COVINGTON, Ga. — Tuesday night belonged to the Rams as Newton won in a 60-24 rout over Grovetown at Sharp Stadium.

The game between the Rams and the Warriors was set to take place on Oct. 4, but was postponed due to the lingering effects of Hurricane Helene in the Augusta area, where Grovetown is located.

This set up for the two teams to play on Tuesday, with both teams coming off only four days of rest.

Whether it was offense, defense or special teams, the Rams had success on all levels. Ultimately, it started with their quarterback.

Benson has a big day through the air

Junior quarterback Deron Benson had an almost perfect day for the Rams in the passing game.

Benson threw for five touchdowns on Tuesday as he made a connection with three different receivers on scores. The junior also showcased his ability to score in different areas of the field, too, as Benson scored on throws of 30, 21, 25, 72 and 35 yards.

The big day through the air came after Newton had a big game on the ground last week against South Gwinnett — the Rams rushed for five touchdowns against the Comets.

Following the win, Newton head coach Josh Skelton shared his thoughts on Benson, who is through two and a half seasons as the Rams’ starter.

“I think the number one thing with him and how he has progressed is his leadership,” Skelton said. “He has been able to lead our team, he has been able to communicate better. He has put a lot of input on what we do offensively so we are playing to his strengths. He is a guy that understands the game of football — he comes from a dad who has been a football coach for a long time.”

Strong first half sets the table for Newton’s win

It did not take long for Newton to lead on Tuesday night.

A few plays into the opening drive, Benson connected with Andrew Leslie on a crossing route for a 30-yard touchdown catch to put Newton ahead 8-0 after a two-point try.

After a Warriors’ punt, senior running back Zion Johnson picked up right where he left off from last week. The Cincinnati commit took the handoff and ran over 60 yards on his way to a Rams’ touchdown.

Following Johnson’s score, the momentum for Newton continued. This time, it was the defense.

With Grovetown marching past midfield, the Rams’ halted the drive on an interception from senior Chris Brown.

This turnover led to Benson’s second touchdown — a 21-yard reception to Zach Harden Jr. to put Newton ahead 24-0. 

The ensuing drive for Grovetown did not last long as Reshod Curtis Jr. came down with Newton’s second interception in as many drives. 

Despite the Rams not capitalizing with points off the turnover, Newton’s defense kept its foot on the gas.

After a botched snap put Grovetown’s offense back on its own goal line, Myles Dixon managed to get into the backfield and take down the Warriors’ ball carrier for a Newton safety.

With a 26-0 advantage after the safety, Benson connected with Leslie on their second touchdown of the day.

The pair scored on a 25-yard touchdown catch in which the Memphis commit took a big hit, but still came down with the ball in double coverage for the score.

Reflecting on his performance and team’s overall performance since entering region play, Leslie likes where the team is ahead of its next matchup.

“We’re just going hard everyday in practice, we had to click as an offense,” Leslie said. “It was a slow start, but we see we are putting up almost 50 points a game now.”

The numbers back up Leslie's claim, as Newton has yet to score less than 43 points in region play and have averaged just over 51 points a game in that same span.

Skelton also shared his thoughts on this team’s offensive performance over the last five games and what he has picked up on.

“I think we are clicking at the right time, we have a lot of bought-in guys,” Skelton said. “I think the offensive staff is doing a great job of putting us in the right position. Our quarterback, our running back — everything is just clicking at the right time. It is all about playing our best ball around this time. We know in every game there are things we can do better and we are still reaching in. We don’t care how many points we score, we are really looking out how many possessions we didn’t score [on]. We gotta keep going, I am proud of those guys.”

Grovetown managed to get a pair of touchdowns in both of the team’s final two drives ahead of halftime, but so did the Rams.

Senior Malik Brightwell made his presence known late in the half on a kickoff return touchdown to extend Newton’s lead to 40-6.

In the team’s next drive, Benson found Brightwell way past the defense as the two connected on a 72-yard passing touchdown.

The long score gave the Rams a 47-12 lead heading into intermission.

Grovetown scored its third touchdown of the day on the first play of the second half.

On their own 20-yard line, the Warriors connected on a 80-yard touchdown pass from Jowell Jackson-Henriquez to Jaquez Ivey.

The score from Ivey trimmed Newton’s lead down to 47-18.

The Warriors’ score did not waver the Rams’ as Newton answered with a touchdown of its own.

A long drive from Newton was capped off by a 30-yard rushing touchdown from freshman Kevin Hartsfield, who continued to make waves in his first season of high school football.

With his first season not even finished yet, Hartsfield has already garnered offers from Ole Miss, South Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Auburn and Georgia State.

Benson found Brightwell again in the third quarter as the pair scored on a 35-yard touchdown reception — marking Benson’s fifth touchdown on the day along with Brightwell’s third.

Grovetown scored on a late touchdown, but the damage was already done as Newton ran away with a 60-24 win.

What’s Next

The win moves the Rams to 6-3 on the year as they stay perfect in Region 4-AAAAAA play with a 5-0 record. Tuesday’s victory also guaranteed that the matchup between Newton and Grayson on Saturday, Nov. 9 will be for the region championship.

Newton has yet to ever win a region title, but will look to do so and win its second consecutive game over Grayson.

With another short week to prepare for the team’s biggest game of the year so far, sticking to what they know best is the key, according to Leslie.

“Be ourselves,” Leslie said. ‘When we are ourselves, no one can stop us.”