It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Newton had no problem doing just that on Friday. They won a match that couldn't have been any closer, slipping by the McEachern Indians 30-29. That's more bragging rights for the Rams, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.
Zion Johnson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 244 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional for a while as that marked his 13th straight game with at least 105 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Newton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 256 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 179 rushing yards in eight consecutive games.
Despite the loss, McEachern still got an impressive performance from Calvin Pittman, who rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries, and also threw for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Newton has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 7-4 record this season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 42.9 points per game. As for McEachern, their loss ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 6-5.
Newton will head out to face off against North Gwinnett at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. North Gwinnett is on a five-game streak of home wins, Newton a three-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the field. McEachern does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
