De La Salle leaned on its running game and played lights-out defense to take down Newman 23-6 in a jamboree game played at Michael Lupin Field on Friday night.
The Cavaliers racked up 197 yards on the ground, with Eamon Williams and Charles Irvin leading the way. Williams ran for 122 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, and Irvin added 74 yards and a score on 10 carries.
Irvin, a junior, gave De La Salle a 7-0 lead on a 47-yard touchdown scamper down the left sideline. The offensive line looks to be the strength of the team this year, with all-district left tackle Cedric McDonald and three-year starters Gerald Daniels and Shamar Bridges paving the way for the rushing attack.
"We went into this season with our strengths being running the football and playing good defense," De La Salle coach Graham Jarrott said. "One of our best running backs (Robert Lewis) didn't play. Williams and Irvin are awesome, and the offensive line is very senior-laden."
The Cavaliers defense held the Newman offense to 46 yards and five first downs. Greenies quarterbacks Ren Guidry and Jalen Hunter rotated throughout the game and combined to throw for 3 yards and an interception on 14 attempts.
Newman's lone touchdown came on a 44-yard touchdown run by Jake Randle to cut the Cavaliers lead to 16-6 after a blocked extra point with 6:22 left in the game. The senior running back bounced the run off the left side and outraced multiple defenders into the end zone.
First-year Newman coach Aaron Vice took the reins of the program after longtime head man Nelson Stewart left for a school in Georgia. Vice was a graduate assistant under former LSU coach Les Miles and the offensive coordinator at U-High for the last three seasons.
Vice declined to comment on whether he expects to rotate his quarterbacks this season.
"We have two young quarterbacks who haven't done this," Vice said. "I thought the defense settled in and gave us some chances, and I thought our special teams were good. We'll learn from this and get better. There were a lot of guys out there who haven't played on Friday night before."
De La Salle looked to score its second touchdown before halftime, but the Newman forced an incomplete pass on third down in the red zone. Quarterback Noah Rogers, who will also handle the placekicking and punting duties this season, had a 22-yard field goal with 2:01 left in the first half to give his team a 10-0 lead.
The Cavaliers added a 20-yard scoring strike off the arm of Alericq Valentine to wide receiver Gio Sanchez and a 49-yard rushing score by Williams in the second half.
De La Salle will travel to Baton Rouge to take on Central, and Newman will take to the road and face former district rival St. Charles in Week 1.