COVINGTON, Ga. — Flag football was finally introduced into the Newton County rivalry on Tuesday in a matchup between the Newton Lady Rams and the Eastside Lady Eagles.
It was a defensive matchup from the start, but a late strike from Amaya Armstead to Tailiyah Church led to a Newton touchdown as the Lady Rams left with a 7-0 win over their rivals.
According to head coach Stephen Gunn, the plan to lean on a strong defensive unit carried the team to the win.
“Defense really set the tone for us,” Gunn said. “We knew going into our season that it was going to be our tone-setter. If I hold you less than six, then we should win the ballgame. Held them to less than six tonight and we scored seven — we win the ball game. That’s a recipe that we want to try and work on every night. That has been our recipe last year [and] this year.”
Lady Rams outlast Lady Eagles in defensive showdown
For 10 drives, it wall about the defenses.
There were 10 drives that took place before the first points were on the board as a slew of punts and turnover on downs controlled the game.
Newton’s defense played stout, but the Lady Eagles showed a strong defensive unit as well as they managed to slow down a Lady Rams offense that was without starting quarterback Mya Perry.
Eastside began the game with the ball and immediately dove into the quarterback run and jet sweeps as the game featured two teams who lean into the east-west playcalling.
When the Lady Eagles decided to go through the air, Newton’s Dionna Thomas was there to jump the route for an interception.
Newton started its first drive with good field position, but a sack from Eastside’s Nyla Smith set the drive back before it ended in a punt.
A pair of punts and turnover on downs closed out the first half as the defenses continued to control the pace of the game at Sharp Stadium.
When the second half began, Eastside came away with its first turnover of the day.
A pass from Armstead was intercepted by Natalie Thomas and the Lady Eagles carried that momentum on offense.
The ball went into the hands of Ari Carter, who delivered with a rush of over 20 yards that put Eastside in striking distance.
However, the Newton defense stood tall and forced a turnover on downs as Carter’s rush proved to be that final positive play from the sequence.
Both teams went on to trade punt before the Lady Rams finally found paydirt.
Armstead and Church connected on a deep pass that put the Lady Rams at the goal line as it flipped the field.
One play later, Armstead scored on a short rush for the game’s first and only score.
On the extra-point attempt, Armstead’s pass was deflected by an Eastside defender before it landed in the hands of Crystal Forbes as the Newton sideline erupted.
It was by no means a perfect night for the Newton offense, but Gunn was happy to see his team stick with the plan as it paid off late.
“They were crowding the line and sending two, [and] one of our best receivers is our center so we try to get her out as much as possible,” Gunn said. “She had to stay in tonight and block, but Jamira Florunoy did a good job with that and picking those blocks up and giving our quarterback time to make those passes. Tailiyah Church caught it probably three times on that final drive and when we needed one, we got one.”
Eastside began its ensuing drive with a pair of quality runs to move the sticks, but once again it was the Newton defense that found a way.
Tianna Johnson picked off the pass to give it back to Newton in the final minutes.
“We have two babies starting on defense right now because I have two players hurt,” Gunn said. “We are just trying to grow. The safety that caught the last pick right there is a ninth grader. The rusher is a ninth grader. We are that next-man-up mentality right now.”
The interception seemed to seal the deal, but the Eastside defense held Newton to three-and-out.
Eastside used its timeouts wisely and stopped Newton to give the ball back to the offense with under a minute left to go.
The Lady Eagles took multiple deep shots and even connected on the final one, but the clock ran out as Newton came away with a 7-0 win.
What’s next
Newton kept the momentum going in the final matchup of the day with a 13-0 win over McIntosh to bring the team back to .500 at 4-4. Next up for the Lady Rams is a matchup with Decatur(8-3) on Thursday, Oct. 23.
The Lady Eagles ultimately fell to McIntosh in the ensuing matchup in a 0-13 defeat that dropped the team’s record to 1-3. Next up for Eastside is a road game against Mary Parsons(0-2) on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
