The Newton Rams varsity soccer team defeated the Lovejoy Wildcats 12-2 on Wednesday in a makeup region game, getting back to their winning ways.

Newton led by as many as three goals at halftime, finding the net on five difference occasions in the first 40 minutes of action.

“One of (our) teammates was out sick because he had surgery today,” Rams’ coach Allen Weddernburn said. “He sent me a text to read to the team and they really got motivated from there.”

The first goal of the game came at the 31:51 mark in the first half and the goal came from the Wildcats, but just minutes later, Newton’s Myles Martinez tied it up for the Rams with a goal.

The Rams took the lead on a goal from Ousemane Dogo and at the 22:07mark, Dogo scored another goal, putting the Rams up 3-1.

The Wildcats scored their second, and final, goal of the game at the 17:01 mark, but Martinez and Dogo scored twice more for the Rams and Newton went into halftime with a 5-2 lead.

“I challenged Myles” Weddernburn said. “I told him, ‘You’re the leader of the team, you’re a senior.  You have to step up and lead the team, because this is your team.’”

The Rams came out in the second half continuing to play with a no-holds-barred mentality.

Newton went up 6-2 at the 33:16 mark in the second half on a goal from Michael Prince and the Rams added two more goals within the next five minutes, going up 8-2 after Carlvon Betts and Leo Quanka found the back of the net.

At the 22:13 mark, Kenquavious McCollum scored a goal to put the Rams up 9-2 and Nicholas Ramirez scored two goals in a three-minute period, increasing the Rams’ lead to 11-2.

Donovan Graden scored the Rams’ final goal of the game, ending the contest by mercy rule, 12-2. The win ends an eight-game losing streak for Newton.

The Rams return to game action Friday when they travel to Rockdale to take on the Bulldogs in region play.

Lady Rams fall to Lovejoy

The Newton Lady Rams hosted the Lovejoy Lady Wildcats in region play on Wednesday, dropping a 6-0 decision.

The game began with both teams excelling in a defensive-minded contest, but the Lady Wildcats scored the first goal of the game at the 24:15 mark of the first off the foot of Taylor Broughton. Broughton scored her second goal of the game six minutes later, extending the Lady Wildcats’ advantage to 2-0.

Lovejoy added two more goals before the conclusion of the half, carrying a 4-0 lead into the break.

The Lady Rams came out in the second half playing better defense, but still couldn’t execute offensively.

The Lady Wildcats scored their fifth goal at the 19:48 mark of the second half before putting in their final goal of the game at the 8:06 mark, clinching the six-goal victory.