After getting their first win against Lithonia last week, Newton was handed its worst loss of the season by M.L. King on Saturday night, 47-12.

The Lions (8-0 overall, 5-0 Region 2-AAAAA), ranked No. 3 according to this week's AP prep football poll, scored in every quarter to top the Rams (1-6, 1-3) at Hallford Stadium.

Sophomore quarterback Cameron Myers threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another two, leading the Lions to their eighth consecutive win of the year.

But the Rams struck first in the opening quarter, jumping to a 6-0 lead with seven minutes and 43 seconds remaining. Newton caught the Lions off guard after double pass from quarterback Kenneth Patrick to Demetrius McCray, who threw a 41-yard touchdown to Ruben Hatchett.

"I told our guys that all you (have) to do is go out and score," said Newton head coach Nick Collins, "because (M.L. King) was going to be flat. And that's what we did."

M.L. King responded with 4:16 left in the first after scoring on a 39-yard run by running back Joel Kight. It came by way of a Patrick interception, his first of three during the first quarter alone.

"We're still going to throw the football," said Collins, "and when you throw the football three things can happen, and two of them are bad."

After the extra point, the Lions led 7-6 entering the second quarter.

M.L. King added to the lead after quarterback Daniel McKayhan scored on a 1-yard keeper at the 10:07 mark. But the big play of the drive came after a 26-yard run by Kight. The point-after had the Lions leading 14-6.

But the Rams would respond after running back Quinton Pooler was off to the races, scoring a 71-yard touchdown along the right sideline with 8:36 until halftime. After another failed two-point conversion, Newton trailed 14-12.

"We felt like we could run the ball right off tackle," said Collins. "(Pooler) got an excellent lead block and made an excellent move on the sideline."

Not only would it be the last points scored by the Rams, but things only got uglier prior to the break.

With 2:00 left in the second, the Lions scored on a 37-yard screen pass from quarterback Myers to Kight. After the extra point, M.L. King led 21-12.

The Lions would pad its lead with just seven seconds left after a 7-yard touchdown pass from Myers to Xavier Robinson. It was set up by a 40-yard run by McKayahan. And after the extra point, M.L. King led 28-12 at halftime.

The Lions wasted no time upon entering the third quarter. With 11:01 left, Kight turned in a big play of his own, one resulting in a 71-yard touchdown run good for his third score of the game. The missed extra point had Newton trailing 34-12.

M.L. King didn't stop the bleeding, either, as Myers scored on a 1-yard keeper with 6:00 remaining until the fourth quarter. Another missed kick had the Lions far ahead 40-12 entering the last quarter.

Myers struck again during the fourth after another 1-yard touchdown, this time on a sneak with 9:44 to go.

"They've got playmakers everywhere; they're just loaded with athletes," said Collins. "When you're winning on a regular basis, all of the good players want to play for you. Three years from now, when we're 5-0, all of the good players from around here are going to want to come play for us."

Overall, Pooler had 85 yards and one touchdown to lead the Rams.

Newton will next host Stephenson at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Homer Sharpe Stadium.