Sept. 17, 2010

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Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team came back from a 14-point halftime deficit to take the lead and then held on for a 38-35 win over the Newberry College Wolves in the Bulldogs' home opener Thursday night at Seibert Stadium.

"We got ourselves in the hole at halftime by not playing well in every phase," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "The only way for us to win it was for all three phases to make some plays in the second half and all three phases did. The biggest thing for us was getting the win."

Samford trailed, 21-7 heading into halftime. The Bulldogs scored 17 points in the third quarter to take a 24-21 lead. Place-kicker Cameron Yaw started the comeback with a 40-yard field goal with 11:43 to go in the third quarter to make the score 21-10.

Samford junior quarterback Dustin Taliaferro hit Chris Cephus on a 46-yard touchdown pass with 8:02 to go in the third quarter. Yaw added the PAT to bring the Bulldogs to within four at 21-17.

Samford took the lead when Jonathan Sillers scored on a four-yard run with 3:16 to go in the third quarter. Yaw added the extra point to give Samford a 24-21 lead.

Newberry, however, answered with a touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter when Bryan Ehrlich hit Darien Crawford for a 31-yard touchdown, and Britt Blackmon added the extra point to give the Wolves a 28-24 lead.

Samford took the lead back when Hunter Cassity blocked a Newberry punt and Darion Sutton returned it 24 yards for a touchdown. Yaw added the extra point for a 31-28 Samford lead. The Bulldogs added to the lead when Taliaferro connected with Boll Kottas on a 40-yard touchdown with 4:26 to go in the game. Yaw's PAT gave Samford a 10-point lead at 38-28.

Newberry answered again when Ehrlich scored on a one-yard run with 2:01 to go in the game, and Blackmon added the PAT to cut the Samford lead to 38-35. Newberry then recovered an on-side kick at its own 43-yard line.

The Wolves then drove to the Samford 43-yard line. But, after a penalty moved them back to their own 47, Samford's Corey White intercepted an Ehrlich pass to end the threat and preserve the win for the Bulldogs.

In the win, the Samford offense was led by senior running back Chris Evans with 114 yards on 22 carries. Taliaferro completed 10-of-18 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns. Quin Roberson, Cephus and Kottas each caught touchdown passes from Taliaferro.

Defensively for the Bulldogs, Thomas Broussard had two interceptions, while White had one. Bryce Smith led the team with 15 tackles, including 13 solo stops. Sutton had nine tackles and one sack to go along with his touchdown on the blocked punt.

As a team, Samford tallied 395 yards of offense, while Newberry finished with 453 yards. Samford had 11 penalties for 129 yards, compared to eight penalties for 66 yards for Newberry.

Newberry was led offensively by Ehrlich, completing 24-of-42 passes for 355 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. David Pressley caught six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns. R.J. Reeder led the Newberry defense with nine tackles, including six solo stops.

Newberry struck first in the game when Ehrlich hit Pressley for a 13-yard touchdown with 7:25 to go in the first quarter. Blackmon added the extra point to give the Wolves a 7-0 lead. The Wolves struck again when Ehrlich connected with Brandon Bostick for a 60-yard touchdown with 2:18 to go in the first half. Blackmon's PAT gave Newberry a 14-0 lead.

Samford got on the scoreboard when Taliaferro hit Roberson for a 41-yard touchdown with 26 seconds to go in the first quarter. Yaw added the extra point to cut the Newberry lead to 14-7.

Newberry added to its lead when Ehrlich hit Pressley for a 33-yard touchdown with 14:52 to go in the second quarter. Blackmon added the PAT to give the Wolves a 21-7 lead. Newberry carried the 14-point lead into halftime.

With the win, Samford improves to 2-1 on the season. Newberry drops to 1-2 with the loss.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 25, when the Bulldogs play host to top-ranked Appalachian State. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start from Seibert Stadium.