STRAWBERRY PLAINS — Thomas Manu looked to settle in to a new balance of playing aggressive while managing an injury.
As the second quarter of Alcoa’s 52-14 win over Carter (1-8, 1-5) began, the quarterback got his first test in the pocket. Dropping back but not spying a pass he wanted to try and with pressure coming in, the senior rolled out and headed for open space. A season ago he might have barrelled into a defender trying to make something from nothing. After being forced to leave three games this season and missing two more for injury, Manu scrambled and slid down. Two snaps later his quick pass to Condis Cherry netted a 15-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
Manu had to slide one more time and kept a 2-minute drill drive alive with an 11-yard run out-of-bounds to set up first-and-goal. He finished with four carries for 21 yards to go with a 17-of-20 effort in the air that netted 222 yards and three scores.
“i think that was the first time I thought Thomas was back, throwing the ball downfield, he was moving in the pocket,” Alcoa head coach Brian Nix said. “When we have Lucah out there, he can do a lot of things but they’re different skill sets.”
Daugherty stayed at his linebacke...