BUFORD, Ga. — It was a close battle early between Newton and Buford, but the Wolves’ second half surge did more than enough as the Rams fell 31-14 to end their season.
When the Rams walked into Phillip Beard Stadium on Friday for the second round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs, Newton found itself against another top team in the state — a spot the team was all-too familiar with.
Friday’s game was Newton’s third matchup this season against a top 10 ranked team from Georgia, according to MaxPreps.
Although the Rams came up short, head coach Josh Skelton praised his team immediately after.
“I think we played great for three quarters,” Skelton said. “Going into halftime against a team like that. I think we did a great job especially in the last four minutes of the half. [In the] fourth quarter it got a little away from us with mistakes, but our guys played their butts off. They showed that we are physical team and we played physical with these guys. I thought we ran the ball well and played really well on defense.”
Ahead of the game, Buford was ranked No. 2, just behind the Grayson Rams, who defeated Newton 50-3 earlier in the year.
When the Rams and Wolves kicked off on Friday, the game seemed to follow a similar script to Newton’s battle with another top 10 team in the form of Douglas County — a game that ended with a close 21-27 loss.
Game Action
The early part of Friday’s game saw many chances for both teams, but almost all were squandered.
Three drives, three punts to start the action.
Both drives featured quality defensive play as both Newton and Buford produced three-and-outs to begin.
After a quick punt to start, Newton’s second drive looked to be extremely promising as long drives from Kevin Hartsfield and Darius “Hercules” White moved the Rams onto the Wolves side of the field.
Despite another long run from Hartsfield to put Newton near the Buford 20-yard line, a pair of 15-yard penalties pushed Newton back and it was held to a punt.
After a close call from the Wolves’ defense, the team’s offense came through with a key response.
Quarterback Dayton Raiola, brother of Nebraska star Dylan Raiola, moved the ball down to midfield immediately. The Newton defense forced what looked to be another punt, but Buford’s Andrew Ivanciuc had other plans.
Andrew Ivanciuc caught the snap, but continued to roll to his right before he ran it himself to convert a fake punt on fourth and long.
The fake punt changed the trajectory of the drive, and that was evident when Tyriq Green later scored the game’s first touchdown on a four-yard rush.
Newton went on to have three more chances with the ball in the first half, but all drives ended with zero points on the scoreboard.
The reason — Buford’s front seven and its ability to disrupt senior quarterback Deron Benson.
Newton found its success in the run game and it was evident as Newton ran the ball 21 times in the first half to only three passes.
White and Hartsfield delivered, but Buford’s front seven cracked down and kept Newton from reaching midfield in the second quarter.
When the second half began, the script seemed to flip as Buford put together runs of 10 and 17 yards to begin the drive.
Shortly thereafter, the Wolves found themselves near the red zone before Raiola went back to the air.
On what was the first pass of the drive, Raiola connected with Ashton Thomas, who sprinted across the middle of the field to make the grab and sprint into the end zone.
The touchdown from Thomas made it 14-0, but Newton found its offensive footing as well.
Benson first connected with 1,000-yard receiver Derrick Miller on a 34-yard dot to move Newton around midfield.
A few players later on thirds down, Benson looked for Miller once again, and the pair connected on a 24-yard strike.
The Benson-Miller connection made it a one-score game once again at 14-7.
Newton’s strong response did not deter the Wolves, who manufactured a long drive into Rams’ territory.
The drive almost ended in disaster for Buford when Raiola’s pass was picked off by Landes “Nightmare” English only to have it called back due to a defensive pass interference.
With new life after the penalty, it only took Buford a few more plays before Raiola called his own number on an eight-yard quarterback draw that extended the Wolves’ lead to 21-7.
Later in the half, the Rams got the turnover they needed.
Raiola helped Buford get into striking distance, and a 21-yard pass to Dream Rashad looked almost guaranteed to go for six.
However, Rashad lost his handle on the ball after a few steps and lost it, which led to a Rams’ recovery.
Newton seemed to have the momentum and the time to make it close again, but the Wolves’ defense shut the door.
Two plays into the drive, a deep ball from Benson was just a bit too far and it landed in the hands of Buford junior Silas Nuckles for an interception.
The turnover led to three points on a 39-yard field goal from Ivanciuc, but things went from bad to worse for the road Rams.
Buford’s ensuing kickoff was an onside, and the hosts recovered with ease. A few minutes later, a 13-yard scamper from Green made it a 31-7 advantage for the Wolves.
Benson and Miller connected again in the final minute on a 19-yard touchdown to trim the lead, but was too-little, too-late for the Rams on Dexter Wood Field.
When it was all said and done, the running back duos for both teams controlled the box score.
Hartsfield and White shared the workload as the two backs totaled 100 yards on the ground.
“I think we did a good job of playing complementary,” Skelton said. “Defensively we weren’t giving up anything and we did a good job taking shots away. I think we did a good job stopping the run. I know a lot of people are scared to run on these guys, scared of getting physical with these guys in the trenches. I think we came out here and did that today.”
On the other side, Green and Dylan McCoy ran for a total of 127 yards for the Wolves.
Season Outlook
With the loss, the Rams’ season concluded with a 8-4 record as the team made it to the second round of the playoffs for consecutive seasons. In the last 14 years, Newton has been a playoff team 13 times.
The 2025-26 season marked the third straight year in which Newton won seven games or more.
Newton’s matchup with Buford marked the end of the line for a long list of Newton seniors that continued the Rams’ tradition on Friday nights.
Benson, who started for Newton all four seasons, played his final down for the Rams as he ended his high school career with over 6,000 passing yards and 67 touchdowns.
“Just seeing him develop all these years is truly satisfying,” Skelton said. “He has been through thick and thin and won so many games — so many big games as well, memorable games that will go down in Newton history. He is going to do great things at the next level and he will be remembered at Newton forever.”
Friday’s game was the last for other Newton seniors such as Miller, Jaqwan Carr, Kaden Hambright, Ashton Roberts and Corde Marks.
