With his Newton career now behind him, Marcus Calwise did a little bit of everything for the Rams during his three years on varsity.

Whether he is catching a touchdown pass, returning a punt, taking a carry in the backfield, catching an interception or throwing a touchdown, Calwise was the Rams’ jack of all trades.

Nursing an injury over the offseason, the senior wideout did all he could to invest in himself and his teammates.

“I put a lot of hard work in because the majority of the offseason I was dealing with injuries,” Calwise said. “I fought through adversity and did the things I could do, which was working out and being there to boost my teammates.”

The 2023 season was special to Calwise, and the win over Grayson on ??  was the highlight of the year.

“My most memorable moment is when we beat Grayson,” Calwise said. “To beat Grayson and to be the first to do it at Newton High School was really a blessing. The way we did it, too, was a good feeling.”

In the win over Grayson, Calwise caught a 52-yard touchdown pass to go along with a 79-yard touchdown pass later in the game.

Through his Newton career, Calwise was labeled as one of the leaders, even in his early years.

“I embodied the leadership role last year and the year before that, it was just that I was not a senior,” Calwise said. “I really took it it into my own hands and bought in to what coach had me do and what I needed to do to step up and lead the team.”

One change that Calwise saw toward the end of his senior season was his added reps at defensive back. The change sprung due to an injury in the position group.

“I started playing defensive back near the end of the season because one of our defensive backs got hurt in practice,” Calwise said. “Coach wanted me to step up and I did and played that role for our team. It was not a difference to me [playing at defensive back], ball is ball to me.”

The first real game action on defense came in Newton’s high stakes matchup with Archer in the final week of the regular season.

Just as he did on offense for most of the year, Calwise made the big play when his name was called on defense.

In the third quarter of the game at the Tigers, Calwise picked off the Archer quarterback before returning the ball just one yard short of the touchdown.

“It was definitely a good feeling. The whole week at practice, I was talking to the defense saying I was going to catch a pick and for it to happen was a good feeling. They cheated me out of the play because it was supposed to be a touchdown, but they shorted me at the one-yard line,” Calwise jokingly said.

Calwise ended the year with 878 receiving yards while hauling in 12 touchdowns. To go along with his work out wide, Calwise had two rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns and the aforementioned interception.

One special part of 2023 for Calwise was the promotion of head coach Josh Skelton, who led the Rams to the playoffs in his first season at the helm.

“He did a lot. There are not enough words that can describe the things he did for us,” Calwise said. “Not even based on football, it is a lot of the things he did for us off the field. Being our head coach, it gave us the boost and that we can see anything is possible. It was his first year doing something new and he bought into his role and he did what he needed to do and we did what we needed to do.”

As Calwise looked back on his career, the team that took the field alongside him his senior year will be one he always remembers.

“It was one of the most player-led teams I have ever been a part of and I really liked that about the team,” Calwise said. “I am going to miss it a lot.”