SUWANEE, Ga. – The Newton Rams 2024 football season has officially come to a close.

After merely defeating McEachern last week, the Rams fell to the undefeated North Gwinnett Bulldogs, 24-10 on the road in what was a competitive matchup throughout the duration of the game. Cincinnati commit and 2,000-yard rusher Zion Johnson played a key role throughout the contest, receiving over half of the team’s offensive snaps.

Two-way player and Minnesota commit Zack Harden also came up with several big plays, including an interception on North Gwinnett quarterback Ryan Hall. However, it was Hall and Tommy Lafayette that proved to be the X-factor for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs looked to take charge early in the contest, getting to midfield within minutes. But Zack Harden and his playoff heroics had other plans, as he picked off North Gwinnett quarterback Ryan Hall for just the third time this season.

Several direct snaps to Johnson led the Rams to the goal line. A costly fumble on 2nd and goal by Johnson gave the Bulldogs the ball back, taking away a prime opportunity to go up early.

The Bulldogs then drove down the field leading to a quarterback keeper from Hall to give North Gwinnett the first score of the night. 

Newton kept things alive early in the second quarter with another big play by Harden, this time on offense. Despite getting into the red zone for the second time, the Rams were unable to come away with a touchdown. They did, however, come away with a 23-yard field goal by Samuel Velasquez to put Newton on the scoreboard.

A thunderous return from North Gwinnett’s Cole Funderburk set up the Bulldogs’ second touchdown of the night via a pass from Hall to Erik Ronning. Both teams later got the ball back, but were unable to add any points on the board, taking the score to 14-3 at the end of the first half.

Benson once again hit Harden for another long play to get the Rams into the redzone for the third time of the evening. But unlike the previous two times, Newton found paydirt in the form of a Johnson touchdown to get the Rams within three after the PAT.

North Gwinnett answered with 5:40 to go in the form of a Liam Hughey field goal to put the Bulldogs up 17-10. 

An interception by Benson to Malekhi Weedon gave the Bulldogs the ball back with good field position. Hughey’s second attempted field goal of the night was blocked by Joseph Hasan to give the Rams prime field position.

However, the Rams were stuffed on third down by Bulldogs defensive end Ethan Robinson before the drive got going. The Bulldogs blocked the punt on fourth down, which led to a recovery by Newton’s Kevin Hartsfield and a turnover on downs at midfield.

This set up Hall’s second rushing score of the night to give the Bulldogs a two-score lead with 4:44 to play.

Benson was forced to air it out to get the Rams in position to come back. After a few successful conversions, the junior quarterback overthrew his intended target in triple coverage, resulting in Weedon’s second interception of the day.

The pick sealed the game, leading to the Bulldogs 24-10 victory.

For Newton, it was a season filled with adversity. After going down 1-3 early in the season, the Rams won five straight, despite the month-long break due to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the BioLab fire in Rockdale County.

Despite dropping the proverbial region title game against Grayson, the Rams win over McEachern was the first time the program had advanced out of the first round since the 2015 season. It was also the first playoff win for second-year head coach Josh Skelton.

Newton now heads into 2025 with some key departures including Johnson, Malik Brightwell, Andrew Leslie, Ryshawn Perry and Christian Ingram among others. The team will return Benson along with Hartsfield, who is expected to be the No. 1 option at running back.

The Bulldogs (12-0) now advance to the quarter finals where they will face Buford (10-1) in a clash of titans in AAAAAA play.