The cool efficiency of junior quarterback
Korey Zeigler has
Archbishop Hannan (Covington, La.) sporting a 3-0 record and Zeigler the latest New Orleans Capital One Bank High Yield Student Athlete of the Week.
Korey Ziegler, Archbishop Hannan
Courtesy photo
Zeigler reaped rewards both for himself and the Hawks in leading them past Pine (Franklinton, La.) last week, 21-6. Zeigler contributed to all three Hannan touchdowns and overcame a rare mistake in the process.
"I am so proud of the effort we gave," Hannan coach Pat Lambert said after the game.
No one gave more than the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Zeigler, a four-year starter. Zeigler's resolve was apparent after he threw an interception deep in Hannan territory that led to a Pine touchdown and an early 6-0 deficit.
Zeigler quickly marched Hannan to Pine's 5-yard line, only to have Zeigler throw incomplete on fourth-and-goal.
Undaunted, Zeigler made good on Hannan's next possession by leading a four-play scoring drive that ended in his 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end
Payton Hudson. The extra-point gave Hannan the lead for good and pointed Pine in the direction of its first loss.
For good measure, Zeigler added a touchdown run and another touchdown pass as the Hawks continued to serve notice of their strength in Class A, the smallest classification in the state. Zeigler now has four touchdown passes this season.
Zeigler completed 13-of-20 passes for 90 yards against Pine, giving him 27 completions and a 73 percent completion rate this season. He also had a significant impact as a runner, finishing with 17 carries for 112 yards, including a 5-yard run for Hannan's second touchdown.
Zeigler rushed for a team-high 13 touchdowns last season in sharing top honors with
Michael Froeba, another returning starter, as a junior.
"Not too many teams can tackle Zeigler the first time," Pine coach Bradley Seal said.
And even if they could, Zeigler has shown an ability to shake off any negative effects, just as he did in overcoming Pine's interception. The misstep was all but forgotten in the third quarter when Zeigler threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to
Daniel Hollander.
Zeigler also threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Hollander in the Hawks' 46-20 victory over Houma Christian the week before. Through Hannan's first two games, Zeigler had completed all 14 of his pass attempts for 198 yards.
Hannan scored less than 40 points for the first time this season in beating Pine, but the competitiveness of the game allowed Zeigler to see more playing time after Lambert rested his starters through much of the first two games.
Hannan will play its third consecutive road game when it visits Pine Prairie on Friday. That may make for adverse conditions but, as Zeigler has shown, that's not enough to keep him down.
