Arch Manning Leads Isidore Newman to 55-22 Win over Booker T. Washington

The Manning family legacy will live on.

Arch Manning, the nephew of future Hall of Famers Peyton and Eli, grandson of Archie and son of Cooper Manning threw for 241 yards and a touchdown while running for two more to lead the Isidore Newman School to a win over Booker T. Washington, 55-22, in an ESPN2-aired matchup between a pair of undefeated New Orleans high school teams.

However, Manning wasn't named the GEICO Player of the Game by the ESPN crew—that honor went to Harvard-bound Sterling Scott, who added two rushing touchdowns and an interception in the win. 

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Manning is the top-ranked quarterback and fifth-overall prospect in the Class of 2023, and had picked up 471 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for three more scores heading into Thursday night's game. In their first two games of the season, Isidore Newman had outscored opponents 68-7. 

Facing their first true test of the season in Booker T. Washington, who they defeated 27-20 last season, Manning also faced a familiar opponent in senior defensive back Keith Hampton. Hampton intercepted Manning three times in their outing last season, accounting for half of his interceptions on the year, and through four quarters tonight, Hampton picked him off twice.

Manning set up a touchdown on the first drive of the game to give the Greenies a 7-0 lead before Booker T. Washington answered with a score and a two-point conversion. With a quick quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line, he set them back up for the 14-8 advantage. Harvard-bound Sterling Scott turned a pick-six back 20 yards to make it 21-8 at the end of the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, Booker T. Washington turned to wide receiver Tyrese Johnson, an Arizona commit, to fill in at quarterback and run a 40-yard keeper, which brought a new energy to the contest. Manning got the ball back with Booker creeping in 21-16, and was whistled for intentional grounding on a throwaway play. At the end of the half, he found A.J. Johnson in the end zone on third down to give Newman a 28-16 lead. The insurance score was the pair's fourth touchdown of the season. Manning closed the first half with 14-of-18 passing for 154 yards and a touchdown, with two carries for 20 yards and another touchdown (h/t NOLA.com). 

Manning was picked off by Booker's Keith Hampton to start the third quarter, but the Newman defense did the same on the next drive, and another run from Scott made it 35-16. As the Greenies advanced toward the Booker endzone, Hampton intercepted Manning a second time and ran it back 75 yards to the house to make it 35-22. In the fourth quarter, another keeper from Manning and a pair of scores from Scott and Joseph Pleasant ended it at 55-22. 

Manning is coming off of a 9-1 freshman campaign that saw him collect 2,438 passing yards and 34 touchdowns while throwing just six interceptions. According to 247Sports, he has offers in place from Alabama, Boston College, Duke, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma.

Isidore Newman head coach Nelson Stewart noted that Manning is a versatile player who has "a great resource" with his family, but "is his own entity" (h/t ESPN):

"He's not just one thing and he's not a system quarterback. If you need him to run zone reads, he can do it. You see him scramble and can find someone in the back of the end zone, throw it 25 yards on a rope, and he can just spot-throw the points when he's moving around. That's where the special part of it comes, that he just has the innate ability that most people his age don't have."