COVINGTON, Ga. — There was hardly any room to breathe in Thursday night’s matchup between the Newton Rams and South Gwinnett Comets. That held true from beginning to end as the Comets won 31-28, via a 27-yard field goal as time expired. 

Head coach Josh Skelton said that the final result was determined by two areas. 

“Just closing the game better,” Skelton said. “Getting off the field on third down in the first half. Being able to move the chains on third down, especially in the second half. That’s what it came down to. As far as us, we’ve got to move forward to the next game.” 

It was a back-and-forth outing for both squads to kick off Thursday’s action, too. 

Senior Marcus Calwise began the game with the first two touches for Newton. First, he returned the opening kickoff to midfield. Following a five-yard, offside penalty against South Gwinnett, Deron Benson connected with Calwise for a 45-yard score. 

The ensuing extra point attempt was no good to keep Newton’s lead 6-0 just 17 seconds into the game. 

A few plays later — and 1:16 removed from Calwise’s first score — the Comets rushed for a 45-yard touchdown. Their extra point attempt was successful and they led 7-6. 

South Gwinnett padded its lead at the 7:34 mark of the first quarter with a 75-yard touchdown pass. Therefore, the Comets led 14-6. 

But Newton had a response of its own. 

Junior tailback Zion Johnson powered his way into the end zone with 4:06 remaining in the opening frame. The Rams went for two, but were unsuccessful so South Gwinnett’s lead stood 14-12. 

Calwise’s number was called again with 7:43 left in the second. This time, he collected a 42-yard touchdown pass and converted the two-point conversion. 

Newton regained a 20-14 advantage. 

With less than a minute remaining in the first half, the Comets put up another score. On fourth and goal, South Gwinnett found the end zone to take a 21-20 lead into halftime. 

That score remained until the fourth quarter. Each squad’s defensive units had a few stops, including Newton’s pass breakup in the end zone to force a turnover on downs for South Gwinnett with 10:31 left in the game. 

Following the pass breakup, Calwise made it a hat trick on his senior night showing. Benson found the senior wideout for an 87-yard score with a successful two-point conversion attempt. 

Skelton highlighted Calwise’s impact on the Rams’ program. 

“Doing what he’s always done, not just this year, but what he’s done the entire year,” Skelton said. “He’s played spectacularly for his career here. We’re lucky to have him. We can’t get a better kid. Great performance today, but he’s had a lot of these performances. He’s a winner. He’s a competitor.”   

At the 1:47 mark of the final frame, South Gwinnett scored on a five-yard rush past the goal line to tie the score at 28. 

The Comets defense then forced a three-and-out on the Rams’ ensuing drive to set up the game-winning field goal. 

Newton falls to 7-2 overall with a 2-2 mark in Region 4-AAAAAAA. Next week, the Rams will face the Archer Tigers (5-3, 3-0) on the road for the regular season finale. 

Skelton shared how he wants to see his team respond to Thursday’s result. 

“Fight and execution,” Skelton said. “We want to be able to continue to fight, keep our goals intact and keep our vision intact. We got to come out here and finish. We’re fighting every day and we’re doing everything we have to do. So, we got to go fight and finish.”