Manning, a Texas commit, improved to 26-5 as the Greenies'
signal-caller after tossing career TD passes 82, 83 and 84 in the opener. He connected on 8 of 14 attempts for 142 yards while rushing for another 37 yards.
Texas commit
Will Randle opened the scoring with a pick-six at the 8:42 mark in the first quarter. The 6-foot-3, three-star prospect returned the
Ryan Gregson pass for a 78-yard score from the defensive end position on a first and 10 from just outside the red zone for the Tigers.
Hahnville's next possession resulted in a second Gregson interception as
Justin Wells picked off a third-down attempt but the Greenies were unable to convert on a field goal attempt after driving inside inside the 10-yard line.
Newman's Arch Manning tossed three touchdowns in the Greenies' 35-14 opening-night win over Hahnville on Friday.
Photo: Brad Weimer
The following defensive possession, Randle caused another turnover as he forced and recovered a fumble to spark Manning's first touchdown strike of the season. The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to
Will Zurik with 2:09 remaining in the first quarter to give Newman a 13-0 advantage after a blocked extra point.
After the shaky first quarter, Hahnville answered back with a 17-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore
Calvin Smith to cut the deficit to 13-7 with 6:04 to go before half.
After forcing Newman to punt, the Tigers scored a touchdown on the first play of their next drive. Gregson connected on a slant pass with
Josh Smith Jr. that went for a 79-yard touchdown to give Hahnville a 14-13 advantage headed into intermission.
Newman started off the second half with an 8-yard touchdown run from Zurik at the 9:22 mark of the third quarter. Manning connected with Randle on a two-point conversion to make things 21-14. The score was set up by a big-time 28-yard connection from Manning to Randle earlier in the drive.
Newman's Arch Manning is bottled up in the first half of the Greenies' 35-14 win over Hahnville on Friday.
Photo: Brad Weimer
A 32-yard flea flicker from Manning to
Kai Donaldson stretched the Newman advantage to 28-14 right before the end of the third quarter and Manning added his third TD pass, an 18-yard strike to
Peter Loop, with just over nine minutes left in the contest.
Newman (1-0), still in search of its first football state championship in school history, hosts Riverside Academy (Reserve) next Friday. The Greenies advanced to the LHSAA Division III state semifinals for the second consecutive season last fall.
Hahnville (0-1), which went 6-3 en route to a first round exit in the LHSAA Class 5A state tournament last season, looks to rebound from a tough loss to the season against Mandeville next Friday.
