Newberry Football Enters 2026 Season Ready to Set New Standard
Newberry football coach Ed Johnson didn’t sugarcoat his team’s underachievement in 2025. After starting the season 0-3, the Panthers narrowly made the playoffs, posting a 5-6 record, but Johnson won’t let his team get comfortable.
“We got to play better than five and six,” Johnson said. “That’s always the goal, right? That was a disappointing season for us as far as record goes, but we got better as the year went on, and that’s always the goal to make sure you’re getting better than you were when you started.”
The Panthers look different heading into 2026, losing 19 seniors, including starting quarterback Kobe Johnson, and playing in a smaller district, moving from Class 2A District 5 to District 4.
Johnson wants Newberry to start the season on the right foot, but didn’t want the task to be easy. The Panthers open their season Aug. 21 against Santa Fe before playing defending FHSAA Rural State Champions Hawthorne and Cocoa, who ended the Panthers’ season Nov. 14 in the 2025 FHSAA Class 2A Regional Quarterfinals.
“Our first three games are really good competition, a really tough schedule,” Johnson said. “We do that on purpose to prepare us for the playoffs, but we definitely want to try to win those three games. It’s a great measuring stick. We get to see where we’re at, what we need to work on and ways to improve as we continue in the season.”
The quarterback vacancy opened the door for a three-way battle between sophomore Zaden Wilcox, junior Kieran Whitesides and junior Zach Chong-you. Wilcox primarily played wide receiver but took reps behind Kobe last season, throwing in five games for 66 yards with a 26.1% completion rate. Even with Wilcox’s familiarity, the starting role is still anyone’s game.
“It’s an open competition right now,” Johnson said. “We got three guys that we feel comfortable if they win the job we can win games with. They got to keep working. They each bring something different to the table, so we just got to figure out what’s best for the team.”
The season opener will be in familiar territory for Whitesides, who transferred from Santa Fe ahead of his junior year. In 2025, he played in seven games for the Raiders, averaging 59.6 yards per game and completing four touchdown passes. Whitesides’ aptness gave him a slight edge in the quarterback battle.
“I think Kieran is taking the lead right now if we were putting a one, two, three on it,” Johnson said. “His grasp of the playbook, his understanding of what we’re trying to do in spacing and timing, and his arm allows [Zaden] to be [an] athlete in other places, but they all got a chance to play on Friday nights.”
Newberry’s fielding a 38-man roster, forcing many players to play on both sides of the ball. During offseason workouts, the team zeroed in on building stamina and resiliency.
“It’s a shorter team, but everybody’s ready to go,” senior linebacker and running back Darius Debose said. “The weight room is mandatory. It’s every day, and the sand pit is a good workout [to] battle and show where everybody’s at. It prepares you for the late battles.”
As Newberry adjusts to a smaller district, going from five to three teams, their district matchups hold more weight. The Panthers retained Bradford, who defeated Newberry 28-7 on Oct. 10, as a district opponent and joined Trinity Catholic, who they beat 40-16 on Oct. 31.
The Panthers enter 2026 embracing the changes and eager to set a new standard for Newberry football as they chase their first-ever state title.
“We’re trying to go farther than we ever did before,” Debose said. “I think this team is very special and very different from the last teams that we had in a few years because we’re younger, [but] the young people [have gotten] more experience.”
Category: Feature Sports News, High School Sports, Newberry High School
