Yeldell Named SAC Offensive Player of the Week

2016 Sep 19

For the second consecutive week and third time overall in his career, the South Atlantic Conference office has selected quarterback Raleigh Yeldell as its AstroTurf SAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Yeldell won the honors outright following Newberry's thrilling, come-from-behind 29-28 victory over North Greenville after sharing with Wingate's Lawrence Pittman last week.

The senior from Edgefield rushed for career highs in yards (141) and touchdowns (three), none bigger than his four-yard score with 1:04 to play that provided the winning margin. Yeldell broke right on a zone-read option, spinning out of one tackle before lowering his shoulder to shake North Greenville's all-time leading tackler Sam Houston and diving headlong across the goal line. The play capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive and gave life to an offense that had been forced to punt on its five previous possessions.

Yeldell also completed 21 of his 38 passing attempts for 215 yards and a touchdown. He surged past Bryan Ehrlich and Brian Shealy on Newberry's career passing list and now sits in eighth with 3,363 yards. His 361 yards of total offense gave him 4,784 for his career, vaulting him over Brandon Gantt into sixth place in the record books and placing him within striking distance of fifth-place Tim Singleton.

He led the Wolves' offense on five scoring drives, three of which covered at least 72 yards. A 5-for-5 evening in the red zone gives Newberry 12 scores in 14 trips inside the opponents' 20-yard line this season.

Yeldell currently ranks second nationally with 28.33 completions per game, 12th with 317.0 passing yards per game, and 13th with 62 points responsible for. His 390.3 yards of total offense per contest rank fourth in Division II. He leads the South Atlantic Conference in eight offensive categories.