at that point. To their credit, they came out, picked me up. That big opening drive set the tone for the second half.”
The teams traded scores in the fourth quarter with Bradford’s Ian Addison rushing for a six-yard touchdown, and Newberry’s Dunmore hitting Moore for a 37-yard touchdown with 6:19 left in the game.
The Tornadoes would add one final score, a 25-yard connection between Paulk and Michael Oliver before the Panthers recovered the onside kick and drained the clock.
Next week, Newberry takes a trip to the Space Coast for a matchup against powerhouse Cocoa, winners of back-to-back state championships.
“A dog fight for sure,” Dunmore said of next week’s matchup. “Cocoa’s the powerhouse. Back-to-back state champs. Just coming out, underdogs, chip on our shoulders, proving everybody wrong.”
FHSAA football playoffs
Friday, Nov. 22
Area teams in bold
Regional Finals
Rural
Hawthorne 44, Lafayette (Mayo) 15
Williston 28, Fort White 19
Union County (Lake Butler) 28, Pahokee (7-3) 18
Rural (Division B)
Trenton 26, Baker 21
Dixie County (Cross City) 41, Jefferson County (Monticello) 32
Regional Semifinals
Class 2A-Region 2
Newberry 34, Bradford (Starke) 19
Class 6A-Region 1
Buchholz 34, Pace 24
