Another new season means another chance for Newton County football teams to establish their dominance in the annual chase for the Newton Cup.

The Newton Cup itself has not been around for over 10 years, but the rivalry between the three schools — Alcovy, Eastside and Newton — dates back to 2002.

Across that time, we have seen many players,  some we would consider Newton County greats, regardless if they went on to play in college — play in these rivalries.

Players such as Eric Stokes, Nyland Green, Devon Edwards, Justin Benton, Sheldon Rankins, Romario Johnson, Tristen Payne and even more — the list can go on forever. 

Just 22 years ago, Eastside, coached by Jeff Van Tone, squared off against the Newton Rams, coached by Ben Reaves, for the very first time. On that September afternoon many Firdays ago, the Eagles came away with a 14-7 victory.

What would ensue was a continued rivalry that is still played on an annual basis till today.

Following the Eagles win over the Rams in the schools’ first meetings with each other, Newton went on to win the next three games.

That was, until 2006. That is when Eastside found a way to win 21-20 to stop their losing streak to the Rams. 

But, that was not all that happened in 2006. That is because 2006 is the year in which the Alcovy Tigers joined the party.

In the school’s first year, the Tigers fell to both the Eagles and Tigers — but still joined the party nonetheless.

After falling 19-14 to Newton in their first season, Alcovy went on to win three consecutive games over the Rams in the following three seasons.

In those games, the Tigers limited Newton to eight points — in three games.

As impressive of a start as it was for Alcovy to hold a 3-1 series lead over Newton, those three wins are the only ones the Tigers have over the Rams all-time.

Since their fifth matchup that was held in 2012, the Rams have won every game since. 

Outside of instances such as 2012 and 2013 when the game was decided by one-score, the Rams have handled the Tigers with ease as of late. In the last five games over the Tigers, Newton has scored an average of 42 points and have held Alcovy scoreless in three of the five contests.

For Eastside, however, the Eagles started off their rivalry with Alcovy on a win streak.

Following a 42-14 win in the inaugural matchup of the series, Eastside won the next two games while only allowing nine points across both matchups.

But, in 2009, Alcovy got the win.

That win came in a defensive masterclass for both teams, as the game finished with a final score of 3-0 — in the Tigers’ favor.

Eastside won the next two games in 2010 and 2011 before Alcovy won back-to-back games of their own. The Eagles fell 24-10 and 20-10 in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

With the series at 4-3 in favor of the Eagles, the same thing that happened with the Rams, happened again for Alcovy. 

Since their win in 2013, the Tigers have not bested Eastside since as the Eagles have won  10 straight. 

The closest matchup of recent years came in 2020, when Troy Hoff’s Eagles defeated Jason Dukes’ Tigers 34-31.

Now, let’s bring it back to 2002 when the Rams And Eagles squared off the first time.

Eastside’s win on that day sparked a long back-and-forth that would go on for many years.

A three-game winning streak by the Rams from 2003-05 was followed by a three-game winning streak by the Eagles from 2006-08. After that, another win streak by Newton lasted until 2012, when Eastside won back-to-back games over Rams.

In 2016, Newton and Eastside tied — yes, they tied. 

The two teams tied 41-41, in what was, and still is, the highest scoring game out of the Newton County rivalry.

What happened after 2016? Well, the Rams have won six of the last seven matchups between the two.

Since 2019, Newton has won every matchup against the Eagles or Tigers. Now, we turn our attention to 2024 and what awaits.

A few questions I have going into this new year:

Will the Tigers or Eagles end the Rams’ Newton County win streak? 

Can the Eagles, with many Power 5 players on defense, halt Newton’s offense? 

Will Alcovy’s new quarterback, Ayden Goddard, be able to create some of the magic that Tristen Payne did when he led the Tigers to their last win over the Eagles in 2013?

Let’s find out.

The Newton County rivalry will take up the first three weeks of the season.

Week one will feature the Rams against the Eagles. In week two, Newton will face the Tigers. Then in week three, Alcovy takes on Eastside.

As always, the games will kickoff at Sharp Stadium at 7:30 each week.