The Newton Rams swept Paulding County (18-2), Cedar Grove (41-2), Mill Creek (16-15) and Walton (27-8) in pool play to earn the No. 1 overall seed and completed a flawless championship run on Tuesday at Georgia Tech with victories over Paulding County (33-25), Southwest DeKalb (21-13) Carver-Atlanta (37-17) and Mill Creek (20-5) in the single elimination tournament to capture the Day 1 title at the 11th Annual Brent Key/Corky Kell + Dave Hunter 7-on-7 Tournament.
Newton, which opens its 2025 season against its Covington neighbor Eastside came out sharp and grew its confidence throughout the day on its way to the title. According to head coach Josh Skelton, the success was the result of the discipline and standard that his young team has embraced as they gear up for the fall.
“Right now, we are an extremely young team,” said Skelton. “We are building our culture with these guys and we are playing to our standard in order to take that next step as a program. In order to do that we are going to need extreme discipline and toughness and these guys are embodying all of those things and I’m proud of their work ethic.”
Senior quarterback Deron Benson led Newton to an undefeated record of 8-0 on Tuesday and was recognized for his outstanding play as the Rams topped the 16-team field. Georgia Tech head football coach Brent Key asked Newton which player would like to accept the trophy and Benson was unanimously selected by his team. The experience and leadership of Benson has been huge for the Rams this offseason and coach Skelton is looking forward to seeing what Benson has in store this fall.
“Deron is going into his fourth year starting, so he’s continued to do his thing and lead us,” said Skelton. “So it’s another day in the office for him, but to see him take on the leadership that he has exemplified all offseason and especially this summer is incredible. He’s ready to lead our team to a championship, that’s the reason we put in the work and do what we do. …To win a championship. We want to go out there and and raise excellent young men that excel in academics and life and he embodies everything we want to do in terms of our culture.”
Defensively, Newton’s young secondary improved as the tournament progressed and sealed the victory over Mill Creek by holding the Hawks’ offense scoreless in the finals. The Brent Key/Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic is just getting started and will be back to crown five more champions (June 11-12, 17-19) with 80 more teams that will vie for titles.
To access the tournament bracket from Tuesday’s games CLICK HERE
SINGLE-ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
#1 Newton 33, #16 Paulding County 25
#5 Southwest DeKalb 41, #12 Cedar Grove 13
#10 Riverwood 21, #8 Whitefield Academy 14
#4 Carver-Atlanta 27, #13 Northgate 11
#3 Woodward Academy 37, #14 South Forsyth 18
#11 Prince Avenue 27, #6 South Gwinnett 24
#9 Mill Creek 18, #7 East Paulding 14
#2 North Atlanta 19, #15 Walton 10
QUARTERFINALS
#1 Newton 21, #5 Southwest DeKalb 13
#4 Carver-Atlanta 31, #10 Riverwood 0
#11 Prince Avenue 15, #3 Woodward Academy 7
#9 Mill Creek 18, #2 North Atlanta 6
SEMIFINALS
#1 Newton 37, #4 Carver-Atlanta 17
#9 Mill Creek 21, #11 Prince Avenue 11
CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 Newton 20, #9 Mill Creek 5
POOL PLAY RESULTS
10:00 AM:
Mill Creek 31, Cedar Grove 5
Southwest DeKalb 27, South Gwinnett 25
East Paulding 27, Prince Avenue 27
Riverwood 26, South Forsyth 9
10:25 AM:
Newton 18, Paulding County 2
Woodward Academy 29, Walton 12
North Atlanta 27, Northgate 6
Carver-Atlanta 29, Whitefield Academy 10
10:50 AM:
South Gwinnett 24, Walton 16
Newton 41, Cedar Grove 2
Carver-Atlanta 23, Riverwood 11
North Atlanta 21, Prince Avenue 15
11:15 AM:
Woodward Academy 26, Southwest DeKalb 13
Mill Creek 29, Paulding County 4
Whitefield Academy 24, South Forsyth 22
East Paulding 23, Northgate 22
11:40 AM:
Cedar Grove 29, Paulding County 28
South Gwinnett 24, Woodward Academy 23
Prince Avenue 28, Northgate 9
Riverwood 13, Whitefield Academy 12
12:05 PM:
Newton 16, Mill Creek 15
Southwest DeKalb 29, Walton 18
North Atlanta 27, East Paulding 6
Carver-Atlanta 26, South Forsyth 16
12:30 PM:
Newton 27, Walton 8
Southwest DeKalb 26, Mill Creek 20
North Atlanta 30, Carver-Atlanta 16
East Paulding 35, South Forsyth 6
12:55 PM:
Woodward Academy 35, Paulding County 13
South Gwinnett 25, Cedar Grove 16
Whitefield Academy 18, Northgate 11
Riverwood 28, Prince Avenue 27
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