DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — In a battle between two of the top teams in Class AAAAAA, the Douglas County Tigers edged out a close 27-21 win over the Newton Rams on Friday.
The Tigers won handily a year ago, but 2025’s contest proved to be a much closer affair.
Newton opened with the ball on Friday and got off on the wrong foot with a quick three and out.
Three plays later, the Tigers struck.
After a rush on first down, Douglas County’s Mike Johnson took to the air and connected with Rah’keith Kelly on a deep pass of 48-yards for a touchdown.
The Newton defense responded well on its next drive, but the offense took a little time before it found some success.
That success came a few drives later when the Rams capped a long and grueling drive with a one-yard touchdown rush from Darius “Hercules” White.
White’s score served as the equalizer to tie the game at 7-7, and Newton’s defense followed suit with a big time turnover.
The Rams started to slow down the pass attack, and made a key stop when Omarion Wallace picked off Johnson in Tigers’ territory.
Wallace’s interception seemed to give the Rams momentum and good field position, but quality plays from the Tigers’ defense along with a few penalties pushed Newton back.
Douglas County managed to force a punt after the turnover to limit the damage, and the Tigers’ offense capitalized.
The Tigers mounted a long drive of their own, and it ended on a one-yard score from Zamarcus Lindley to give the lead to Douglas County.
After a quick three-and-out from the Rams, the Tigers struck again.
Newton sent a punt to midfield that landed in the hands of Kelly, who put on the afterburners and blew past the Rams’ special teams unit for a touchdown on the return.
Kelly’s score put Douglas County up by two scores at 21-7, but Newton managed to inch closer before half.
Newton sophomore Kevin Hartsfield took most of the snaps early, but a big hit had him on the sidelines for several drives.
When he re-entered the game late in the first half, it only took two snaps for him to go for it all.
Hartsfield took the snap and bursted through for a 40 yard touchdown, which trimmed the Tigers lead to 21-14 ahead of intermission.
The Tigers opened the second half with a promising drive, but it fell flat on the leg of their kicker when a 31-yard field goal was just left.
When the Rams took the ball back, Benson went to the air and connected on a pair of key passes to Jaqwan Carr.
The second one took the offense all the way down to the goal line, where senior back Kaden Hambright scored on a physical two-yard rush.
Hambright’s score tied the game at 21-21 ahead of the final 12 minutes of play.
After a few stagnant drives to open the second half, the Tigers put together their best sequence of the final 24 minutes to take the lead for good.
Douglas County answered Newton with a long drive that resulted in a touchdown run from Johnson, who made a heads up play on a low snap that was originally meant to be a handoff.
Johnson regathered the ball and raced around the line for six.
Newton blocked the extra point to keep it a six-point game, but Douglas County’s defense went on to play stout the rest of the way.
Back-to-back Newton drives took the team into Tigers’ territory, but each time the Rams were stopped for a turnover on downs.
Benson managed to keep plays alive on passes to Carr, but the pass rush proved to be too much on third and fourth downs.
Newton made a defensive stop in the final minute to give the offense one more chance, but a stellar punt planted the Rams on their own five with under a minute left.
Two plays later, the Rams were tackled in bounds and the final seconds ticked off the clock as the Tigers grabbed a big win over a Class AAAAAA foe.
The loss is the first of the season for Newton as the team drops to 2-1 on the season.
After a tough test in week three, the Rams will face another tough opponent next week then they go out of stats to face the Bryant Hornets, the 2024 7A state champion from Arkansas.
The Rams and Hornets will battle it out on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.
