Newton 39, McEachern 21

Newton has made its mark on defense in the opening weeks of the 2021 high school football season, limiting opponents Hughes and Eastside to 13 total points in a 2-0 start.

The Rams proved Friday night at McEachern to be just as difficult to handle on offense, putting up almost 500 total yards in a dominant 39-21 victory.

Rontravious Perry ran for 177 yards and scored on runs of 22, 92 and 5 yards to lead a rushing attack that finished with 398 yards on 45 carries. Freshman Zion Johnson rushed for 97 yards on nine carries and scored on runs of 24 and 47 yards. Quarterback Jevarra Martin ran for 85 yards and passed for 99, and Jehden Robinson had 44 yards on seven carries before being taken off the field on a stretcher with a leg injury midway through the second quarter.

In all, Newton had 497 yards of total offense.

“We want to run the football,” Newton coach Camiel Grant said. “We understand that the game is still running the football and stopping the run. We were able to fit well, our backs were able to get vertical seams and go north and south, and the quarterback did a good job in the run game. It was really about us being locked in and doing the things that we teach them to do each week.”

Newton (3-0) outgained MeEachern 250-37 in the first half and 429-73 through three quarters, but the Indians were still in the game well into the fourth quarter after a 65-yard run by Makari Bodiford cut the Rams’ lead to 32-21 with 4:29 remaining.

The Rams recovered McEachern’s ensuing onside kick and finally put the game away on Perry’s 5-yard touchdown run with 1:27 left. Newton then recovered a pooch kickoff and was able to run out the clock.

It was another strong effort from the Newton defense, which came into the game ranked No. 1 in Class 7A with 6.5 points per game allowed. The Rams held McEachern to 150 total yards and just 56 yards rushing on 29 carries, including losses on sacks. Take out Bodiford’s touchdown, and the Indians ran for minus-9 yards on 28 carries.

The Newton defense also provided the first points of the night, sacking McEachern quarterback Bryce Archie in the end zone for a safety less than four minutes into the game.

McEachern (2-3) was able to stay in it by taking advantage of two muffed punts by the Rams in the third quarter. The first gave the Indians the ball at the Newton 13-yard line, and three plays later Archie scored on a 5-yard run to cut Newton’s lead to 25-7. Another muffed punt two possessions later gave McEachern the ball at the 32 and led to a 30-yard touchdown pass from Archie to Kaleb Webb to make it a 32-15 game with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

“I think that we performed well, but not to the level that we’re capable, and that’s because the mistakes were self-inflicted,” Grant said. “When we got stopped or we allowed them to score - and no discredit to Coach [Franklin] Stephens and their team because they’re well-coached - I believe it was because of things we didn’t do in execution. So I am happy, a win is a win and we’ll take it, but I know that because of the people that we play and the region that we play in, we have to do better than what we did tonight.”

The first half was all Newton, which followed the safety with a 22-yard touchdown run by Perry, a 32-yard field goal by Nolan McCamy and a 24-yard touchdown run by Johnson for an 18-0 lead.

The lead grew to 25-0 when Perry scored on a 92-yard run on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Marcus Calwise had returned the third-quarter kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, but a penalty brought the ball all the way back to the Newton 8.

Newton - 12-6-14-7 - 39

McEachern - 0-0-15-6 - 21

First quarter

N - Safety (quarterback tackled in end zone), 8:19

N - Rontravious Perry 22 run (Nolan McCamy kick), 5:39

N - McCamy 32 field goal, 3:19

Second quarter

N - Zion Johnson 24 run (kick failed)

Third quarter

N - Perry 92 run (McCamy kick), 10:41

M - Bryce Archie 5 run (Lucas Wynn kick), 8:31

N - Johnson 47 run (McCamy kick)