The Marshall Manning regular-season debut was brief but successful.
Midway through the second quarter of Thursday night’s game between Baylor School and Brentwood Academy, the 15-year-old son of Peyton Manning entered with his Red Raiders leading 10-3 and possessing the ball at their 43-yard line. He would roll right and complete an 8-yard pass to Antwuan “Cornbread” Adams to the Eagles’ 49 before handing off to David Gabriel Georges, who had a 6-yard carry.
Then senior Keegan Croucher returned at quarterback and completed a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that extended Baylor’s lead to 17-3 in the eventual 38-20 triumph at home for the reigning TSSAA Division II-AAA state champions.
“I want Marshall to play in every game this year, even if it’s just two plays like that,” Red Raiders coach Erik Kimrey said. “Hopefully it will be a lot more. We need him next year, and he needs to get ready. I’ve always let my backups play in nonregion games, and that’s usually for a drive, but I didn’t want to do that tonight.
“We planned it and planned the plays that he was going to run, and he went in there and did a good job.”