With the U.S. Open tennis tournament in town, one could say that Ryan Walsh held serve in Monsignor Farrell’s quarterback sweepstakes.

The senior bounced back from an interception on the Lions’ first drive by throwing three first-half touchdown passes, and he was balanced by the workmanlike running of Nafis Muhammad (29 carries, 173 yards) as Farrell defeated visiting Bishop Hendricken 34-30 in a non-league season opener for both sides Saturday in Oakwood.

Lions head coach Rocco Del Priore appeared to throw caution to the wind literally, as his squad began the game with five straight passes from Walsh, “but all of those were called running plays. They’re [run-pass options]. The quarterback has the ability to throw out of it if he sees something.

“We’re a big ‘if/then’ team, and Ryan’s a kid I trust dearly,” added Del Priore, who has depth at the position with the presence of freshman Bryce Moye — whose twin brother, Braxton, caught a 14-yard TD toss from Walsh right before halftime to give the Lions a 21-7 lead at the intermission.

“We watched some film on them, and we knew that we had players who could beat them one-on-one,” said Walsh of the Warwick, R.I., club, which entered as the top-ranked team in its state. “Going 1-0 to start the year is huge. We did some good things, but we need to fix some other stuff. The one thing we know is that we can play four quarters with anyone.”

To no one’s surprise, the Hawks battled back, needing only six plays to cover 80 yards on the opening possession of the second half, capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dylan Lynch to Sebastian Nault. Scot Belford’s ensuing PAT kick made it 21-14.

Hendricken struck paydirt on its next series, again moving 80 yards as Jeremy Dennis’s 2-yard run brought the Hawks to within a point, but a bad snap on the PAT kept Farrell ahead 21-20.

Farrell’s Kevin Gumb displayed his all-around skills moments later. After briefly muffing a squib kick at his 15, the junior regrouped and raced to the BH 28 with the return. Six plays later, Walsh ran it in from 1 yard out and Jake Burrowes’s extra point gave the Lions a 28-20 cushion.

“What I like about Ryan the most is what he has above the shoulders,” said Del Priore of Walsh. “He knows the defense as well as the defense does.”

The Hawks didn’t blink, however. Moments later, Dennis took a middle screen 27 yards and on the next snap, Sebastian Lora hauled in a 28-yard pass from a pressured Lynch to make it a one-point contest again.

Then, on the second play of the ensuing drive, Muhammad lost a fumble at the FH 44. The Hawks converted the turnover into a 39-yard field goal by Belford to pull ahead for the first time, 30-28, with 10:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Undaunted, the Lions rallied back. They climbed out of a first-and-20 hole at their 25, as Gumb ran 16 yards to the Farrell 48; four plays later, he broke out of a tackle on the left side and raced 33 yards to regain the advantage at 34-30 with 7:09 left.

The Farrell defense then rose up twice to seal the deal. First, C.J. Palazzola deflected a middle screen that teammate Justin Rodriguez intercepted and returned to the BH 42. After Muhammad ran valuable minutes off the clock, the Hawks’ last gasp ended with a pass batted down by linebacker Gerard Sheehan on fourth down at the BH 27 with just over a minute to go.

“Last year, our running game didn’t really work. But I had a great offensive line to protect me, and those early passes really opened up the running game,” said the 5-foot-6, 165-pound Muhammad, who credited strength and conditioning coach Robert Schmidt for preparing him for such a heavy workload.

“Both [Muhammad and Gumb] can squat over 400 pounds,” said Del Priore. “They gave us a two-headed attack.”

NOTES: The Lions opened the scoring with 4:53 left in the first quarter, as Walsh — who showed a great ability to throw on the run — rolled right and connected with Tyler Rivera for a 56-yard TD. On Farrell’s ensuing possession, Walsh rolled left and found Alex Ustun from 4 yards out. After a Lynch 1-yard run halved the lead, Walsh mimicked a collegiate Tim Tebow by lofting a 14-yard toss over the middle of the defensive line and into the arms of Braxton Moye. … This is the third straight season the Lions have edged the Hawks to kick off the campaign, with wins in 2022 (31-27 at Farrell) and last year (23-20 at Hendricken).