The Newton Rams were the 24-14 winner over the South Gwinnett Comets when they last played one another back in October of 2022, but their luck changed this time around. Newton fell just short of South Gwinnett by a score of 31-28. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Newton came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked seventh, while South Gwinnett is ranked 69th).
Newton's lost on Thursday despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Marcus Calwise, who picked up 191 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Calwise's longest reception was for an incredible 87 yards. Another player making a difference was Deron Benson, who threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns while completing 73.7% of his passes.
Jared Echols looked great while leading his team to the win, throwing for 230 yards and a touchdown while picking up 11.0 yards per attempt. Aj Pigford did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 81 receiving yards and a touchdown.
This is the second loss in a row for Newton and nudges their season record down to 8-2. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 7-3 Parkview (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 60% over those games). As for South Gwinnett, their win bumped their record up to 5-5.
Newton will head out on the road to face off against Archer at 7:30 p.m. on November 3rd. Archer is coming into the match hot, having won their last four games. As for South Gwinnett, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Brookwood at 7:30 p.m. on November 3rd. Brookwood is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.
